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From: egv@aicchi.UUCP (Vann)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac,comp.text
Subject: Re: Dissertation on a MAC vs UNIX
Message-ID: <1020@aicchi.UUCP>
Date: 5 Apr 88 14:25:36 GMT
References: <2328@uvacs.CS.VIRGINIA.EDU>
Organization: Analysts International Corp; Chicago Branch
Lines: 56

> I am soon to begin the production of a large, technical document (namely
> my Ph.D. dissertation). All my previous technical documents have been
> produced using the UNIX troff family, including bib, eqn, pic, etc.
> I also use the -me macros to produce camera-ready citations, index, 
> table of contents, table of figures, etc.
> 
> I recently acquired a Macintosh SE, so I am now contemplating where would 
> be the best machine on which to work.  I am concerned here only with the 
> document processing, not any simulation or software development tools which
> I might need for the actual research. 
> 
> Is there any Mac software that matches the functionality of *troff
> and family? Does anyone out there regularly use embedded citations
> which are gathered at the end of a document? How about footnotes? 
> Does it work for a large document (approx 200 double-spaced pages)?
> What are the pros and cons of either?
> -- 
> Harry S. Delugach   University of Virginia, Dept. of Computer Science
>                     UUCP: ..!uunet!virginia!uvacs!hsd
>                     INTERNET: hsd@cs.virginia.edu
>                     BITNET: hsd2x@virginia

Might I offer one suggestion, providing you have the time. There are several
word processors about to enter the market. Off hand, the names that come to
mind are WordPerfect and FullWrite. While I have not had EXTENSIVE use of the
WordPerfect package, I have with FullWrite.

I will provide all of the kinds of needs you seek. I have been working on 
several dissertations for graduate students at the local college (graduate
school). The students have been delighted with the look and format of the
tables of contents, citations, bibliographies, etc. The papers have some
graphics (charts) but not alot. Nevertheless the FullWrite package provides
a built-in Draw-like tool for the placement of graphics.

You will definitely need a Plus or SE (or even a Mac II) with additional 
memory if you plan to work conveniently with this package. The outlining
feature is my favorite, since it is much more intuitive than that in MS-Word.
I would advise though that you wait for the final release version. There are
a few 'nasties' that are still around in the pre-release version.

But if my experience is any indication the current release is indeed quite
useable. Good luck.
-- 
				Eric Geoffrey Vann
				Analysts International (Chicago Branch)
				(312) 882-4673
				..!ihnp4!aicchi!egv


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