Path: utzoo!utgpu!watserv1!watmath!att!cbnewsj!jwi
From: jwi@cbnewsj.ATT.COM (Jim Winer @ AT&T, Middletown, NJ)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc
Subject: Re: window386 && their WORD
Summary: More bad news
Message-ID: <4119@cbnewsj.ATT.COM>
Date: 9 Mar 90 14:34:47 GMT
References: <754@eedsp.eedsp.gatech.edu> <1779@uklirb.informatik.uni-kl.de> <7042@tekgvs.LABS.TEK.COM>
Organization: AT&T Bell Laboratories
Lines: 53

> >Bruce Carlson writes:

> >I would appreciate hearing any comments/problems that anyone has found
> >with Word for Windows.  I bought my upgrade about a week ago and at this
> >point I'm about ready to use the 30 day return option and give it back to
> >Microsoft.


> Tom Almy writes:

> Well I'm an avid WordPerfect user (but who admits it isn't really perfect),
> but got a copy of Word for Windows thinking it would be the way of the
> future. Well, I came to the conclusion it has a way to go.  Major gripes:


I got a copy because I am doing an evaluation. Here are my major gripes:

1.	It's even slower than Ami.

2.	It has almost no provision for horizontal and vertical rules. 
	It appears to be possible to put a horizontal rule over a 
	paragraph, but only the same width as the paragraph. For user
	documentation, we frequently use a format that includes horizontal
	rules wider than the paragraph (usually margin to margin), and also
	use horizontal rules above and below figures, tables, etc.
	
3.	The import facilities for images and artwork are limited to the
	clipboard and TIFF (realistically -- nothing else seems to work).
	It is also not possible to hot-link to artwork similar to the
	image-on-disk feature in WordPerfect. This means that when the
	art department updates a figure, it has to be reimported instead
	of being picked up automatically.
	
4.	It has no ability to control leading. It allows any size type with
	single, line-and-a-half and double spacing, but I can't specify
	10 on 12 or 10 on 10 -- WordPerfect is not a lot better in this
	respect in that it's specification is global rather than local.
	
5.	It's even slower running in a beta version of Windows 3.0 on a
	286 machine with 1 MB. It can't even keep up with typing speed.
	
In general, Ami is an easier to use program with almost all the features
you might need for unsophisticated work except for mail-merge. WordPerfect 
has far more power than either Ami (including Professional) or WORD for 
WINDOWS, and is far better for technical documentation, particularly with 
regard to page layout and integrated graphics -- it's also harder to use.

Jim Winer -- jwi@mtfme.att.com -- Opinions not represent employer.
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