iltis@ucsbcsl.UUCP ( ) (02/03/85)
I just bought Microsoft Word and this is an initial review based on a few hours work with it. First, Copy Protection: According to the manual, word is copy protected, so that each time you start up a disk with a copy of word, you must reinsert the "master" disk for verification. A BACKUP of the master disk (from Microsoft) is $10.00!!!!!! (Word retails for $195, so I think that this is something of a slap in the face) Response to Copy Protection: Yes, it does seem possible to circumvent the copy protection, i.e. make your own backup copy of the word master disk, so you don't have to go through the rigamarole with verification. Swapping disks drives me bonkers, so nothing was going to stop me from backing up MY OWN master disk which I had PURCHASED. I will not describe the backup mechanism here, for fear of Microsoft (which happens to be on the net), but regular readers should be able to figure out how to do it from previous postings. I challenge anyone to claim that my action of backing up MY OWN disk for my own use on a single machine is in any way illegal!!! Of course, the possibility of a "worm" (as in Mac Pascal) always exists, so that my attempt to copy the master disk may eventually come to naught. Converting Macwrite Documents I converted a VM Macwrite document without any problems, although the process was somewhat lengthy (a few minutes for a 14 page document). I have not tried converting a 2.2 Format document yet. Printing I tried printing in high resolution mode using the new Imagewriter 15 driver. No problems, and speed is as fast as VM Macwrite. Criticism: Unlike VM Macwrites, Word does not offer a "pause" feature. You can only cancel printing with command "." Disk Space Requirements: Word is a very large program (about 124K). The master disk shipped by Microsoft only has 29K free. After deleting all unneeded printer drivers, the sample memo, and the help file, I had about 48K free on my resulting Word disk. Thus it is not possible to keep a copy of Macpaint and Word for example, on the same disk. This is very bad for those of us who put lots of illustrations (again, the technical writing problem) in our documents. A hard disk may be a solution, but then you will have to reinsert the word master disk when you first boot word from the hard disk. Changing fonts Access to different fonts through the "Character" menu is somewhat clumsy. Keyboard shortcuts are offered, although they are hard to remember. Typing command-shift-E - number changes the current font to one associated with number. However I am not sure how the numbering scheme works, since I replaced the Word system file with my own containing Princeton and Omnibus fonts for Technical w.p. Documentation does not explain how to replace Microsoft supplied fonts with your own!!! Absolutely no reference is made to Resource Mover or Resource Editor. Overall Impression: I would like to stress that this review is based on a very cursory inspection of the program. I am not impressed. I think that those of us against copy protection should let Microsoft know of our dissatisfaction (Their registration card has a space for comments). MS-Word shares many of the same drawbacks as Macwrite with respect to speed. Even on my 512K dual-drive machine swapping is frequent during operation (even when opening the character menu). Conversion speed from Macwrite documents is also slow. Most of my writing is of a technical nature, so I often have to switch fonts. Microsoft has evidently not thought about this much. Maybe the situation will improve when I figure out their font numbering scheme. (I think its just the order that the fonts appear in the Character menu, but this isn't documented) MS-Word has one superb feature that I have noted so far: It allows you to simultaneously backup any file you save. Thus the possibility of losing files due to program bugs is greatly diminished as long as you save your work frequently. Macwrite has no easy way to make a backup (except using save as) To Microsoft: I would be happy to discuss my comments about Word and what my word-processing requirements with respect to technical writing are. To the net: I apologize for a review based on a few hours work, but since so many people are apparently about to jump up and buy this program, I think that this logging of initial impressions may be useful. -- Ronald A. Iltis UCSB Dept. ECE
sjl@amdahl.UUCP (Steve Langdon) (02/07/85)
> First, Copy Protection: > ... > Of course, the possibility of a "worm" (as in Mac Pascal) always exists, so > that my attempt to copy the master disk may eventually come to naught. I dislike copy protection, but to Microsoft's credit they have not adopted a vile scheme like that used by MacPascal. The copy protection on all Mac products from Microsoft is only sufficient to discourage naive users from copying the programs. Anyone with access to a few simple utilities will have no trouble using Multiplan, Chart or Word from a hard disk without inserting a "master" disk (I have not yet tried File so I cannot comment on it). > Disk Space Requirements: Word is a very large program (about 124K). The > master disk shipped by Microsoft only has 29K free. After deleting all > unneeded printer drivers, the sample memo, and the help file, I had about > 48K free on my resulting Word disk. Thus it is not possible to keep > a copy of Macpaint and Word for example, on the same disk. This is very > bad for those of us who put lots of illustrations (again, the technical > writing problem) in our documents. A hard disk may be a solution, but then > you will have to reinsert the word master disk when you first boot word > from the hard disk. Your comments assume that it is necessary to keep a copy of the System and Finder on the Word disk. I make it a practice to keep applications on disks which do not contain the System or Finder. Even if you are not especially expert on the Mac it is easy to run applications off a disk that does not have a system. >... > w.p. Documentation does not explain how to replace Microsoft supplied > fonts with your own!!! Absolutely no reference is made to Resource Mover or > Resource Editor. Why should Microsoft do Apple's documentation? I do not want people to get the impression that Word is perfect, but I feel that this "review" was a little more negative than the points made justified. I have not yet used Word long enough to make substantive comments other than the obvious fact that it is much more powerful than MacWrite. -- Stephen J. Langdon ...!{ihnp4,hplabs,sun,nsc}!amdahl!sjl [ The article above is not an official statement from any organization in the known universe. ]
jtyd@ur-univax.UUCP (02/08/85)
After about two hours of contact with WORD, I think that it is likely to be the most powerful word processor available for some time to come. It does have some flaws, but seems superior to all "interim upgrades" to MacWrite (which will be available REAL SOON NOW.......). I believe that it is the only word processor for "professional" work that will be available for the near term. It does not work with Mac Spell Write (Mac Spell Write will not self install in it). There does not seem to be enough room to do this even if it would work since both files are very large. It's documents may be spell checked using the Hayden:Speller application. J. "Ty" Dibble - JTYD DISCLAIMER : No one is expected to step forward to accept the irresponsibility for the above. Why are you reading this anyway, you know what a disclaimer is.
notes@ucf-cs.UUCP (03/22/85)
/***** ucf-cs:net.micro.mac / ur-univa!jtyd / 10:53 am Feb 8, 1985*/ After about two hours of contact with WORD, I think that it is likely to be the most powerful word processor available for some time to come. It does have some flaws, but seems superior to all "interim upgrades" to MacWrite (which will be available REAL SOON NOW.......). I believe that it is the only word processor for "professional" work that will be available for the near term. It does not work with Mac Spell Write (Mac Spell Write will not self install in it). There does not seem to be enough room to do this even if it would work since both files are very large. It's documents may be spell checked using the Hayden:Speller application. J. "Ty" Dibble - JTYD DISCLAIMER : No one is expected to step forward to accept the irresponsibility for the above. Why are you reading this anyway, you know what a disclaimer is. /* ---------- */