[comp.sys.amiga] Word processing

lwall@devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV (Larry Wall) (07/28/87)

Now that we're starting to see some "professional" word processing software,
I'd like to see some reviews of it.  In particular, can anyone compare
Word Perfect with Dynamic Word?

Larry Wall

steves@pnet01.cts.com (Stephen Scheck) (08/30/90)

	I have heard several references made in this newsgroup and elsewhere
indicating that Mac word processing software is much better than what we have
on the Amiga. I'd like to hear from people who've used word processors on
both machines the advantages/disadvantages of Mac word processing software as
compared to Amiga wp software.

	Please E-mail me responces.
	Thanks,
	   Steve


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consp11@bingvaxu.cc.binghamton.edu (Brett L. Kessler) (08/30/90)

In article <4178@crash.cts.com> steves@pnet01.cts.com (Stephen Scheck) writes:
>	I have heard several references made in this newsgroup and elsewhere
>indicating that Mac word processing software is much better than what we have
>on the Amiga. I'd like to hear from people who've used word processors on
>both machines the advantages/disadvantages of Mac word processing software as
>compared to Amiga wp software.

Steve,

I would have E-Mailed this, but it sounds like this is going to be a
topic of general interest.  Maybe some developers out there are
listening in as well and will get cracking!

To be honest, I've used many WP packages on the Mac, including
MacWrite, MacWrite II, MSWord, WordPerfect, and WriteNow.  As far as I
can see, the current model of excellence is MacWrite II.  It is _very_
full-featured, and has power like I haven't seen in any Amiga package
yet.

If you'd like a list of the many superior features, I can post 'em or
mail 'em, but a few highlights are:
	Hypertext help facility
	Data file merging (for mailing lists, etc.)
	A font menu where the fonts appear as they really look (ie:
		the font "Times" is displayed in Times, "Helvetica"
		is displayed in Helvetica, etc.)
	Ability to dynamically pick sizes of fonts (and scaling
		to non-standard sizes)
	Ability to customize styles (ie: Create a new style called
		"Title" that, when selected, automatically sets up
		18-point boldfaced underlined Times)
	Spellcheck-as-you-type
	Auto-hyphenate
	Ability to see "invisible" characters
	Almost instantaneous (on a Mac SE) page preview

True, many Amiga packages have these features, but none of them does
it all.  And true, we have great color support, but there is a "Color"
option under MacWrite II's "Style" menu.

Nevertheless, I only use MacWrite II when I need stuff laser-printed;
I get it done for me at school for free, and the printers aren't
connected to anything but Macs and PS/2s.

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