[comp.text.desktop] Experience with RSG3.0 vs. PageMaker?

chuq%plaid@Sun.COM (Chuq Von Rospach) (05/01/87)

From: Franklin Davis <davis@wanginst.edu>
Posted-Date: Wed, 29 Apr 87 11:57:11 edt

We're looking into these programs.  I've seen the reviews in MacWorld, but
I'd love to see user's opinions.

--Franklin

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Chuq Von Rospach	chuq@sun.COM		[I don't read flames]

There is no statute of limitations on stupidity

chuq%plaid@Sun.COM (Chuq Von Rospach) (05/01/87)

> We're looking into these programs.  I've seen the reviews in MacWorld, but
> I'd love to see user's opinions.

I've been using RSG3 heavily on a number of projects since it came out. In
general, I'm happy with it.  My major project is a 24-30 page/month newsletter
and it holds up pretty well. My version (November 1986) has some definite
bugs:  I can't get Postscript blocks to work at all, and I have text blocks
that will crash after complex editing sequences.  There is supposedly a later,
December release that fixes Postscript and may help with the textedit bugs,
but I've been unable to get through the 800 number to convince them to send
me a copy. 

Note that I do all of my Illo work with manual pasteup, so I don't do anything
with bitmaps, and little graphic work.  On a laserwriter, it supports the
standard Mac patterns (which look TERRIBLE on a LW, by the way) and not gray
boxes -- which I can't do in Postscript because Postscript doesn't work.
Oh, well.

Would I recommend people buy RSG3?  Yes, with reservations. I've heard rumors
of an upcoming release to fix the bugs in 3.0, and until I can see working
Postscript blocks I can't recommend this to folks.  Although PageMaker
currently doesn't have PS blocks at all if I remember correctly, so I guess
that non-working ones are better than nothing.

RSG does what I want it to do, well enough that I rarely fight with the
program.  If I can get these two problems worked around, and when Letraset
gets it to read Word 3.0 files, I'll be completely happy again. Until then,
if you don't need PS and remember to save your work fairly often, you're
in good shape.

I haven't worked with Pagemaker, but it looks like RSG3 completely blows away
PM1.2, and may be a better program than PM2.0, which isn't shipping yet.

I WILL definitely steer people away from MacPublisher II and MP III. They
are slow, buggy, expensive and don't have nearly the functionality of either
RSG or PM.  Not a bad program standing by itself, it isn't competitive in
the DTP marketplace.  

chuq


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Chuq Von Rospach	chuq@sun.COM		[I don't read flames]

There is no statute of limitations on stupidity

chuq%plaid@Sun.COM (Chuq Von Rospach) (05/04/87)

Date: Fri 1 May 87 22:15:41-ADT
From: Peter Gergely <GERGELY@DREA-XX.ARPA>
Postal-Address: 9 Grove St., P.O. Box 1012, Dartmouth, NS  B2Y 3Z7, Canada
Phone-Number: (902) 426-3100 x 215 [8:30am to 4:15pm Atlantic time]

I have the December release of RSG3.  Postscript is definitely fixed.  I
got through to tech support at Letraset, USA, was told to use the
Canadian number the next time.  It is best not to use the toll free, but
the real number.  I was informed by the techie that Word 3.0 support by
RSG would be in the next major? upgrade, and we would have to pay for
it.  Great fun!.

	- Peter

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Chuq Von Rospach	chuq@sun.COM		[I don't read flames]

There is no statute of limitations on stupidity