ls1i+@andrew.cmu.edu (Leonard John Schultz) (11/07/90)
On 04-Nov-90 in Re: Not another NeXT defect.. user Kenneth Holden Chang@uxa writes: >chance to mature yet. For example, look at word processors. On the Next, >there's WriteNow. (Assuming it's similar to the Mac version), it's a very >nice, easy-to-learn program, but it's not feature-laden like Word or Nisus, >so if you need to produce a table or contents or an outline or some complex >layouts, you can't do it in WriteNow. You can, of course, do such in TeX or >FrameMaker, but those programs have a considerably steeper learning curve. > >Question for Next users: Is there an equivalent of Expressionist which allows >one to produce equations graphically and then paste them into WriteNow? First of all, I use Framemaker on the Mac and it is not very hard to learn. And once you learn it, you can produce profession quality documents on no time. Hell, I crank out technical reports with no concern for formatting because it is so easy with Framemaker. And Framemaker simply has the BEST equation typesetter available, in quality of the output and ease of creation (easier than expressionist)! On 04-Nov-90 in Re: Not another NeXT defect.. user Vincent D. Vecchio@andre writes: >Well, yes, the hardware is incredibly impressive, but as of yet, there >still isn't much software to speak of. Also, keep in mind that while >these things are still being sold primarily to large organizations >(primarily educational, I believe), the standard Unix pricing schemes >(read: EXPENSIVE!) for software are likely to remain in effect for what >software is available. Please look at the Software and Peripherals Catalog available from NeXT. There is an incredible amount of software available. And the prices are the same as the prices for the same package on the Mac. For example, Adobe Illustrator, Soft PC, Microphone II, Mathematica, Framemaker, and Word Perfect all list for the same price as the Macintosh versions. This former die-hard mac user sees NO reason not to buy a NeXT now!
philip@yunexus.yorku.ca (Phil McDunnough) (11/08/90)
In article <8bBvfOW00Uh780kD45@andrew.cmu.edu> ls1i+@andrew.cmu.edu (Leonard John Schultz) writes: [quotes deleted...] > >First of all, I use Framemaker on the Mac and it is not very hard to >learn. And once you learn it, you can produce profession quality >documents on no time. Hell, I crank out technical reports with no >concern for formatting because it is so easy with Framemaker. >And Framemaker simply has the BEST equation typesetter available, in >quality of the output and ease of creation (easier than expressionist)! I have both Mac's and a NeXT cube and I have used Framemaker2.1 on both computers. Framemaker, in my opinion, is not suitable for mathematical word processing. On the PC there are several WYSIWYG math wp'ing programs and there will very soon be a great one on the Mac. Equation editors are just not the answer to mathematical typing. There is the issue of editing and then the problems involved with in-line equations. FrameMaker does not deal with in-line equations or something as simple as " sigma sub i" within a line very easily. The NeXT needs a mathematical word processor such as the one about to appear on the Mac or even EXP. In the meantime we could live with an editor, or TeX or troff. I still really like the NeXT, but technical typing is something that needs to be addressed. On the other hand it took over 6 years for the Mac to do it. Philip McDunnough University of Toronto->philip@utstat.toronto.edu [my opinions]