Word processors

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  • Dave2002
    Full Member
    • Dec 2010
    • 18078

    Word processors

    I wonder which word processing software people still use. Many years ago I used to use software such as vi (remember that ...??) and even nroff, later LaTeX to get text formatted. I can still use LaTeX, but I haven't bothered for a year or two. I used to write letters using LaTeX!!
    I did have some template files.

    For slightly simpler word processing I used Word Perfect, Claris/Apple Works, and Word. At one time many moons ago Word really was quite good, but then Microsoft tried to take over the world, and killed off much of the opposition, some of it still very good at the time.

    I also sometimes used publishing packages, such as Page Plus, which can give better results if used carefully than some word processors.

    Nowadays I nearly always use Open Office - (not Libre Office, which I find to have bugs on my machines). Open Office isn't perfect, and has a few quirks, but mostly I know what they are and can live with them. If I want to (?? - perhaps need/have to) have a Word version I most often write a document in Open Office first, then convert to Word at the end. I often deliberately produce PDFs, which make it harder for some people to grab the text and alter it. If I'm sent a document in Word I may still convert it to Open Office, then back to Word at the end, as I find the process more reliable, and often quicker - though it does depend on the document.

    I use TextWrangler - a Mac editing tool - quite frequently for removing all the formatting in clips, which I then reuse in other documents with my own formatting.

    There are some features of Word which are good, and which can be helpful, such as change tracking, though not everyone finds those helpful or easy to use. Some of the "features" of Word appear to be bugs, and have been like that for centuries, plus I find it slower and less responsive than some other packages.

    What do others use? I suppose it depends on the application need. I don't do much in the way of web pages these days, so I no longer bother with HTML editors, though I used to use a variety of those. Mostly I have shortish documents - about 4-10 pages long, but often longer than a letter. I don't write many programs now either, so plain text editors are less useful - though I still use TextWrangler as mentioned earlier. On Windows I'd sometimes use Notepad++ for text. If I still used Windows I'd probably revert back to Page Plus for formatted text, but it's years since I bothered with that.
  • french frank
    Administrator/Moderator
    • Feb 2007
    • 30747

    #2
    Word for Mac
    It isn't given us to know those rare moments when people are wide open and the lightest touch can wither or heal. A moment too late and we can never reach them any more in this world.

    Comment

    • Richard Tarleton

      #3
      Similar here Dave. My computer package came with Microsoft Works word processor about which the less said the better, but I downloaded (the free) Open Office which seems to do broadly what the Word I used to use at work did and whose docs are openable by other systems (unlike Works).

      But I don't do anything too ambitious in it - the most being an illustrated family history, which I then saved as a .PDF.

      Comment

      • french frank
        Administrator/Moderator
        • Feb 2007
        • 30747

        #4
        Btw, I got the new Office for Mac 2016 with the new computer, and it is an improvement e.g. one click to set margins, dragging and dropping photos into the document rather than the tiresome 'Insert > Picture > Picture from file …'
        It isn't given us to know those rare moments when people are wide open and the lightest touch can wither or heal. A moment too late and we can never reach them any more in this world.

        Comment

        • gurnemanz
          Full Member
          • Nov 2010
          • 7463

          #5
          We had an Amiga in the late 80s and early 90s. The children loved it as a games machine (Lemmings comes to mind). On it I used an excellent British word processor called Protext. Later at the local FE college where I got a job, the in-house word processor was Word and you had no option but to use it. You could also borrow the installation discs to put it on your home machine. So Word chose me and I got to know the programme very well using it heavily both for work and as Hon Sec of the Tennis Club. When I retired in 2006 it was handy still to be able to use that installed Word, but when I upgraded to Windows 7, Word 2000 would not install and it went against the grain that I actually had to buy Word 2010. Much had changed in the interface and years later I still haven't really got used it.

          Comment

          • umslopogaas
            Full Member
            • Nov 2010
            • 1977

            #6
            Microsoft Word 2010. It's what was loaded on the computer when I bought it. It does everything I need, but in truth I dont need much, I mostly just need to write text. Why would I need anything else?

            My only recent project of any size was coordinating a chapter for a text book with four co-authors. I assume they all submitted their contributions in MS Word: if they didnt, my computer had no trouble handling the documents. The only minor glitch I remember was one paragraph which stubbornly refused to line up its left hand margin, but the printers seem to have sorted that.

            Comment

            • Eine Alpensinfonie
              Host
              • Nov 2010
              • 20585

              #7
              I have so many!

              Word for Mac
              Libre Office for Windows
              EasyWriter for Acorn (compatible with Word)
              Impression Style for Acorn
              OvationPro for Acorn and Windows.

              OvationPro is easily the most versatile and stable, so is the one I use the most. It's also frame-based, so pictures don't have to be locked to prevent them from moving around.

              Comment

              • Stunsworth
                Full Member
                • Nov 2010
                • 1553

                #8
                Word for Mac at home.

                At work we've moved to Office 365, so that's what I use on my work laptop.
                Steve

                Comment

                • Anastasius
                  Full Member
                  • Mar 2015
                  • 1860

                  #9
                  Pages if it's a letter.

                  TextEdit more often than not.

                  I do have Word but rarely use it.

                  BBEdit if I need to do something 'clever'.
                  Fewer Smart things. More smart people.

                  Comment

                  • Lordgeous
                    Full Member
                    • Dec 2012
                    • 840

                    #10
                    Text Edit does everything I need, but my demands are very simple.

                    Comment

                    • Eine Alpensinfonie
                      Host
                      • Nov 2010
                      • 20585

                      #11
                      Originally posted by Anastasius View Post
                      Pages if it's a letter
                      I'd forgotten that one.

                      Comment

                      • Dave2002
                        Full Member
                        • Dec 2010
                        • 18078

                        #12
                        I mentioned PagePlus before - which I think might still be considered a desk top publishing program. At one time there was another program which was a bit similar, called Canvas. It did have Mac versions, but then I think they faded away. I had a copy of one of the versions, running on PCs.

                        For various reasons I don't think too many people use it any more - certainly not on Macs. The companies developing and marketing it changed over years, and it would seem that for some people the software got worse, rather than better, and the support deteriorated to a point which upset many of its users.

                        I still do use Claris/AppleWorks a few times a year - as there are some applications which I can do faster with that package than using other tools. That's one reason why I keep Snow Leopard running on one of my Macs. I usually go through a loop of trying out alternatives, then find that they just don't work well enough, and the estimated time to finish the projects is way beyond what I'd hoped for, so end up going back to it - year after year.

                        Comment

                        • french frank
                          Administrator/Moderator
                          • Feb 2007
                          • 30747

                          #13
                          Originally posted by Dave2002 View Post
                          I mentioned PagePlus before - which I think might still be considered a desk top publishing program.
                          Isn't PagePlus for Windows, not Mac?
                          It isn't given us to know those rare moments when people are wide open and the lightest touch can wither or heal. A moment too late and we can never reach them any more in this world.

                          Comment

                          • Dave2002
                            Full Member
                            • Dec 2010
                            • 18078

                            #14
                            Originally posted by french frank View Post
                            Isn't PagePlus for Windows, not Mac?
                            Indeed, and there is no Mac version. You have to remember that I did have PCs - some went to the dump recently. I have a couple of others (laptop, netbook), but they are old and almost useless. Anyone who really wanted to use Pageplus could probably run it on a Mac, but would either have to get a version of Windows and run Bootcamp, or a Virtual environment system, such as Parallels. That could be useful for serious work, as the screens (iMacs) would be large, though less useful on laptops such as MBAs or MBPs. For casual work I think there are cheap Win based laptops which will support PagePlus. Whether it's worth the cost and bother I can't really say. For some people it might be, but for the rest of us, perhaps not.

                            The "cheap" laptop option for Windows becomes more attractive for anyone who still has useful legacy programs which run on PCs, though I've not been tipped that far yet, as most of the software on the Macs works well, perhaps better (arguably - and it depends on the software/software needs) than PC software.

                            Anyone who still thinks PCs are better than Macs is welcome to stick with Windows for all their software needs, or Linux.

                            Comment

                            • french frank
                              Administrator/Moderator
                              • Feb 2007
                              • 30747

                              #15
                              Originally posted by Dave2002 View Post
                              Anyone who really wanted to use Pageplus could probably run it on a Mac, but would either have to get a version of Windows and run Bootcamp, or a Virtual environment system, such as Parallels. That could be useful for serious work, as the screens (iMacs) would be large, though less useful on laptops such as MBAs or MBPs.
                              You may remember I had a Windows partition on my MBP (which I only use for casual stuff anyway). I found it less than ideal because I couldn't find the Windows equivalents on the Mac keyboard I still have the partition there, with Windows 7, but I found it too fiddley to bother with.

                              As I don't want to produce professional-style literature, I find Word 2016 much easier to manipulate than the older version (Word 2007?). I could even produce a Christmas newsletter this year
                              It isn't given us to know those rare moments when people are wide open and the lightest touch can wither or heal. A moment too late and we can never reach them any more in this world.

                              Comment

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