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Subject:RE: Word _Please Help From:"Susan W. Gallagher" <SGallagher -at- akonix -dot- com> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Fri, 18 Jan 2002 09:41:46 -0800
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Doc Writer [mailto:doc_writer -at- hotmail -dot- com]
> Can someone please tell me why you like using Word? Or, why
> companies still
> use this tool for documentation? Is it only because Frame is
> expensive? Is
> it because everyone has Word, so it's more compatible to send
> electronically? I've suggested that they send pdfs to
> customers, etc., but
> they want to be able to change items as needed. <scream!>
Okay, true confession time. I started using Word version 2.0 for
DOS because when we got our first laser printer, Word was the
only one of the 14 or so word processers that we (as a training
company) supported that would format proportional text correctly.
Since that time I've had the opportunity to work with Frame on
a couple of jobs. I can build and apply styles, use the resource
page, set up and apply master pages, ... I'm not impressed.
IMO, Frame is key-stroke intensive. Just inserting a non-breaking
hyphen (or for that matter, remembering how) is a chore! And that
it doesn't use the Windows character set is infuriating to me!
In Word, I use outline mode extensively. The ability to collapse
an outline, move stuff around, and expand to find that my text
followed my headings to the new location is invaluable to me.
I also use autotext a whole lot. I save table formats, product
names, note icons, ... A few simple keystrokes bring the stored
text into my document.
Yes, Word is just a word processing program, not a page layout
program, and it has its problems -- particularly with autonumbering
and long documents. But there are work-arounds and the problems
with Word, to me anyway, are easy to overcome compared to Frame's
user-hostile interface. ;-)
And yes, being able to share documents with the rest of the team
is an added benefit. But I don't boast about this too much because
the devs around here say my Word docs scare them--they're afraid
to touch anything! ;-)
Strange as it sounds, some of us use Word because we like it better,
not because we're cheep or we have to.
-Sue Gallagher
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