TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Re: What Are the Main Problems You Have with MS Word?
Subject:Re: What Are the Main Problems You Have with MS Word? From:"Gary Clark" <Gary -at- wtw -dot- org> To:"TECHWR-L" <techwr-l -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com> Date:Tue, 28 May 2002 08:49:25 -0700
Dick Margulis points out WHY MS-Word is so ubiquitous, but my experience has
been that the reason why so many companies seem to demand its use for
creation of manuals lies in the desire for ease of editing and changing
those documents later, by others who are not tech writers.
The argument I hear all the time is along the lines that they all already
know Word and how to use it. They don't want to learn something new (like
FrameMaker) that is used only for books and manuals. And they want to be
able to fire the tech writer as soon as he is finished and take over ongoing
changes to the documentation using either the cheapest possible help they
can get or by having an engineer do it.
Does this sound familiar to any of you?
Gary Clark
Las Vegas, Nevada
> "Gary Clark" <Gary -at- wtw -dot- org> wrote:
>
> > Therefore, the BIGGEST
> >problem with Word is the fact that so many companies DEMAND that it be
used
> >for creating technical manuals.
>
> I believe this stems from a misunderstanding on the part of many
managers--a misunderstanding that Microsoft does nothing to clear up.
>
> Many companies (maybe most) have adopted MS Office as their standard
desktop application suite in response to pricing pressure from MS. This has
been an effective way for MS to squeeze out their competitors in the office
suite space.
>
> What the companies have to do in order to get the low (??) price is assure
Microsoft that Office is installed on every desktop.
>
> AFAIK there is nothing in the agreement that says an individual user
cannot ALSO have other, specialized, applications to accomplish assigned
tasks. However, many managers, learning that MS Office is the "corporate
standard" office suite, misinterpret this to mean they cannot allow you to
have anything else.
>
> When I have made this argument to managers, it has usually been well
received, and I've always been able to get the software I needed to get my
job done (budget permitting).
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Free copy of ARTS PDF Tools when you register for the PDF
Conference by May 15. Leading-Edge Practices for Enterprise
& Government, June 3-5, Bethesda,MD. www.PDFConference.com
Check out RoboDemo for tutorials! It makes creating full-motion software
demonstrations and other onscreen support materials easy and intuitive.
Need RoboHelp? Save $100 on RoboHelp Office in May with our mail-in rebate.
Go to http://www.ehelp.com/techwr-l
---
You are currently subscribed to techwr-l as: archive -at- raycomm -dot- com
To unsubscribe send a blank email to leave-techwr-l-obscured -at- lists -dot- raycomm -dot- com
Send administrative questions to ejray -at- raycomm -dot- com -dot- Visit http://www.raycomm.com/techwhirl/ for more resources and info.
