Re: Making a pitch to switch from Word to FrameMaker

["Tony G. Rocco" <trocco -at- NAVIS -dot- COM>]

I know that a detailed Word vs. Frame comparison was done a year or so ago
and published on this mailing list. You should try to locate it in the
archives.

As far as tech writers hating FrameMaker: frankly, I find that an absurd
claim. Most tech writers who are well-versed in FM would never switch back
to what they used previously. FM is the premier long-document creation
application on the market and nothing comes close to it. Speaking as a
former Word advocate, FM is faster, more powerful, more versatile, and
easier to use. It wins over anything else hands down.

As regards people not being able to access documents in FM: Why  should
that be the case? If they can launch a document in Word, make a few text
edits, and close the document, why can't they learn to do the same in FM?
It doesn't take three months training in FM to make simple edits, if that's
all they want to do. On a basic level, it's pretty much like any word
processing/DTP application.

After you switch to FM, all you'd have to do to really be cookin' is get
off that silly Windows platform and move to the Mac. My 2¢, for what it is
worth. Hope it helps.

- tgr

At 10:47 AM -0800 10/1/97, Harrison Brace wrote:


>Next week we're making a pitch for out company to switch from WinWord 97 to
>FrameMaker 5.5. The other tech writer and I (who is not on this list, but
>is cc'd on this e-mail) very much want to make the switch, as Word has
>proven to be quite a burden and a real productivity killer. I've spent who
>knows how much time dealing with document corruption, formatting that
>mysteriously changes, bad TOC's, bad graphics, and numerous numbering
>problems.
>
>I was wondering if any of you out there could give us any advice and
>perhaps suggest some Internet resources for information.
>
>Management appears to be divided on the issue. At least one manager wants
>to switch to Frame, but we may face heavy opposition from others. We need
>to be ready to counter the claims of the people who want to hold onto Word.
>
>When I asked the manager of my group, who used to work for HP, about
>adopting Frame, he replied that most tech writers hate Frame and that it
>was a hangover from the days of UNIX. Most writers at HP, he claimed, would
>gladly dump Frame for Word if they could.
>
>The other, more serious claim is that they want to stick to commonly
>available tools for documentation. They want to make sure that other
>people, who do not know Frame, may easily access and edit documentation.
>They also worry that if they face periods of time without a Tech Writer,
>they will not be able to use or edit documentation at all.
>
>Does anyone know of a Web site that has a good Word vs. Frame comparison?
>
>Thanks for any help and suggestions,
>--------------------------
>Harrison Brace
>AIMS Technical Writer
>Ceci n'est pas un .sig
>
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