Re: Word97 stability?

[Suzy Davis <andavis -at- AU1 -dot- IBM -dot- COM>]

Thought I should add an extra line or two here.
Yes, Word 97 is a major headache, but once you learn to work around the
problems, what to avoid doing, and still get your work done, it is not so bad.
For example, I have set up macros for my numbered list numbers for each level -
cause it doesn't work with styles.

Where the huge major nightmare problems are is in Word 6/7 documents which are
converted to Word 97, or Word 97 docs which are coverted to Word 6/7 and back
again.  Avoid doing that like the plague!  All your styles will re-set (and
while that is just a matter of copying them into the document again other
random corruptions occur which will make your head spin).  Copy Word 6/7 docs
page by page (without the manual page breaks, section breaks and last paragraph
mark) into a clean Word 97 doc if you have to, but don't convert!

My advice is to go for it because it does have some nice features (like being
able to spin text around 90 degrees inside tables), and know that you will
spend a month working out how to avoid it's random 'features'.  Then avoid
converting any docs up to Word 97 - and that especially includes templates!

I think it's a now or later situation, you are going to have to upgrade
eventually (and the latest enterprise SR-1 release is surprisingly not as buggy
as the earlier release).

Good luck
Suzy Davis
Technical Writer

Internet:  andavis -at- au1 -dot- ibm -dot- com

[Standard disclaimer]



 TECHWR-L @ LISTSERV.OKSTATE.EDU
 02/10/98 12:05 AM
Please respond to geoff-h -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA @ internet

To: TECHWR-L @ LISTSERV.OKSTATE.EDU @ internet
cc:
Subject: Word97 stability?

 Dave Koch is <<looking for a Word95/Word97 expert's
 (someone who has used both extensively) opinion on whether
 to upgrade to Word97... I'm using RoboHELP 4.0 with Word
 95, which has been a very, very stable  configuration for
 me!!>>

 About a month ago, I surveyed techwr-l and copyediting-l on
 the relative stability and number of problems with Word97
 and WordPerfect. Neither came off well in this survey, but
 my personal judgment based on the summarized comments was
 that Word97 is not ready for prime time... the words "beta
 software" spring to mind. To be fair to Word, some people
 reported not a single problem. What disturbed me, though,
 was that many respondents reported completely intractable
 problems. Several people reported that problems arose
 unpredictably with formerly stable configurations, but no
 consensus on why this happened or on how to solve the
 problems.

 For those who enjoy soap operas, you'll be pleased to know
 that Management voted to move to Word97 anyway. Is Scott
 Adams listening?

 My advice: I think you've already answered your own
 question. If there isn't some crucial new feature in Word97
 that you can't live without, stick with what's working for
 you now (i.e,. Word 95 and RH4). Why borrow trouble?

 --Geoff Hart     @8^{)}     geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
 Disclaimer: Speaking for myself, not FERIC.

~