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.
Sorry this took so long, but here are the results from the survey many
of you were kind enough to participate in last month regarding Frame vs.
Word.
26 people responded who used either Frame or Word.
62% use Frame, 38% use Word
Of those respondents, 46% were part of the decision to use one or the
other.
Of those decision-makers, 75% chose Frame.
Frame was chosen because: (many respondents listed more than one)
Auto-numbering 55%
Large doc capabilities 55%
Book-building 33%
Graphics 22%
TOC 22%
Cross-refs 22%
Indexing 11%
Word was chosen because: (many respondents listed more than one)
Universality when working with other depts. 33%
Internal support 33%
RoboHelp and other program compatibility 33%
Frame's user's "likes":
True DTP 37.5%
Auto numbering 25%
Book Building 25%
TOC 19%
Indexing 19%
Cross-refs 12.5%
(I found it interesting that decision makers chose Frame because of
graphics handling, but that didn't show up in what users like)
Frame's user's "dislikes":
Steep learning curve 37.5%
No macros 12.5%
No auto correct 6%
Word's user's "dislikes":
Overall bugginess 50%
Problems with long documents 30%
Graphics 10%
Hope someone out there finds this useful ;-)
______________________________________________________
INTERSHOP 3 The New Shape of Commerce http://www.intershop.com
Robin Whitmore; Technical Writer
r -dot- whitmore -at- intershop -dot- com
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN">
<HTML>
<HEAD>
<META HTTP-EQUIV=3D"Content-Type" CONTENT=3D"text/html; =
charset=3Dus-ascii">
<META NAME=3D"Generator" CONTENT=3D"MS Exchange Server version =
5.5.1960.3">
<TITLE>Frame vs. Word Results</TITLE>
</HEAD>
<BODY>
<P><FONT SIZE=3D2 FACE=3D"Arial">All,</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=3D2 FACE=3D"Arial">Sorry this took so long, but here are =
the results from the survey many of you were kind enough to participate =
in last month regarding Frame vs. Word.</FONT></P>
<P><FONT SIZE=3D2 FACE=3D"Arial">26 people responded who used either =
Frame or Word.</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2 FACE=3D"Arial">62% use Frame, 38% use Word</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=3D2 FACE=3D"Arial">Of those respondents, 46% were part of =
the decision to use one or the other.</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2 FACE=3D"Arial">Of those decision-makers, 75% chose =
Frame.</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=3D2 FACE=3D"Arial">Word was chosen because: (many =
respondents listed more than one)</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2 FACE=3D"Arial">Universality when working with other =
depts. 33%</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2 FACE=3D"Arial">Internal support 33%</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2 FACE=3D"Arial">RoboHelp and other program =
compatibility 33%</FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT SIZE=3D2 FACE=3D"Arial">Frame's user's =
"likes":</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2 FACE=3D"Arial">True DTP 37.5%</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2 FACE=3D"Arial">Auto numbering 25%</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2 FACE=3D"Arial">Book Building 25%</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2 FACE=3D"Arial">TOC 19%</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2 FACE=3D"Arial">Indexing 19%</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2 FACE=3D"Arial">Cross-refs 12.5%</FONT>
<BR><FONT SIZE=3D2 FACE=3D"Arial">(I found it interesting that decision =
makers chose Frame because of graphics handling, but that didn't show =
up in what users like)</FONT></P>
