Details Please?

Details Please?

Posted Jan 16, 2006 9:06 UTC (Mon) by Wol (guest, #4433)
In reply to: Details Please? by GreyWizard
Parent article: Intel and More Inside (O'ReillyNet)

Otherwise it's tempting to conclude that by "usable" you mean "conforms to arbitrary expectations I've accumulated over years of using WordPerfect."

Somebody else put it very well for me. WordPerfect is "stream based" (like TeX). You type in your text, telling it what sort of formatting you want "as you go". Word and that ilk are frame/object based - you type in your text, and then you go back and format bits of it. For example, I've been told that if you delete a paragraph mark in Word, it deletes ALL the formatting in that paragraph! To my mind, very weird!

But to address your comment in particular that I've quoted, no it does not conform to the arbitrary expectations I've accumulated over years of using WordPerfect. What it DID do when I first started using it was "conform to the arbitrary expectations I'd accumulated over years of using word processors"! My favourite word processor was PrimeWord (aka WordMarc Composer). I also had access to Wordcraft. I knew both of them in depth (ie I provided in-house technical support for them to a motley crew of secretaries). And then WordPerfect came on the scene and just blew me away with how good it was!

In short, I *started* using WordPerfect because it was good enough to grab my attention and win against a previously entrenched favourite. If that isn't a glowing reference, I don't know what is!

Cheers,
Wol

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