Posted on 01/18/2017 2:03:40 PM PST by rey
Years ago, I used WordPerfect for all my academic papers. I felt the program was more friendly toward that type of writing, easier to cite, create footnotes, end notes, bibliographies, etc. As Microsoft Word no longer comes as part of the operating system package, I have been considering my options.
My question is two-fold; is WordPerfect still a good product? Is it superior to Microsoft Word? What do professional writers prefer and why? (Yeah, that's three. I guess I'm a heavy tipper.)
Thanks.
Openoffice Writer - free
I didn’t know there still WAS WordPerfect. I used it to write my first novel. Near the end of the novel, a word count took about 10 minutes to complete.
You can use OneDrive, with its free version of Microsoft Word, though it lacks features. For example, you might have to copy and paste if you need certain symbols.
If you’re in University, you can probably download Microsoft Office for free.
Word. If you need reference capabilities it has it as well. For dissertations and professional publications, EndNote I used with it.
If you like viruses, ransomware, etc keep using Word.
I can’t answer your question, but will offer a remark.
I started off with WordPerfect, self-taught, and liked it. However, when I would send a WP document to a client as an email attachment, I would get a complaint that they couldn’t open it; my clients all seemed to be using MS Word. So I was forced to switch to Word to keep my clients happy. That was years ago.
It has been a long time since I have used WP, but at that time I did not have the impression that it was in anyway inferior to Word.
Back in 286/386 days I used to like WP 10x as much as Word.
However, WP did an upgrade (this is a lot of years ago) and I HATED the upgrade.
Over that same period, Word became much easier to use, and lots more flexible. IMO.
Can you even get WP any more...?
However....as a matter of sending docs back and forth and the interoperability with other MSFT applications....I believe if all things were equal, meaning you’d have to go buy WP at the same price you’d have to buy Word....you’d want to buy and use Word.
You can also get a microsoft office subscription for less than Seven dollars a month. Gives you word, excel, powerpoint, one note, and outlook with all updates and a 1T cloud storage. Works for me.
It will open Word files and even save fresh files in the various Word formats.
They were also allowing a save to pdf before Word ever got around to it.
Open Office: https://www.openoffice.org/
Libre Office: https://www.libreoffice.org/
Despite my patient corrections over the years, My dad (an octogenarian), continues to call every text processor/editor ‘Word Perfect’.
“Dad, it’s called ‘Word’...”
OpenOffice and SoftMaker Office are both free, and very feature-competitive with MS Office, and will open (though not save) current Office files.
You can still save in older Office formats, such as CSV or XLS vs. XLSX. Softmaker Office also has a paid version for like $50 or something that I believe has some additional features.
There are a few obscure features missing in OO that MSO has, such as searching for specific non-printing characters, but not stuff that would bother most users.
Word Perfect is now owned by Corel. Get a demo and see if you like it. http://www.wordperfect.com/en/
I switched to Word years ago for the sake of compatibility for my clients. MS office 365 is a pretty good plan.
Open Office... or Libre Office. Two closely related, capable programs. Check ‘em out.
WordPerfect.
Wow. Talk about a blast from the past. Last time I used Word Perfect, I was sporting a mullet, driving a T-top Camaro and listening to the latest Billy Joel top 40 hit song.
Same here. When I first joined the computer services staff at the governor's office, Word Perfect was the preferred application. Within a few years, we encountered the same problem exchanging documents between different offices and switched to MS Word.
One of the greatest features of WP was Reveal Codes. It opened a window into the code and streamlined the process of troubleshooting issues in lengthy documents. The same feature on MS Word is worthless. The big difference in approach between the 2 applications is in the approach to formatting. With WP, you "turn on" a feature (italics, bold, etc.) then then it off while you are typing. In MS Word, you format text and paragraphs AFTER you have completed the document.
I have been using WordPerfect since the late 1980s and refuse to ever give it up. It is preferable in every way to MS Word and a lot cheaper too. It also does good conversions to and from MS Word format, so you can share and edit documents with the rest of the world that uses Word.
You can buy last year’s version (WordPerfect X7) for under $50.
Unfortunately, MS Word won the market battle long ago and only a few old lawyers like me use WordPerfect anymore.
I don’t know that WordPerfect even exists. Use OpenOffice....free and very good.
Any OpenOffice document can be used by the expensive Microsoft Office set.
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