Word 11 lists.

[mariorivera1974]

I have had a look at the very nasty problems which word causes because
of the way it handles lists with templates and styles. Have things
been sorted out for Word 11? What are your opinions about using
OpenOffice.org and forget the Microsoft nightmare? I don't udnerstand
the reasons behind staying with Microsoft: why don't people here
switch to alternative packages?

with reference to outline lists, how does the .rtf format deal with
them? are they just replaced with normal indenting?
Thx in advance.
mario

 

[Stefan Blom]

Partial Answer
**************

I don't udnerstand
the reasons behind staying with Microsoft: why don't
people here switch to alternative packages?

Changing software usually creates compatibility problems.
No file filters are perfect. This can be a problem for
home users, but for companies it's a huge problem.

Also, which I personally find to be more important, Word
is in fact a powerful word processor, in spite of its
flaws. I can't say that I know all of its competitors in
detail, but most of them don't have the all the features
of Word. Personally, I use one competitor alongside with
Word, namely Lotus Word Pro, and I feel that it is better
than Word in some respects. But it is a fact that Word has
more features. Some of these extra features I really don't
need, but others come in handy at times.

In the end it's a matter of choice: Do you want to switch
to a different application, or do you want to stay with
Word? If you go for a different application, maybe you can
avoid some bugs, but you'll most likely gain others. And
what features do you gain (and lose!) when you switch?

Stefan

 

[mariorivera1974]

Thanks for the insights about different Word processors. Would you
feel you can comment on OpenOffice.org 1.1 and Wordperfect, compared
to Word 11?

No comments on the way MS Office 11 deals with numbered lists though.
Anyone knows anything?
Thx

 

[Stefan Blom]

Would you

feel you can comment on OpenOffice.org 1.1 and
Wordperfect, compared
to Word 11?

No. I have very limited experience of OpenOffice, and I
have never used WordPerfect.

There are, however, some general comments about the
differences between WordPerfect and Word at:

http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/General/WordVsWordPerfect.htm

http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/General/RevealCodes.htm

No comments on the way MS Office 11 deals with numbered
lists though.
Anyone knows anything?

For how to set up outline numbering or heading numbering,
see the excellent article at:

www.shaunakelly.com/word/numbering/OutlineNumbering.html

For more information, see:

http://www.mvps.org/word/FAQs/Numbering/index.htm

Stefan

 

[mariorivera1974]

No. I have very limited experience of OpenOffice, and I
have never used WordPerfect.

I would say I have limited experience as well, but I like the fact
that I can use master documents and numbering without risking to break
anything. And I find it very stable.
What features do you find missing from Openoffice? Is there anything
like a feature matrix comparing the major word processing packages
available on the web?

There are, however, some general comments about the
differences between WordPerfect and Word at:

I read them incidentally today. It doesn't talk much about Wordperfect
features though. And it says the Wordperfect model, in the latest
versions, is starting to head towards the object model followed by
word; so I may be better off reading something on the latest versions
of Wordperfect, directly.

For how to set up outline numbering or heading numbering,
see the excellent article at:

Yes, I read that already. What I wanted to know is if Word 11 (from
Office 2003) sorts things out, or if you still have to use those
"remedies".

Regards.
Mario