Gateway To Use Corel Over MS For Office Suite 350
djellusion writes "Dealing yet another blow to Microsoft, Gateway has announced that it will be using Corels Wordperfect office suite instead of Microsoft Office. I can only see this as a good thing because friendly competition creates drive for better(less clippy) products. Can I order my system with no office suite please?"
Oh.. the pressure! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Oh.. the pressure! (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Oh.. the pressure! (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Oh.. the pressure! (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Oh.. the pressure! (Score:5, Funny)
Whoops. No longer an issue. =)
Re:Oh.. the pressure! (Score:5, Interesting)
But then, I've had similar problems when opening documents in Word, just a different version or different print driver to the original authors. The problem is that Word is an awful file format.
yes but (Score:4, Insightful)
So, yeah, Word sucks, but the point is that everyone uses it in certain arenas. So you're forced to use it if you deal with OPD a lot (Other People's Documents). Also, in Word's defense, it is profoundly easy and intuitive for people to use. And once people get used to it they are loathe to switch to something new to figure out.
Re:Oh.. the pressure! (Score:4, Informative)
Just whatever you do, if you have Windows XP with Corel Wordperfect preinstalled on the machine, don't uninstall it, because it is written to where uninstalling it rips out the ODBC keys in the registry, so if you need anything that uses them later, even reinstalling MDAC won't fix it.
This makes me wonder if these manufacturers are aware of this behavior when they agree to put this on their machines.
Re:Oh.. the pressure! (Score:5, Insightful)
minireview (Score:5, Interesting)
So far my favorite part of it is the calendar applet, which is smart, unobtrusive, and useful.
comparison to OO.o? (Score:5, Interesting)
And since a lot of other people are probably asking "Why not OpenOffice?!" I wonder if you've used both and can answer that
Cheers,
timothy
Re:comparison to OO.o? (Score:3, Insightful)
Why not OpenOffice? It's free and it rocks.
The only problem I have with it, is that it's support for formulas in text is not great at all, but I use LyX to overcome that problem.
Why not Open Office (Score:3, Insightful)
While there are now dozens of books available about Star Office, most (if not all) are useless. Star Office has quite a lot of features that are documented very poorly.
(As an aside, she's holding off upgrading to Open Office until the database integration is more complete. Her primary use for an office suite is the database.)
Re:Why not Open Office (Score:4, Informative)
> The two biggest are:
> 1. Crappy online documentation
I can't speak to the database issue, since I have absolutely no need for database connectivity. I'd agree with your wife that SO5.2's online help was, well, useless.
The Open Office team has been working to fix that little problem and has actually produced some USEFUL (imagine that) documentation in their package. Their docs aren't complete yet, but at least I could find the things I needed in OO's help rather than merely overviews of the different components that didn't tell you how to do anything.
Re:comparison to OO.o? (Score:3, Insightful)
Funny notion (Score:3, Informative)
Re:comparison to OO.o? (Score:4, Funny)
Yes, the reason is the version numbering scheme converges to pi.
Re:comparison to OO.o? (Score:3, Informative)
Why did she feel that way? Well, 1) The keystrokes are complely different -- we can deal with that, but others are less forgiving and 2) The inevitable formating problems when importing MS documents -- again maybe not a biggie for us, but it is for "normal" folk.
Re:comparison to OO.o? (Score:4, Interesting)
I have used WP8 for Linux for years. I can't open any of these documents in OO. What good does this LINUX WordProcessor do me when I can't open LINUX documents?
I will stick to Abiword, the footprint is small and it does what I want.
Re:comparison to OO.o? (Score:4, Interesting)
As for OOo's functionality, apart from the obvious pain of changing habits, the suite works significantly better than anything else I've used, in the last 20 years.
It crashes perhaps once every week. But it always saves everything first, and I've never lost an hour of work.
It integrates graphics, presentations, and text in a simple and effective way.
It is well organised, I can find the functions I want, and (unlike MS Office), they actually work. Like outline numbering.
It uses compressed XML for its documents, which means they are small, take less disk space, are easier to backup, and faster to send by email.
Its XML file format is easy to understand and produce mechanically for more advanced uses.
It is free.
It runs on both Linux and Windows, very nicely.
I don't have to kill the paper clip.
I can exchange documents with revisions with people using MS Office.
In short, OOo is functionally less rich than MSOffice, but it lacks exactly that functionality I never wanted, and which made the whole package slow and unstable.
After using OOo for a year or so, I'd not switch back.
Re:comparison to OO.o? (Score:3)
I use OO.o - my wife uses WP8/Windows (I used it too until I got OO.o). I like OO.o better but WP8 is nice as well. I find OO.o just works a little easier than WP at everything I do. Of course "what I do" is to write simple documents that are NOT terribly dependent on exact formatting, and doing relatively simple spreadsheets which I seldom print out (they're only for doing product comparisons, etc and I just need to look at them and play with the numbers until I have a satisfactory answer).
Re:comparison to OO.o? (Score:2, Informative)
Contrast that with OpenOffice (or even StarOffice). WordPerfect has the brand name and a good track record where as OpenOffice/StarOffice has only just shown upin recent years.
Re:comparison to OO.o? (Score:3)
Last version of WordPerfect I used was 9; I dropped WP after 9 because it was a terrible disappoint after WordPerfect 8, the best word processing program I've ever used. Here are the problems with WP 9 (WP 10 may have overcome some of these):
I prefer OpenOffice for one reason and one reason only: the Unicode support. I would LOVE a version of WordPerfect that had real Unicode support, used a DTD-based file format, and still had the reveal codes feature (but with XML/SGML element tags rather than WP's proprietary codes). These last two are features I'd encourage the OpenOffice folks to look into; and to look at the WP9 look-and-feel, which I found superior to Office's at that time. I still find OpenOffice's look and feel too much like StarOffice 5's - just not comfortable.
OpenOffice needs work (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:OpenOffice needs work (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:minireview (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:minireview (Score:5, Informative)
God, I hate them so much.
Clippy (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Clippy (Score:3, Funny)
Except now, everyone will be copying "BMX XXX", so it will be exceptionally graphic....
hrmm...I think i'm on to something.
Whuz a naked paperclip look like?
Re:Clippy (Score:3, Funny)
Actually there is a naked clippy type program... http://www.virtuagirl.com/ [virtuagirl.com]
-
Googled for her pleasure...
Re:Clippy (Score:2, Funny)
Friendly Competition? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Friendly Competition? (Score:3, Funny)
Why would they otherwise have both Word and Wordpad
Re:Friendly Competition? (Score:2, Funny)
Gateway customization (Score:5, Funny)
Sure, if you actually want a Gateway.
Re:Gateway customization (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Gateway customization (Score:5, Interesting)
Come on - where else can you get a computer that MOOOOOS at you when you turn it on. How cool is that!
Actually that was a good question - and yes you can order it with no office suite. BUT it doesn't cost any less. A better question is why can't I order it without an OS.
So Gateway will sell 10 billion machines or so without MS office on them - Bill is still getting his $99 per machine for the OS...
Hey Gateway - BIG DEAL - mooooooo.
Duke
clarification... (Score:5, Informative)
In another blow to Microsoft, a fourth computer maker plans to bundle Corel's WordPerfect Office with its low-end consumer machines.
Gateway is planning to include WordPerfect 10 and Quattro Pro 10 on its 300s desktops in North America.
Re:clarification... (Score:4, Funny)
Re:clarification... (Score:2, Interesting)
The interesting part? Open Office would be more $$$. Why? Because if you select the 'no office suite' [dell.com] option the machine is $50 more than if you take the 'Corel suite' [dell.com].
Mmmm....
No news here (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:No news here (Score:5, Insightful)
Soon enough, OpenOffice (at no cost) will be adopted widely by the big retailers. If AOL were smart, they would switch their business model to not only be an ISP, but an application support clearance venue: AOLOffice, AOLCalendar, AOLFoo all rolled into your $19/month.
Re:No news here (Score:5, Funny)
You mean you really believe the marketing FUD which says that piracy "causes" high prices? Sheesh - I guess there really is one born every minute.
Re:No news here (Score:2)
You can't be serious. The prices haven't risen because of piracy, but because M$ can ask higher prices and most people will still buy M$ Office.
Re:No news here (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:No news here (Score:5, Informative)
Yes, since it's been nearly a decade since Word pushed out crappy WP.
I agree that MS has gotten a lot of it's influence through shady dealings (undocumented calls, blackmail via OS monopoly, etc) but you also have to go back and look at the early days of GUI Word Processors. WordPerfect was utter shit. It lost the market share because they didn't transition from DOS-based word processing to WYSIWYG GUI word processing fast enough. And when they finally did make the transition they released a crappy product that was full of bugs and missing features.
If you want a real competitor for Word, take a look at Ami Pro. The only reason I can see for it's failure is the miserable marketing out of Lotus (and later IBM). It had most of the features before Word did, it was faster, slimmer, and worked great. Those ubiquitous button bars that are in GUI apps nowadays? Came from Ami Pro. I'm sure it had some technical shortcomings, but I don't know what they were offhand.
Read the article, it's their "cheapest" pc's only (Score:2, Interesting)
This is like Dell offering Linux on on their high end workstations...
Monopoly? What monopoly? (Score:5, Insightful)
I just hope it pays off for them in being able to sell their computers for enough less that people buy more of them!
Ben
Re:Monopoly? What monopoly? (Score:3, Insightful)
Other than HP and Dell [slashdot.org] (August).
You obvoiusly need less life and more slashdot browsing.
What about... (Score:2, Interesting)
Which is always nice.
Re:gobeProductive and FreeRadicalSoftware (Score:2, Informative)
This is perhaps a sign on the wall.
Also note http://osnews.com/story.php?news_id=1520 here that: "I think it will take 90 -120 days before the broad public sees the GPL'd software. Some people will see it before that date as we work to roll it out".
Considered the news was out 2002-08-12, so it could take easily 'till newyear before we should start frowning.
It's happened before... (Score:5, Interesting)
Went through with a training session on it (dull) and we were officially supporting boxes with Sun's StarOffice!
For about a week.
Looks like MS got wind of it and made some phone calls because in no time flat all those models shipping with StarOffice was re-imaged with a load using Microsoft Works (an oxymoron if I ever heard one).
I don't expect this to last any time at all. Once MS gets wind of it, phone calls will be made and things will quietly go back to the status quo.
In better news, I heard a while back Gateway finally got rid of Vantive. Yippie!
Ooh fun, a Vantive bash! (Score:4, Interesting)
As much as I like my job at Apple, brother do I hate Vantive. It is contrary to everything that Apple stands for, seriously impedes my workflow rather than helps it, and is just plain hard to use, buggy, and slow. I hope I meet a Vantive programmer in a dark alley some day, I'll teach him something about undimissable pop-ups and how to connect to a printer API.
How someone was actually paid money to develop it is way beyond me--I envisage the conference room where the deployment demonstration took place while I'm waiting for my page to refresh.
I sure wish Apple gets a serious case of whatever Gateway caught that made them move from Vantive.
Snap, crackle, boom! (Score:5, Funny)
Every time I see the term "productivity suite" associated with Microsoft Office, I almost loose control of my bladder.
Re:Snap, crackle, boom! (Score:4, Insightful)
See a doctor.
There is nothing comparable (as a PIM) to Outlook in Windows. Symbian's Evolution approaches it for Linux (albeit lacking PocketPC synch support), but this is about Gateway's Win boxes.
ACT! comes close, but it is skewed too strongly towards Sales and Marketing executives.
Intro of an Outlook-free office suite is going to bring the hammer down on a lot of IT guys from various corner offices. And MS, of course, no dummies they, recognize and continue to play to this strength. [yahoo.com]
I write and business model professionally, and find OO.o's Write and Calc more than satisfactory; it ain't about the word processors and the spreadsheets. It's the PIM: how it handes and/or integrates with the e-mail client, how friendly it plays with both Palm and PocketPC PDA's, and how easy it is to mirror at the exec's home box.
I'm open to recommendations in this area, but I've looked around enough not to be hopeful.
Re:Snap, crackle, boom! (Score:2)
It took me ten years to find it - but check out Time and Chaos [isbister.com].
It has all the functionality (PIM'wise) of Outlook - but allows you to share calendars on a simple LAN without the use of a server. It's the perfect solution for our small church LAN - and it's allowed us to start moving away from Outlook both as a PIM and as an email client.
Ouch, the sound (Score:2, Interesting)
At least they have Open Office to fall back on. It's pretty intuitive software, especially if you know Word.
I wish I had that option. I'll be one happy man when Open Office can preform all the functions Word can AND the formatting, etc. is fully compatible with all versions of Word. Until then I'll be forced to use Word XP for all the nice little features it has...well, that and the hundreds of documents I edit every week are all in Word and ALL use the advanced formatting / markup features.
That's not gonna happen. (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Ouch, the sound (Score:2, Informative)
Really? I would be horribly disappointed to find that an Open Source project produced a word processor that insists on operating on and formatting my documents the way MS thinks they should be, as opposed to the way I want to lay them out. I hope they at least put all the items on the menus instead of leaving most of them out for the user to have to discover hidden away on some toolbar (or not even accessible anywhere without manually putting on a new toolbar).
I've loved WordPerfect since 4.2, even wrote my thesis in 5.1 for VAX/VMS. I think this is terrific news because it means the product has new life and isn't going to disappear on me. Quattro Pro is a far better spreadsheet for engineering and mathematics as well - it's truly 3D instead of Excel's notion of worksheets, and doesn't have Excel's huge "business presentation" slant.
Whee! Let the the Word/WordPerfect flame wars begin! :-)
IMHO (Score:2, Informative)
Re:IMHO (Score:2, Informative)
"Competition creates better products." (Score:5, Interesting)
While, don't get me wrong, this is true in the general case, it may not necessarily be true in the absolute case. Let's say that operating systems was a truly "competitive" market with 1000 really world class, interoperable operating systems out there. Each producer, lacking the ability to compete on features (because each would be good enough per users' needs), would compete on price. No producer could get large enough to invest significant amounts in R&D. Overall product quality declines.
So yes, it is nice to see somebody lighting a fire under MS's butt and that's exactly what Corel, with an objectively inferior product will do--it will force MS to innovate and perhaps complete a little more on price. But don't confuse that with the general notion that competition is always good, especially in software, which many people would say has tendencies towards natural (and in practice sometimes not so natural) monopolies.
Re:"Competition creates better products." (Score:2)
A Linux "zealot" might also point out the the fastest developing OS at the moment isn't a commercial product at all and is indicitive of the fact the the price of an OS had *already* dropped to $0, yet development continues.
KFG
Re:"Competition creates better products." (Score:2)
Take .mp3 players, for example. The entire arena is known by the fileTYPE. There are plenty of freely distributable players which all provide the same basic abilities. One could argue that none of them have made groundbreaking innovations, but they do succeed in a meaningful level of differentiation while allowing users to switch between them with a minimal of difficulty. If it were only so with office suites, the (geeky computer software) world would be much better.
Instead, we have a de facto imposed standard of a proprietary closed document. Anyone who wishes to compete in the office suite market must pay an investment to Microsoft, in the form of development time, developers, support, or possibly cash (could a developer buy the documentation?) This is a cost imposed on the competitors that Microsoft doesn't pay, and they can even raise that price with new versions. Price competition in this market would surely impede the R&D of competitors while Microsoft plunges ahead unhindered.
I don't pretend to be an economics expert, and there are undoubtedly more forces at play, but to dismiss the benefits of competition in software by definition is too zealous, I think. When everyone is building a competing tool for a level playing field, then R&D is an investment with an extremely substantial return - differentiation and innovation. When some competitors are forced to struggle to maintain compatibility with a monopolist, the returns for that are magnified and differentiation, innovation, and R&D, are minimized.
economics 101 (Score:4, Interesting)
So you would not get 1000 world class interoperable OS products unless the market could support that many. There is no reason at all why the OS market should tend towards a natural monopoly. In an open market, natural monopolies usually exist only where duplicated infrastructure is inefficient. Like your local power company. It is very doubtful that another power company could come along, string new power lines and still compete effectively with the existing utility. Again, in most open markets, natural monopolies are allowed, but regulated to some degree.
Microsoft is not a natural monopoly. There is no reason at all one company should have a 90% share of the OS market. Indeed, MS has been convicted of using illegal means to protect that monopoly. If they had anything close to a natural monopoly, they would not have felt the need to employ those means.
Economics also posits that unnatural monopolies eventually fall apart. The monopolist eventually puts more resouces into protecting the monopoly than the monopoly is worth. If no competition exists, subsitution begins to happen as people find more efficient ways to accomplish the same tasks. In this case, PDAs are a good example. Between subsitution and inefficient protection, the monopolist's power begins to slip away.
What will really happen (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:What will really happen (Score:5, Insightful)
WordPerfect Office is better than MS Works by several orders of magnitude, and it's a complete office suite (unlike the latter). I'd expect that more people will actually use a preinstalled copy of WP-Office than MS Works. That's a good thing, because it will bring directly to the forefront the issue of file compatibility. At the moment, people don't realise that not everyone can read Word files. Add all these WordPerfect users into the mix, and file format compatibility becomes something people want. Supply-and-demand follows, and such entities as Microsoft will have to offer options for their customers [gasp! MS forced to do what their customers want?? Is the world coming to an end??].
Re:What will really happen (Score:2)
Re:What will really happen (Score:3)
Re:What will really happen (Score:2)
WordPerfect (Score:2, Troll)
The first thing I did was uninstall it and install OpenOffice 1.0.1.
Re:WordPerfect (Score:5, Interesting)
so... (Score:2)
Surely this is the real issue?
This could be good. (Score:3, Interesting)
Even though this is not OpenOffice.org or anything, it is still good news.
Consider that if they hold out on this, and people really want to use MS Office, that they will have to pay the full price for MS Office. When you start seeing a couple hundred clams being dropped for just an office suite maybe folks will come to their senses.
Right now my work is based on MS Office and a number of other MS tools. When I mention the idea of looking into OpenOffice.org they say we get MS Office for free. Which isn't true. We just buy it in bulk (pay an obsene price to have as many licenses of MS Office/W2k/...). It hides the cost. So companies never see the cost of MS Office.
However, the end user will start seeing the price if they buy machines with Corel Office, which does the trick. But if they want to do MS Office thing, then they truely see the price at home.
I like this idea. The whole concept of pricing themselves out of the market.
Who *needs* MS Office ? (Score:5, Insightful)
Then there is the spreadsheet. Again, same trend applies here. Who has seen anyone at home actually use VB scripts or insert OLE objects to do weird stuff with Excel ? Not the majority I can tell you.
Just include a simple usefull wordprocessor and spreadsheet and you are set. Who needs MS Office?
Re:Who *needs* MS Office ? (Score:3)
Take a file in a simple format like CSV (comma separated) and edit it in Excel. When you save, the program will nag you to save it as an .XLS file and warn you that it "may" contain advanced features that will be lost if you don't. Same deal with RTF in Word.
So although most users don't use advanced Word features, they are bullied by MS software into saving everything in the proprietary formats.
1995 (Score:2)
$135M from Redmond (Score:5, Interesting)
For Tux' sake, update the logo! (Score:4, Insightful)
My hell that is wordperfect...... (Score:4, Interesting)
P.S. I know about open source solutions, but I don't make those kind of decisions
Re:My hell that is wordperfect...... (Score:3, Insightful)
Word *does* have advantages over WordPerfect: for one thing, more flexible variable handling. But formatting is undeniably inferior.
Compatibility is a problem, yes, but the same goes for Word's compatibility with WordPerfect and Lotus's compatibility with either. Sure, if everybody would just knuckle under to MS and use the latest version Word, there would not be compatibility issues, and we could just rent our software from MS the way they want to.
For most people, open source alternatives are okay. But for advanced document production (i.e., legal use), StarOffice and OpenOffice are inadequate.
Corel not as good (Score:3, Interesting)
"I can only see this as a good thing because friendly competition creates drive for better(less clippy) products."
I've used OpenOffice, Corel, MS Office, Lotus, and a few lesser knowns, and MS Office is by far the best app. Sure the price is a little steep but if you rely on these office applications (i.e. you don't use programming apps all day) to run your business then the functionality MS Office provides is unmatched.
They both suck goats (Score:3, Interesting)
Really, my money is with M$ Office, and my heart is with StarOffice. Corel used to have a solid draw suite, but even that's gone to tatters as I've done the unthinkable and switched over to Adobe Illustrator.
They suck, their support sucks, and they're always trying to give away their apps for OEMs to try and gain market share, because very few people would actually pay for this second-rate fluff.
Re:They both suck goats (Score:2)
Where are the reviews? (Score:5, Insightful)
Anyone know if there are any reviews with the massive amount of suites. Koffice, open office, star office, ms office, ms works, corel office, applix, easy office, lotus smartsuite, siag office, axene, newdeal, 602Pro, etc..
-
I'm too shy to express my sexual needs except over the phone to people I don't know. - Garry Shandling
Is this a pattern, or is it just me? (Score:5, Interesting)
I'm not a karma whore with ready-made "Insightful +1" link-laden posts sitting around, but I'd like to offer an unfounded observation.
Is it just me, or have we been seeing a lot of these types of announcements lately? There was this whole "Lindows" thing at Wal-Mart. Gateway moving to Corel. Didn't Dell (or Compaq or somebody) do the same thing a few months ago? And just before that (weeks?), didn't another of the big boys move to Open Office? I know the answer to those questions is "Google", but I'm no search string guru (Another topic is that I can type in what I think is intuitive for Google, and get nothing but junk, but fellow /.ers can find what they want by hitting the "I feel lucky" button).
In the beginning, the PC world was filled with choice. There was Dos, DrDos and a few clones like that, and they shipped with new computers. Then, there were multi-tasking shells (Quemm? Windows, Norton system commander?), and they shipped with new machines. Word, Word Perfect, Word Star, etc. shipped with new machines, too. Was it Windows 95 that ended the diversity? Or had Office been the de facto before that?
I'm wondering if perhaps the Justice Department thing may end up bringing some diversity back to a previously-diverse world. Not that I think the ruling will be anything to speak of, but rather a warning shot that lets the independant vendors go with other products without (much) fear of retribution. Or is this just noise in the grand scheme of things, and ammunition for M$ to scream, "Look, they chose to go with other vendors, then came back to us for superior products!"?
Re:Is this a pattern, or is it just me? (Score:3, Insightful)
Both destroyed diversity. Windows95 was the cheap system for dummies, but it carried lots of incompatibilities and conflicts. Some were created by dodo developers at Redmond, others were the result of a smart and well-weighed campaign, where M$ exploited the difficulties people had on adapting products to the new OS. In a few monthes this nearly wiped out every concurrent from the market.
One of the main loosers in this fight was exactly the WordPerfect suite. Back then it belonged to Novell and they were poised to make a serious concurrence against M$. But it is curious that everything Novell went nuts when Windows95 came. Their Netware network client was unstable in every detail, it took nearly an year to see a stable version. Quattro Pro, a very powerful and popular spreadsheet, which was much better and more stable than Excel on Windows 3.1, couldn't work on Win95. And while I didn't like too much of WordPerfect, the thing suffered the same ills as Quattro. And Paradox, the equivalent of Access, a very popular veteran among databases, died in unglory, due to the fact it never returned the stability of the old days.
There were also several tools like QEMM and SuperStack that died in similar ways. Some of this was due to the fact that we were enteringthe true world of MBs of RAM. But many of these systems died because of the crapyness of Win95
Is Lindows OS next for Gateway? (Score:2, Insightful)
(1) Gateway is struggling to compete against the "Dudes at Dell" who lead in education and business as PC suppliers
(2) They are looking to sell a lower cost system with major functionality so they have to include SOME office suite
(3) They look to Corel for a lower cost licensing option and I feel certain Corel gave them a sweetheart of a deal
(4) SO WHAT'S NEXT? Well if you are already shipping systems with your lowest end hardware and a less expensive productivity suite, the next obvious place to look is your OS. By offering a Wal-Martesq Lindows or Dellesq Red Hat option, you can offer an even less expensive system AND reduce component configurations since Linux doesn't require as beefy a system as OSes from Redmond do.
Humm, add a coffee bar to those Gateway Country stores and in 2003 they'll be the hacker hangout in ever mid-sized town.
Puzzling... (Score:2, Interesting)
Confessions of a Corel WordPerfect Convert (Score:5, Funny)
Office XP to Corel WordPerfect: Mission Accomplished, Convert Thrilled
October 9, 2002
Yes, it's true. I like Corel WordPerfect to change my whole computing world around. Here's the bottom line: WordPerfect gives me more choices and flexibility, and better compatibility with the rest of the technology world.
WordPerfect relieved my fears about switching. I can read my files, import e-mail addresses from my Palm* to the CorelCENTRAL messaging and collaboration client, and keep my Web favorites. All the Office XP hardware--including my printer, broadband cable, Zip drive, and Palm handheld--works perfectly with my Corel-based PC.
To my surprise, the process of switching was as easy as the marketing hype had promised. I was up and running in less than one day, Girl Scout's honor. First, let me tell you more about why I converted.
More Hardware Options, for Less Dough
I am a freelance writer; I demand the best in mobile computing. There's a much greater choice of portable computers and features, for less money, on the Corel platform. My laptop came with 512 MB of RAM, a 15" screen, a DVD player, and WordPerfect Home Edition preinstalled, for $450 less than a comparable iBook. My recommendation is to go straight to WordPerfect Professional; the extra features for mobile users are worth it. See Which Edition is Right for You? [corel.com] for more information.
More Software Flexibility
Office XP (previously called Office 2000) pales in comparison to Corel WordPerfect. There's no equivalent for the versatility of Corel WordPerfect, QuattroPro, and CorelPresentations. Toolbars and menus customize themselves to the way I work. I wouldn't know how to function without the Track Changes and Comments features of Word. I adore the WordPerfect Clipboard, which copies multiple elements from one file and pastes them into another.
Corel Internet Explorer 6 does more for me than Netscape Navigator ever did, and I am a surfing addict. Searches are faster; the History feature makes it easier to find that site from last week; and I can name and organize my Favorites any way I want.
Reveal Codes (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Reveal Codes (Score:4, Informative)
Tools
Options
In Formatting Marks check All
Re:Reveal Codes (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Reveal Codes (Score:3, Interesting)
To get word to work right, turn off the "define styles based on your formatting" function in the Autocorrect menu ("Autoformat as you type" tab). Then use files for any difference in font or heading, making new ones as you go.
Using word this way lets you seperate the content from the presentation (as much as a word processor can), and allows for rather easy editing.
Wordperfect lets you reveal codes, but Word doesn't litter extra codes everywhere.
See http://www.mvps.org/word/Default.htm [mvps.org] for more information on Word. I wish that the help file was half this good...
Let's see what happens (Score:5, Insightful)
So what this means is that the Gateway PC is going to have to be cheaper - when you factor in the lost MS Office - then competitors. What's it worth having MS Office vs Corel's suite ? $100 ? $200 ? Whatever number you come up with, that's how much the Gateway is going to need to be cheaper (assuming an otherwise equivalent feature set).
If Gateway's PC is not cheaper on a feature-adjusted basis, then people are going to buy their PCs from Dell, or IBM, or HPQ, or whomever. LOTS of companies have been substituting other office suites in the past, and they did NOTHING to threaten MS hegemony, let alone provide a modicum of competition. IBM did it with their line of PCs years ago, bundling WordPro and 1-2-3 right after their Lotus acquisition and when MS Office was not nearly as dominant as it is now, and I'm sure their sales were hurt as a result. Now WordPro is history while MS Word rolls on.
This isn't news, it's just Gateway trying to cut their costs.
Re:Let's see what happens (Score:3, Insightful)
Most of these people, politics aside and given a choice, would take Word any day over WordPerfect and would take Excel any day over 1-2-3.
How do you know? If Corel hadn't fouled up WP9, I'd still be using it, and so would my company of 150 people.
Likely Outcome (Score:4, Insightful)
This makes sense (Score:3, Interesting)
With MS Office costing so much, I wonder why more people and companies don't switch over to WordPerfect Office? I think that Excel is a little better than Quatro Pro, but with the exception of the email program (which absolutely sucks) the rest of programs that make up the WordPerfect Office suite are at least as good if not better than their Microsoft counterparts.
Since word processing is the most used application of any suite, and since WordPerfect is far better and cheaper than Word, it only makes sense.
Mooooo.
It's not about the format, stupid (Score:3, Insightful)
Now, if someone would finally come up with one standard document format, preferably one like html (code based) but with a better system for printing, then life would be good.
Anyway, for now, there is a standard format and it's called plain text. If that doesn't work, PDF is pretty much universal in the Windows world. Not sure about PDF under Linux.
Oh this is rich. (Score:4, Funny)
Click here for screen grab [caplan.org]
Yeah, I know it's 8 color. I'm trying to save on some bandwidth, okay?