Okay, I am beginning to see just how many apps out there are classified as word processors. So, allow me to get a bit more specific...
1. The editor must be WYSIWYG;
2. It must be able to import to, and export from, Microsoft Word format without any difficulties; and,
I will state that this won't ever happen unless all users are using the same version with the same installation configuration. I hear the screams as people that are working on collaborations get work back that doesn't look like the copy previously worked on. More hours lost re-formatting.
3. It must have strong formatting abilities. For example, when I mentioned "intelligent bulleting," I was referring to the ability to hit <TAB> and have the editor indent a paragraph and renumber the paragraph with the next appropriate hierarchy (i.e., I, A, 1, i, a, etc.). OpenOffice and StarOffice attempt to do this, but they fail after the second level.
From what I have heard. Word is just awful for formatting the "Way you want it" and from my limited experience it is. As stated above, Word will convert and change whole documents formatting if you make one little change. Worse, it won't always undo cleanly. I have converted some scientists over to OpenOffice on Windows to overcome this problem.
Most people that I know that write scientific papers do the writing first then the formatting. They may put some formatting in place as they write but it is finalized in the editing phase. This is when they find the limitations of Word. I don't know of a single person that makes it correct on the first go.
Simply put, I need something where I can compose a professional document, with as much ease as possible, and then hand that file to a printer for mass publication without any retooling of the document to make it pretty. I want to be able to write, and have the editor handle formatting correctly and cosmetically, so my concentration can remain on the subject matter.
Only two weeks ago I was searching for Windows Versions of LaTex editors for a scientist that had just lost all the formatting in Word.
Then there is the added benefit of OpenOffice being able to open MS word files that Word refuses to open. OOo 2.0 preview has been released and it is supposed to be better at handling Microsoft Office documents.
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Robin Laing
