WTVN Radio • Columbus, Ohio • Sunday morning from 8 until 9
Who's in the corner?
Is this information useful? If so, consider
making a contribution, please.
|
|
WTVN Radio • Columbus, Ohio • Sunday morning from 8 until 9 |
|
| Home
• Previous
page Who's in the corner? |
Is this information useful? If so, consider |
|
| |
October 24, 2004 |
Random thought:
|
 |
|
Did you ever have to make up your mind?In the 1960s, The Lovin' Spoonful sang "Did you ever have to make up your mind? Pick up on one and leave the other one behind. It's not often easy, and not often kind. Did you ever have to make up your mind?" For some reason, when I look at the latest iteration of Wordperfect and the advertising that goes with it, I can't help but think " Did you ever have to finally decide? Say yes to one and let the other one ride. There's so many changes, and tears you must hide. Did you ever have to finally decide?"* Writing about Wordperfect is always a bit of a challenge. It's more so this year than in the past because Corel has adopted a bifurcated approach to the software company in Redmond. While saying that the Wordperfect Office Suite plays nicely with Microsoft Office, the company hopes to grab some market share from Microsoft. Simultaneously, Corel is promoting its Draw suite as a good application to create graphics for Word and Powerpoint. The illustrations used here include larger versions In looking at the latest version of Wordperfect Office, I had to ask myself what (if anything) does it have that beats Microsoft Office. Where once there was an application that attempted unsuccessfully to compete with Outlook, there is nothing. For me, that's unimportant because I use Outlook only to hold my organizer's information; if Outlook would cease to exist, I would simply use the Palm application. But for people who actively use Outlook, this would be a shortcoming. The key components are present, though -- Wordperfect for letters, Quattro Pro for numbers, Presentations for Powerpoint-like shows, and Paradox for data. Paradox is available only in the more expensive "professional" version. Most corporations, with the exception of law offices, standardized on the Microsoft product over the past decade or so and that means there's scant chance that Corel will ever be able to boost Wordperfect back into the orbit it once occupied. But that doesn't mean there's no market for Wordperfect. There are loyal users -- not as many as in the past, but they're out there. And the more frugal users have good reason to take a look at Wordperfect, which is often available for quite a bit less than its $300 official price. Upgrading from a previous version might cost as little as $130. Corel is selling the full version currently for $150 and you can find the full retail version on Ebay for less than $100.
Corel applications have options to export directly to PDF format (licensed from Adobe) and to generate files in Macromedia Flash (SWF) format. Another plus that Microsoft has never been able to copy is "reveal codes", a feature that long-time users of Wordperfect love but that those who have never experienced it don't understand.
Still, because the programs are founded on different programming principles, there isn't exactly a 1:1 relationship. Users can transfer documents between Word and Wordperfect, but there are limitations: Documents with heavy Word formatting that Wordperfect doesn't understand may not translate properly and documents with heavy Wordperfect formatting that Word doesn't understand won't translate properly. Average documents make the transition with ease, although I still feel that this kind of back and forth is asking for trouble.
And Wordperfect continue to load its own wonky typefaces to create typographic quotes and other symbols. This can create an enormous problem when Wordperfect documents show up on computers without the special typefaces. Open double quotes suddenly become "A" and close double quotes turn into "@". My solution for this, when clients send me Wordperfect documents that are destined for use on the Web is to open the document in Wordperfect, save it in XYWrite format (which converts the curly quotes to plain ASCII), open the XYWrite version of the document in Wordperfect and save it in Wordperfect format, then import it into Dreamweaver. In the days when DOS was king, there was a good reason for having these special typefaces, but Postscript and TrueType faces have supported typographic quotes, em dashes, en dashes, single quotes, and many other typographic symbols for a decade or so. Unicode faces will eliminate the need for some of the other specialized files that are part of Wordperfect. If Corel won't eliminate these faces, the company should at least make it easy for users to select standard typographic characters that are in use throughout the Windows and Mac worlds. For Corel, the bad news is that there's little reason for users of Microsoft's suite to switch. Still, there should be a market for the new version among users of previous Wordperfect versions. Wordperfect held something like 65% of the market share when nearly a dozen companies had word processing programs. Today, Microsoft owns about 90% of the market and, on the Windows platform, the only competitor still standing is Corel. (Yes, Sun has its StarOffice and there's the free open-source OpenOffice, but neither is a real competitor when it comes to features. Probably the most significant reason to upgrade is the improved compatibility with Microsoft Office files. Wordperfect 11 could handle Word files, too, but with less success. The new version still can't perfectly replicate the formatting of a complex Word document, but users will have less trouble.
*The rest of the lyrics: What kind of monitor is best?I received a question from someone who's thinking about buying a new monitor: "I'm wondering what kind of monitor would be best: LCD or CRT flat screen; a rotating monitor or one that is large enough so ability to rotate doesn't matter." Only you can define what's best. Flat-screen CRTs cost a lot less, but take more space and give off a lot more heat (along with various kinds of electronic signals that, depending on who's talking, are either harmless or will kill you. CRTs also emit some UV, which can make your eyes tired unless you wear glass glasses or plastic glasses with UV coating. Standard CRTs can also be run at varying resolutions without image degradation. LCD screens give you back most (or all) of your desk. My 18" LCD at home is mounted on an articulating arm that takes up a 1.5" diagonal circle on the desk (where the bolt goes through). Flicker is not a problem, but these screens don't do as well for rapidly changing images (games, video, rapidly scrolling documents). They're also designed to run at their "native resolution" and, while most will run at other resolutions, the text will be fuzzy. LCDs are digital internally and your computer processes video digitally, but the output is probably analog. For the very best (sharpest) video, you would want to replace the video card with a digital-output video card and purchase a more expensive digital monitor. I have a very good analog video card and use an analog-input LCD. My eyes are happy. So if you need various resolutions, the ability to play shoot-'em-up games, or want to spend less, CRTs are better. If you'd like to conserve space and reduce heat, LCDs are better. LCDs also consume less electricity, but probably not enough less to let you quickly recover the higher cost of buying the monitor. Either kind of monitor will display a sharp image. Even if you don't buy from a computer store, GO to the store to view monitors before buying. This is the only way to understand the differences as they apply to you. CRTs have a refresh rate (stated in Hertz). The rate depends on the video subsystem in the computer and the monitor. Old monitors used to refresh at 60Hz and many people found that the flickering gave them headaches. According to the good folks at Viewsonic, women are more likely to notice the flicker than men. Most men stop seeing it when the refresh rate is 70Hz or higher. Some women can still see it at 80Hz, but virtually nobody reports being able to see flicker when refresh is 85Hz or faster. Some monitors exceed 100Hz. LCDs don't care about the refresh rate. The video subsystem can be set at 60Hz and you won't see any flicker because of the way the monitor works. This is what works against the monitor in displaying video that moves, by the way, so it's not universally good or bad -- it just is. At the office I have a CRT, but if I slide 2 feet to the right I'm in front of my Mac Powerbook's LCD screen (which is much sharper than the aging piece of junk that's connected to my primary computer). At home I have an 18" LCD that is crisp and clear. But let your EYES be the judge. Nerdly NewsCorel acquires Paint Shop ProThe same week that the latest version of Jasc's Paint Shop Pro (v.9) arrived for review, I received news releases from Corel and from Jasc: Jasc has been acquired by Corel. Corel already has a bitmap editing program (Photo-Paint) so what's the deal with the Jasc acquisition. Some have suggested that Corel has acquired Jasc to kill it. I don't think so. Here's why:
But the number one reason why I think this will work out to everyone's benefit is:
Kiss your VCR goodbyeVCRs are an endangered species. First it was the threat from TiVO, now PCs are joining the battle. This isn't something new, but Sony is about to start shipping a machine that will get a lot of attention. Sony has been showing off a computer this week that will go on sale for a little under $5000 next month. That's a lot of money, but the computer will come with 1000 gigabytes of storage. It's designed to work with video and 1000 gigabytes is enough to record 6 TV channels for a full week. Want one? You'll have to wait. Sony will sell the device only in Japan now and there are no plans to market it in the United States. It's worth noting here that Japan and the United States are the only two countries that are still using the antiquated NTSC system for television signals. Sony's new computer comes with 6 analog TV tuners that should work in the US, but you'd have to buy the device in Japan. Look for the "Vaio Type X" starting in mid November. But only in Japan. Let us know what you think about this program! Write to: |
||||||||||||||
|
|
Privacy Guarantee:I HATE SPAM and will not sell, rent, loan, auction, trade, or do anything else with your e-mail address. Period.
|
This is the only ad you'll ever see on this site. It's for my website host, BlueHost in Orem, Utah. Over the past several years, they have proven to be honest, reliable, and progressive. If you need to host a website, please click the banner below to see what BlueHost has to offer. As if you didn't already get enough weather on the radio! Annoying legal disclaimer
[an error occurred while processing this directive] |
||
It's not free, so those with no budget will still need to look at OpenOffice, but $100 to $150 is reasonable, particularly when compared to Microsoft's product.
Fire up one of the applications and you'll find that Corel immediately has a question for you: A dialog box asks if you'd prefer to use the Corel interface or the Microsoft interface. The reasoning is that Corel and Microsoft use different names for similar functions and that Word users will learn Wordperfect faster if the application looks and feels like Word. Likewise Presentations and Quattro Pro. You can switch from one view to another later by choosing the Workspace option.
