🚀 go-pugleaf

>I am fairly new to the Mac system.  What I need to do is decide what kinds
>and brands of software our Company should order to run on the Mac.  I am
>particularly interested in everyones opinion on word processors.  How is
>Righnow? Fullwrite? Macwrite? Wordperfect? MSWord and so on.. And
>presentation packages ie Powerpoint.  Spreadsheets and databases ie. Excel
>and Filemaker.  Data comm packages?  Microphone okay?  What else  would you
>suggest?

Oh, boy.  I get to let people yell at me again. Now, to start up some
controversy with some recommendations:

Word Processors: What do you need? A good, solid, low end product? A
fully-blown, turbo-driven version? They're really two markets, not one.

Low end WP's. Look at the new Macwrite. Look at Writenow. Look at Microsoft
Write, especially if you think you might need more power later and want a
compatible upgrade path. 

High End WP's. If you need a power processor, defer your purchase as long as
possible. This market is just starting to get interesting, and unless you're
ready to commit before the party is over, I'd wait, unless you're willing to
put down bucks and then convert to something else when the dust settles
(which is MORE bucks, if you guess wrong). If I were walking into the WP
market today, I'd probably buy Microsoft Write and see what happens in the
Word/FullWrite wars.

here's how the high-end WP's look to me:

o WordPerfect. Very disappointing. For folks who need WP compatibility with
  the PC world only, or who already know and love it. Not for real Mac
  folks.

o Microsoft Word. I got an interesting rumor for a highly placed, unnamed
  source (not at Microsoft, tho) that Word 4.0 for the Mac will be out (or
  at least announced) in March. Let's be conservative and say April.
  Supposedly, it's primarily cleanup and performance enhancments
  (significantly faster), not a lot of new functionality. If I'm right, you
  heard it here first. If not, well, never mind...

o FullWrite Pro. Just bought by Ashton-Tate. The demo/beta versions have 
  folks (including me) drooling. The buyout has implications, whether it'll
  be good or bad is too soon to tell (I'm hopeful -- AAS was technically
  sound, but not a good marketing or business organization. A-T can take the
  software, which is nifty, and turn it into a product, which is critical).
  Latest date on shipment is April. I'll believe it if I see it.

There's a couple of other new, high end programs that'll be announced or
start shipping this year. Too early to really tell whether they'll be
factors, but I wouldn't want to be a startup in this market.

My preferences? I'm rooting for fullwrite. What time I've spent with it has
been fun. it's amazingly maclike, very powerful, and intuitive. It's also an
amazing memory hog -- Mac+ owners take note. Unless you've got lots of
memory (and my two machines both have 2 meg, and that's starting to seem
small....) you better stand ready to toss out those INIT's, turn off those
disk caches, and get rid of Multifinder. My two biggest worries about FWP
are that it won't ship in April (or if it does, it'll be buggy) and that
it's simply too big to fit on most Mac's. If I had to toss out QuickKeys and
Multifinder for Fullwrite, I wouldn't. this may come back to haunt them.

And if they don't ship in April, they're in deep trouble. The other problem
FWP has is Microsoft. If, as the rumor says, they DO ship or announce Word
4.0 in March or April, and if it clears up the performance and interface
issues that plague word (It's not really Multifinder compatible. It doesn't
crash, but it sure doesn't like other processes to exist; also, it doesn't
like Suitcase, it doesn't like things playing with it's menubar, and it does
funny things to internal events) so that it's a fully cooperative player on
the Mac game, rather than a ported PC program with a mouse, then FWP has
problems. Switching to a new Word Processor is a royal pain, and if Word
gets its act together, lots of folks (myself included) won't bother, even if
FWP turns out to be better than sliced bread. Inertia's a big market force
-- you may not love Word, but it's easier to stay with something you've
invested a LOT of time with than rebuild all that stuff new unles you get
more in return. The question is whether FWP will deliver that.

On to others: presentation packages. Who cares? This is a market in search
of a reason, a great hype with little substance. Powerpoint does some nice
things, but how many people REALLY need something that can't be done in
their Word Processor? Seriously, now....

Spreadsheets: if you need power, buy Excel. If you don't, buy Works.
Microsoft finally does some product right. And does it twice.

Databases: again, a high-end low end split. High end: 4th Dimension. It
slices bread. It'll probably vacuum my house once I find the right command.
The documentation gives you hernias. This is Neat Stuff.

Low end: A dogfight between Filemaker plus and Reflex plus. I prefer
Filemaker. It's got better report creation procedures. Reflex is a little
more powerful on the database end. Either looks good.

Terminal packages: I use Red Ryder. I love it. I hate it. Typical reaction
to the program. It's butt ugly, but it works. Multifinder compatible
(although Word won't let it download in the background. foo!). I used to use
MacTerminal, but outgrew it. Microphone? Supposed to be okay.

Now, THAT should start a discussion...


Chuq Von Rospach			chuq@sun.COM		Delphi: CHUQ

                       What do you mean 'You don't really want to hurt her?'
                                    I'm a Super-Villain! That's my Schtick!