🚀 go-pugleaf

FrameMaker (FM): I have used   it now for about   2  years.   It is  rather
full-featured,  and, as   far  as  WYSIWYG,   quite  good   (although    it
unfortunately  does  not completely  follow  NeXT guidelines).  Compared to
TeX,  Frame's   equation  editor is a pain   to use,  but  its  tables  are
wonderful.  Unlike  other  platforms, FM does   not  have a  good  document
interchanging system;  i.e., when you   need to interact  with someone with
WordPerfect on a DOS machine, you cannot use FM but have to use WP (5.0) on
NeXT. This is a pity, given that DOS users can buy interchange products for
~$50. I do most of my short form documents (e.g. letters) in FM.

FM on NeXT is very stable, although it is extremely slow  on color NeXTs, a
minor  bug that Frame  is planning  to fix (turning borders off [Command-T]
helps a lot).

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TeX: The  best  system for  equations  and platform  exchange. TeX's output
looks the  same everywhere, and  TeX is  now universally available.  TeX is
very mediocre for  tables.  However, TeX's best feature  is that I  can use
Emacs; I am at least twice  as productive in Emacs as  I am typing into any
word-processors---Emacs+TeX is just a great combination. So, I do most long
documents in LaTeX.

TeX on NeXT  is very stable, and  beautifully done.  Tom Rokicki's port  is
absolutely superb,  and moreover free.  [Tom and Scott Hess (Stuart) really
have  done great service to  the NeXT community---I  hope NeXT rewards them
for it].


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WordPerfect: The main reason to use WP on  NeXT is  interchangeability with
DOS WP, the quasi-standard---but WP/N can only handle the old 5.0 standard.
WP/N is  not only a little buggy  (crashes happen, albeit rarely), but also
lacks some polish in its  NeXT interface.   Although WP  will do as a basic
word processor,  it really is a disappointment  for NeXT Software. WP plans
to release a  much better  version when it  will release   new DOS  and Mac
versions.


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WriteNow: I only have the old version, so I cannot compare it.


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MS Word for Mac   +   Executor: This   is  a surprisingly stable  and  fast
combination. It is far superior for Mac Word  users to bring over documents
from the Mac than it is for  WP users to bring over  documents from the PC,
either on     WP/NeXT  or SoftPC.  For    a    general-purpose,  affordable
word-processor on a NeXT computer, albeit one  that completely uses the Mac
interface instead of the NeXT interface, I believe Executor is the superior
low-end/medium-end  word  processor.    (Warning: I consult    for ARDI  on
financial but not technical matters; ARDI produces Executor.)


/ivo welch
Asst Prof of Finance
UCLA