Comparing Word with other Wordprocessors

[debrey]

Hi,

So, as I mentioned in my other thread, I'm worried about Word on the new Intel Machines. I'm wondering what people think of other wordprocessors that work on Mac (in specific, ones that are written in Universal Binary). So far I've heard mentioned iWorks and AbiWord. Are there other good ones? What major features are these missing that Word has? How easy is it to open someone's Word doc in these programs? Thanks for your help. I really can't switch to a Mac in good conscience if I don't have a sound wordprocessing program.

-- David

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

What features do you need then? I guess for 99% of all users TextEdit, which comes with OS X, would really cover all their word processing needs... ever...

[debrey]

Well, I suppose the most unusual feature I use often is Word's track changes feature. From what I hear, this I would have to do without.

I want an easy way to do headers and footers. Occasionally I like to include a chart or diagram or some such. A decent footnote system. That's about all that comes to mind right away. (Of course, I also want good spacing, sizing and fonts, but I assume that goes without saying.)

Oh, and I want it to be user friendly. No Latex or anything, please.

-- David

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

Well, I would then just test them... :)

Get trials of MS Office (not Universal, yet) and iWork and download the free AbiWord (http://www.abiword.com/) (not Universal, yet) and NeoOffice (Java), which all should have very similar word processing powers, but with a few differences in features here and there...

Also, when you've first set it up (which is a bit of a hassle) LyX (http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/unix_open_source/lyxmac.html) is a very nice WYSIWYG (or WYSIWYM as they call it) latex editor... ;)

Edit: BTW, AbiWord is my preferred word processor on (the very few) occasions when I need a word processor, but I usually do fine with TextWrangler (http://www.barebones.com/products/textwrangler/) and the rich text options in Mail... :cool:

[ChrisA]

.... I really can't switch to a Mac in good conscience if I don't have a sound wordprocessing program.


Have you looked at Open Office? It's about as close to MS Office as you can get. There are several versions of it. I used OO on Linux, Solaris and WIndows XP. It run on MacOS too.
http://www.openoffice.org/

Neo Office is a branch off Open Office that is ported to Aqua
http://www.neooffice.org/

People complain that Open Office runs under X11. I argue this is a good thin because it make th Apple version compatable to al the other platforms.

[Thunderbird]

Someone mentioned Endnote in the other thread.

Is Endnote compatible with Mac intels and with AbiWord, Neo Office and Open Office?

[QCassidy352]

is there any program besides word that has a "notebook" view? I'm looking for "lined" paper and multiple tabs within a single document in particular.