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Which Word Processor do you use?
- Thread starter Kristenn
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I use Office (specifically for PPT compatibility with work) but I find that I am generally used to Word so it is a good match.
I don't do anything complicated so it works great for what I need.
I don't do anything complicated so it works great for what I need.
Word, because Office was $10 through work and has the highest level of compatibility. I don't use it very much but I do like the notebook view for taking notes at courses. There's probably a better app out there but I'm happy enough with what I have.
Pages. I (like probably everyone else) used MS Word for years, but eventually saw the light and switched to Pages. Microsoft's Office suite is bloated, cumbersome, and full of all sorts of features that I'm sure would be incredibly useful if I actually needed them. Pages does everything I need it to do, and it's simpler, faster, and more elegant than Word, not to mention cheaper.
I'd still use appleworks if i had the option, but since i don't pages for sure. I've never been one for office but hey thats just me. 
Word 2008. But I do wish there was something that gave me the same functionality, and cross-platform compatibility, as Word for Mac, but the minimalist utility and elegance of WriteRoom.*
*And no, Scrivener doesn't count. I want to write in my word processor - I'm just weird like that.
*And no, Scrivener doesn't count. I want to write in my word processor - I'm just weird like that.
Thanks for all the replies.
Now here is my dilemma. I'm trying (key word TRYING) to be a writer and I'm stuck because of this.
I really LIKE Pages the best. But in my experience the grammar checker is somewhat weak in Pages compared to Word. Okay okay, so I should learn how to use proper grammar and spell. But its important for me because I won't be paying anyone to read and edit my work. I catch most things on my own but the small and probably little things that make it look more professional are caught by Word and not Pages.
Example.
When I use a comma "," in Word where this thing ";" should be instead, Word fixes it.
Pages does not. Any idea why? Or is it my imagination? Is that miss punctuation a big deal?
Now here is my dilemma. I'm trying (key word TRYING) to be a writer and I'm stuck because of this.
I really LIKE Pages the best. But in my experience the grammar checker is somewhat weak in Pages compared to Word. Okay okay, so I should learn how to use proper grammar and spell. But its important for me because I won't be paying anyone to read and edit my work. I catch most things on my own but the small and probably little things that make it look more professional are caught by Word and not Pages.
Example.
When I use a comma "," in Word where this thing ";" should be instead, Word fixes it.
Pages does not. Any idea why? Or is it my imagination? Is that miss punctuation a big deal?
I very seldom have a need to do actual word-processing. When I do, I use Pages--NeoOffice if I need to break out the big guns, but I hate having to wait for it to load.
Most of the time, though, I just need something to type into with minimal text-formatting features, and for this I use Scrivener or TextEdit. I have half a dozen other word processors on my Mac, but I only use them in cases of emailed files that won't open--and generally those files turn out to be corrupt and unopenable by anything I have.
Most of the time, though, I just need something to type into with minimal text-formatting features, and for this I use Scrivener or TextEdit. I have half a dozen other word processors on my Mac, but I only use them in cases of emailed files that won't open--and generally those files turn out to be corrupt and unopenable by anything I have.
Mellel because it is by far the best for combining non-English languages, in my case Hebrew. Styles and Outlining are better (but different); very powerful. Have been using since 2003 and not once has it crashed. Inexpensive: and even more so if you purchase Bookends with it.
OpenOffice 3.3 dev is finally stable, even in developer build, and handles Hebrew correctly. I use it to exchange files with MS Office files. I keep NeoOffice up-to-date as well.
Nisus Writer Pro is a fine all around word processor. It saves in .rtf format which is readable on all platforms. Rock solid, and never crashes.
Papyrus is cross-platform, very stable. I used it to write, layout a book four years ago. Excellent features.
OpenOffice 3.3 dev is finally stable, even in developer build, and handles Hebrew correctly. I use it to exchange files with MS Office files. I keep NeoOffice up-to-date as well.
Nisus Writer Pro is a fine all around word processor. It saves in .rtf format which is readable on all platforms. Rock solid, and never crashes.
Papyrus is cross-platform, very stable. I used it to write, layout a book four years ago. Excellent features.
I think you're searching for something that cannot and should not be done by a word processor. If you really want to be a writer, you will have to learn the difference between a comma and a semi-colon; much like any other profession, you need to become expert with your tools before you can produce beautiful things. In your case, the 'tool' is the English language. (Yes, this sounds rather pretentious, but that doesn't make it untrue.)
Pages because it doesn't get in my way. Lots of things are just unwieldy to do in Word. Compatibility is good. While documents written in Word are not always shown correctly in Pages, Pages -> Word exporting seems to do a near-perfect job.
The only things I've found a bit half-baked in Pages are style editing, lack of custom numbered bullets and image captioning. I hope that whenever iWork '10 arrives it will fix these little things.
The only things I've found a bit half-baked in Pages are style editing, lack of custom numbered bullets and image captioning. I hope that whenever iWork '10 arrives it will fix these little things.
Actually, I have both MSO for Mac and Pages. I got MSO for Mac first when I switched 2 yrs ago from PCs to MBP mainly because this was what I was used to using. Last year I got Pages. I use Keynote exclusively for all of my lectures/presentations. I use Excel for all of my spreadsheets and use both Word and Pages about equally for documents. At little schizo, but it works for me.
I currently use NeoOffice, which is the best of the non-MSOffice suites for OSX IMO. I still have MS Office 2004 on my MBP but only ever use it when NeoOffice does not have the necessary compatibility since 2004 runs in Rosetta and is therefore a bit slow. I occasionally need VBA support in Excel which is why I've never upgraded my MSOffice up to 2008, but for the few times I do need that Excel 2004 meets my needs (albeit slowly).
When Office 2011 arrives in a couple of months I will most likely return to being an MS user full time.
When Office 2011 arrives in a couple of months I will most likely return to being an MS user full time.
OP, the grammar checker in Pages might be worse than the one in Word, but the one in Word is terrible as well. Not only does it miss things that should be marked, but it also marks things that are proper. In my opinion, it is a feature that should never be relied on regardless of what word processor you are using.
How did your your parents get MS Word 2010? MS Office 2010 is Windows only, MS Office 2011 is Mac, but it is still in beta (which is closed to public).