[softwarelist] Re: O-Pro's future
- From: Ray Dawson <ray@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: davidpilling@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Thu, 26 Jun 2008 19:16:04 +0100
Phil Dennison <dennison@xxxxxxx> wrote:
> People don't like Word, but most have it and use it and don't even
> consider an alternative might exist. My main complaint against
> Microsoft/Windows is that it lowers peoples expectations of what a
> computer can do. In terms of reliability, complexity and quality of
> output.
I started off using Impression and later moved to Ovation Pro. I was a bit
disappointed at first as Impression seemed a bit slicker and had a nicer
interface. However, I persevered and changed all my business and personal
stationery to OP files.
In my business I got/get many Word files and, as I couldn't do many
necessary things in RISCOS, I built a PC and networked it to the Risc PC.
This meant for years that I had the best of both worlds.
However, as more and more of my business needs became PC orientated, I
moved to the PC for virtually everything - including using Word. I have to
admit that I didn't like it but, the same as Ovation Pro, once I had set
up all my stationery as templates, it became a lot easier to use. After
upgrading to Word 2007 a year ago, the 'ribbon' brought a lot of the
hidden features of Word to the surface and it actually became a pleasure
to use. All my textual stationery in in Word and my invoicing is done
using Excel, which again has templates set up so that invoices calculate
automatically.
One of the reasons for moving all my business stationery from Ovation Pro
to the PC was because I send a lot of documents to clients by email. At
the time it wasn't easy to make pdf versions using OP, although it
apparently is more so now. With Word and Excell all I have to do is
complete the document and save a copy as a pdf via the file menu, drag it
to an email window and off it goes.
Impression and Publisher had frustrations, Ovation Pro had frustrations
and Word has frustrations. However, with all of them, once you sit down
and work out how to make them do what YOU want to do - and preferably make
templates of your commonly used documents, all of them become a lot more
manageable. Even Word.
The one program I could NEVER get along with was EasyWriter. If ever an
application was wrongly named, that was the one. Strangely enough,
although they work similarly, I find Word comprehensible whereas EW is
still beyond me.
One thing missing from both Ovation Pro and Impression was the ability to
do simple calculations - which Word can do. OP and IP can use Tablemate,
which does calculations, but they aren't dynamic.
Cheers,
Ray D
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