...from Saginaw Macintosh User Group
Review of WordPerfect for the Mac
by Jerry Brasseur,
When I requested an evaluation copy of CorelDraw Suite, I wasn’t expecting three
very large manuals along with the 3 CDs for installing the programs. Included in
the package are manuals for
Corel WordPerfect
CorelDRAW’s ClipArt and font manual
CorelDraw 6, CorelDream3D 6, Corel Artisan 6, and CorelTexture 6
3 CDs for installing everything
I have owned “WordPerfect Works” for a few years, even when it was called “BeagleWorks”
before being purchased by WordPerfect. I liked the products and found them comfortable
to work with on the Mac. Corel purchased the rights to all of the word processing
programs from WordPerfect and has upgraded them. WordPerfect has been one of the
standards in word processing on many computer platforms for years. (In order to do
justice to the Corel product, I am doing the review and demo of WordPerfect for our
May meeting. )
The first thing that impressed me was the quality of the Corel WordPerfect manual
as I’m usually not one to sit down and read a manual for a product. This one is well
written, well illustrated, and very organized. After quickly scanning the “getting
started” chapter, I began checking out the “intro” chapters as I spotted some ruler
bars that weren’t familiar to me. To make a long story short, and a large manual
quick reading, I wound up reading all 400 plus pages. It seemed that for every command
I read about, there was a way to change it if I didn’t like the default setting.
Most word processors have changes possible, but often not exactly the way we would
like them. I’m amazed at the customization of settings and commands possible in Corel
WordPerfect.
There are so many features built into the program that I can only mention a few that
I really like and feel would be useful to SMUG members.
One great feature is the built in interactive “QuickCorrect™” spelling checker. Set
it to check your spelling errors as you type (like SpellCatcher™ from Casady and
Greene).
Unsure of your grammar? Use WordPerfect’s Grammatik™. It’s also customizable for
different styles of writing.
Don’t like all of those toolbars on the screen? Turn them off.
Need graphics? A complete drawing program is built in so you can import pre-drawn
work (TIFF, EPS, PICT, JPEG, or GIF) or do your own new work right there.
Are you a math teacher, engineer, or scientist who has to include complex math equations
in your writing? You’ll love the Equation Editor when you type in that calculus problem.
(Sorry, it doesn’t solve them.)
Newsletter editor? Create up to 24 columns. Save all of your complex styles and apply
them to your text.
Need a table for that sales report? Create it and import your data.
Want a watermark or graphic overlay on your page? No problem.
Need a QuickTime™ movie to illustrate or demonstrate a product? You can insert it
wherever you need it.
Doing your Doctoral thesis and need a table of contents, footnotes, a table of authorities,
outlining, or an index? All of them are available.
You’re beyond all that work now? You’re just writing a letter to your stockbroker
to buy more shares in Apple Computer, Inc.? No need to go to that desk accessory
envelope program to print your envelope. It’s in Corel WordPerfect.
Want your written masterpiece read back to you by your Mac? That’s possible using
Macin Talk™.
Need your work converted to HTML for publishing on the World Wide Web? It’s built-in
Corel WordPerfect. It even comes with the Netscape Navigator™ browser so you can
explore the Web.
Do all of these features sound too good to be true? I’m not done yet. Corel WordPerfect
comes with 150 TrueType™ fonts, 5400 clip art images, and 200 photos.
Check out the prices for competitive products. You can buy Corel WordPerfect by itself
or as part of the CorelDraw! 6 suite and usually at a lower price than the competition
word processors.
Corel has competitive upgrade prices available, so if you own any other word processing
or drawing program, check out those discounted prices first.
You just might want the whole Corel Draw suite. Check it out, too.
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