Re: Software

[Stephen Arrants <arrants -at- BRIGHTWARE -dot- COM>]

The learning curve for Framemaker is quite steep (and I've sometimes
fallen off of it!).  But (and I *HATE* to say this) Framemaker is so
powerful that I couldn't go back to Word for "longish" documents.

steve, who was one of the folks who wrote the manuals for the first two
releases of W4W...


>----------
>From:  Bruce Foster[SMTP:bruce_foster -at- MENTORG -dot- COM]
>Sent:  Tuesday, December 24, 1996 9:46 AM
>To:    TECHWR-L -at- LISTSERV -dot- OKSTATE -dot- EDU
>Subject:       Re: Software

>I second Mitch's recommendation for FrameMaker.  I've spent many hours trying
>to get Word to do page layout that would take seconds in FM.  I've also used
>PageMaker, but it has no integrated tables or equations, and it's not much
>help
>for maintaining paragraph numbering, among other things.

>- Bruce Foster

>On Dec 24, 11:30am, Mitch Berg wrote:
>> Subject: Re: Software
>> Didn't we just finish the DTP war two weeks ago?
>>
>> Jay Dougherty wrote:
>> >
>> > I'd appreciate any opinions. What's the best Windows (95) software for
>> > producing long technical documents with lots of footnotes, equations, and
>> > tables?
>>
>> In my humble but considered opinion, there are three options:
>> 1. FrameMaker
>> 2. FrameMaker
>> 3. FrameMaker
>>
>> (Don't flame me, Interleaf zealots - since he's on W95, he probably
>> can't run ILeaf anyway)
>>
>> You can produce the dox you want in many other platforms, but...
>> * in Word, you have to do so many clunky workarounds that maintenance is
>>   a nightmare.  If you want to have running headings that change with
>> each
>>   chapter, for example, getting the "Section Breaks" to behave is enough
>> to
>>   drive you to drink, esp. if multiple writers are involved.
>> Equations?
>>   Don't make me laugh.
>> * PageMaker and Quark are designed for shorter, graphically-flashy
>> products.
>>   I had a manager who swore by PageMaker for long dox - even after I
>> laid out a
>>   150-page manual in Frame in two hours, which took her two days in
>> PageMaker.
>>   And again, if Equations are a showstopper, Frame does it, PM (AFAIK)
>> doesn't.
>> * WordPerfect?  I'm told it's better than Word.  I'm also told it gives
>> you
>>   a fatal disease.  Why bother - Frame works better.
>> * WordPro is a neat WP for short dox.  You'll die a horrible, screaming
>> death if you
>>   have to go over fifty pages or so.  Don't go there.
>> * MS Publisher?  Stop it, you're killing me...
>>
>> Frame has a learning curve, and you have to DESIGN your templates,
>> especially with an eye toward reusability - cranking out templates on
>> the fly will not do.  But it pays major dividends in the long run,
>> especially if you adopt it with an aim toward standardizing your entire
>> doc set.  It takes a little time and money up front, which you'll more
>> than recoup later.
>>
>> Email me if you have questions.  (BTW, I'm not a paid spokesman for
>> AdobeFrameInc).
>>
>> Mitch Berg
>>
>>-- End of excerpt from Mitch Berg