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Subject:Re: Crash Course in Word for non-writers From:Gregory D Drew <gddrew -at- JUNO -dot- COM> Date:Thu, 17 Apr 1997 23:02:31 EDT
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From: Misti Tucker USAET(UTC -04:00)
Using styles seems to be a major mystery even to longtime Word users.
You
might want to go into that.
--------------------------
I can't resist adding my voice to this Word style discussion.
It used to be a major irritation to me when people don't use styles in
Word. I cringed at the extra spaces, tabs, spacebar, etc. However,
I've softened once I accepted that:
1. Using styles in Word is not as easy to do as it is in a package such
as Frame. If you are going to be sharing the source files for the
document with others, then you have to send the template (.dot) file to
them as well, and hope that it a) gets installed, and b) installed to the
correct path (c:\msoffice\winword\template).
2. Word is notoriously fickle and unstable with its styles, even when
files are not distributed.
3. Updating styles practically requires an act of Congress.
4. Basically Microsoft has attempted to turn a word processor into a
desktop publishing tool. I say attempted because it hasn't really
delivered: Ever tried using the master document?? Numbered steps are a
nightmare.. etc., etc., etc.
Don't get me wrong, I think Word is a great program and has a niche,
styles and all. However, I've learned to stop taking too seriously a
program that was never intended to be a serious desktop publishing tool.
__________________________________________________________________
Greg Drew
gddrew -at- juno -dot- com
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