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Subject:Re: The Tools Tech Writers Use From:Linda Holder <Linda -dot- Holder -dot- lholder -at- NT -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 31 Jul 1998 17:12:23 -0400
Snip --- from Steve Pendleton
> I still find it (Word) frustrating for most routine production tasks. And
> it remains true that many-maybe most-technical writers vocally dislike
> Word. Exactly what, in your opinion, causes its 'constant disparagement'?
> And how do you account for Frame's general acclaim? Is it professional
> snobbery? A desire
> to move documents into a format the assures continued employment? A
> free-floating
> angst against Microsoft? Or is it somehow tied to each tools' merits for
> routine technical writing tasks?
>
End snip ---
After having owned a desktop publishing company for many years and now a
contract technical writer, I use the package that fits the task. As part of
my business I consultated and wrote many resumes, and I always used Word.
For newsletters, I used PageMaker, and for long documents I would never have
considered using anything else but Frame. Frame allows elegant control of
all aspects of the document. I spend more time fighting Word to get it to do
exactly what I want. Experience gained from a Word contract I took for a 125
page manual.
Aside: I won't ever take a contract again for Word unless all I did was
write really short documents, didn't need to index, cross reference, embed
variables, or use conditional text (and maybe a few more reasons).
Advocating Frame for continued employment? No, lowers my stress.
My problem with Word is that the Microsoft engineers "dummied" it down to
the common masses and programmed in too much "help" to make a job easier
(their thought, not mine), and took away my control over my document.
Bottom line: I pick a specific tool to do a specific task because that
choice performs the best, in the least amount of time, providing the best
quality for the customer.
