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> I finally convinced my boss to let me use FrameMaker instead of Word.
> (Just in time for Adobe to drop it and force me to move to InDesign?)
I know this was just a side comment, but I hope you don't me responding anyway.
First, what does it matter if Adobe drops it? If it does what you need, you can
continue to use it. As recently as a year ago, I knew of one company where
people were still happily using FrameMaker 4, and that came out eight or nine
years ago. And if you need tech support, the FrameMaker list is far more useful
than any support offered from Adobe.
Second, InDesign would be a poor replacement for FrameMaker. Not that InDesign
is a particularly bad product (although it's had problems in the past), but it's
simply not designed to do the same things as FrameMaker.
Third, if you want the stability and functionality of FrameMaker, have a look at
OpenOffice.org. People often assume that Writer, OpenOffice.org's word
processor, is the functional equivalent of MS Word. While that's true, Writer is
also a serious match for FrameMaker.
If I ever finish the problem-ridden computer upgrade I'm struggling with this
week, I'm going to write a comparison article comparing FrameMaker and
OpenOffice.org. Meanwhile, I will say that I've found very few things that
FrameMaker can do that Writer can't, and many where Writer's functionality is
superior. In particular, Writer includes a macro recorder and hierarchial
styles, two features that users have wanted in FrameMaker for years.
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