RE: The case against M$ Word

[Stuart Burnfield <slb -at- westnet -dot- com -dot- au>]

****>/> Like I tried to imply, this isn't a Boeing or Exxon. It's a small/
 >/> enterprise with moderate needs, where a tool such as FM would
 >>be /total/ overkill./

I'm trying not to leap into the Frame versus Word fray, but I would
like to pick up on this point. There's an impression out there that
Frame is powerful but forbiddingly complicated--that infamous
"Frame learning curve". In my experience this is not true.

Any capable TW should be able to make all the standard tech pubs
elements work using either Word or Frame. By this I mean TOC,
index, glossary, cross-refs, tables, figures, headers/footers, different
page layouts, templates, and so on. The amount of effort needed (to
learn and to do) will be roughly the same for either tool.

So I don't buy the argument that Frame is good for huge companies but
overkill for smaller enterprises, or, for that matter, the other argument
that Word is good for small documents but falls apart on long documents.
It's just a question of putting in the effort to set things up correctly.

I still *prefer* Frame, because I feel that with Frame you learn how to do
things and with Word you have to learn how to work around problems.
But you do whatever the job requires, and often that means Word.

 > But, all other things being equal (IMHO), a "small enterprise with
 > moderate needs" doesn't need sophisticated graphics placement
 > and design-intensive, page-by-page layout.

Yep, I agree with this. It's good to hear that ID is developing strong
long-doc capabilities. It worries me a little that ID is so powerfully
good at tweaking and hand-crafting page layout. I don't really need
or want that for my tech pubs. Don't all those extra options get in the
way a little?

 > I'm growing pretty tired of the recurring claims (every few months for
 > years now) that FM is dead/dying

Double yep. I've been hearing "Frame is dead" since mid-1995...

Stuart
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