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Subject:Re: MS Word outpaced by a snail From:Susan Gerhart <susang -at- CTIW -dot- CFER -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 19 May 1995 09:09:00 PDT
Since we loaded Word 6.0, life has been a nightmare for my tech writers and
me. It is slow; it crashes, and does some really funny stuff with formatting
on docs imported from 5.1. I would like to switch to another, more robust
program for producing large manuals. But I have to consider the existing
documentation. What publishing programs are the most compatible with MS-Word
6.0?
Thanks.
Susan Gerhart
susang -at- cfer -dot- cti -dot- com
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From: TECHWR-L
To: Multiple recipients of list TECHWR-L
Subject: Re: MS Word outpaced by a snail
Date: Fri, May 19, 1995 8:56AM
> I am trying to put together some manuals using Word 6.0. One
manual
> is about 360 pages and contains 240 screen dumps (TIFF format) and various
> illustrations from Canvas. I followed Microsoft's advice and attempted to
use
> master documents. My machine crashed, strange temp files appeared, the
master
> document tool showed weird symptoms, the machine was outpaced by a snail
> walking by (I have a pentium 90 with 16 meg), and the whole experience was
> like rowing
> an overloaded boat across the north sea, taking in water now and again
> having to
> to be very careful not to capsize. Not to mention the 'saves' - go to the
> toilet, take
> a walk around the building, drink two cups of coffee and come back.
> I have given up on master documents, almost given up on Microsoft support
> ("well sir, perhaps you should make your documents smaller"),
> and am considering giving up Word. Am I flogging a dead horse or ......
My suggestion? In a word: Frame. Or for that matter, any of the major
desktop
publishing packages. Word is a word processor, no matter how many bells and
whistles Microsoft adds to it, and word processors choke on large
documents,
and certainly on manuals.
I know that my suggestion might not be very practical for you, since you
might
have no choice but to use Word. In that case, I hope some current Word
users
can help you out. Having been in situations in which I was expected to blow
up
a bridge (i.e., produce a large manual) with a firecracker (i.e.,
WordPerfect),
I can sympathize with your plight. Good luck!
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Stephen P. Victor
svictor -at- lgc -dot- com
Landmark Graphics Corporation http://www.cda.ulpgc.es/steve.html
15150 Memorial Drive
Houston, TX 77009 USA
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