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Subject:Making a pitch to switch from Word to FrameMaker From:Harrison Brace <hbrace -at- AIMQUEST -dot- COM> Date:Wed, 1 Oct 1997 11:47:03 -0700
Next week we're making a pitch for out company to switch from WinWord 97 to
FrameMaker 5.5. The other tech writer and I (who is not on this list, but
is cc'd on this e-mail) very much want to make the switch, as Word has
proven to be quite a burden and a real productivity killer. I've spent who
knows how much time dealing with document corruption, formatting that
mysteriously changes, bad TOC's, bad graphics, and numerous numbering
problems.
I was wondering if any of you out there could give us any advice and
perhaps suggest some Internet resources for information.
Management appears to be divided on the issue. At least one manager wants
to switch to Frame, but we may face heavy opposition from others. We need
to be ready to counter the claims of the people who want to hold onto Word.
When I asked the manager of my group, who used to work for HP, about
adopting Frame, he replied that most tech writers hate Frame and that it
was a hangover from the days of UNIX. Most writers at HP, he claimed, would
gladly dump Frame for Word if they could.
The other, more serious claim is that they want to stick to commonly
available tools for documentation. They want to make sure that other
people, who do not know Frame, may easily access and edit documentation.
They also worry that if they face periods of time without a Tech Writer,
they will not be able to use or edit documentation at all.
Does anyone know of a Web site that has a good Word vs. Frame comparison?
Thanks for any help and suggestions,
--------------------------
Harrison Brace
AIMS Technical Writer
Ceci n'est pas un .sig
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