Re: WORD, A Word Processor. Was: The Tools Tech Writers Use

[David Meadows <david -at- GOLDENHEROES -dot- SOFTNET -dot- CO -dot- UK>]

[...]
>times in basic functionality.  The very concept that a program would
become
>unstable with
>files a mere megabyte long -- 3% of a modest system's memory -- is
>incredible.  I'll bet [...]


Just to even the score a little, I have found Word to be a remarkably
robust word processor. I have routinely worked with files over 20
megabytes long -- on what I considered a grossly under-specified
machine -- and never experienced a system crash. Sure, it slows down a
little at that size, but the machine was under-powered for the task.

I must admit, my co-worker crashed Word and/or Windows several times a
day while performing the same tasks. I have to wonder, though, how much
is the fault of the tool and how much is the fault of the user? Maybe I
have just been particularly lucky, but I prefer to think that my
computer runs smoothly because I treat it right. Windows software is
ridiculously complicated and is far from being zero-maintenance.

>The rule of thumb is: "Only use Word on the documents you don't want to
>keep."

Hmmm... my rule of thumb is: "be good to Windows and it will be good to
you".

--
David Meadows [ Technical Writer | Information Developer ]
DNRC Minister for Littorasy * david -at- goldenheroes -dot- softnet -dot- co -dot- uk
"Is not this the most reprehensible form of ignorance,
 that of thinking one knows what one does not know?"
      -- Socrates

 From ??? -at- ??? Sun Jan 00 00:00:00 0000=