by Gary Kukis (revised April 14, 2001)1

In order to help you navigate this document, which is well over 30 pages long, the blue text is hyper-linked text. Immediately below, there is about a three-page preface. Then I will compare WordPerfect and Microsoft Word in a table, feature-by-feature; I will cover Borders and Fill, Compatibility, Customization, Dialog Boxes, Ease of Use, Editing, Fonts; Footnotes, Headers and Footers; Formatting, Graphics, Macros, Menus, Navigation, Tables and Columns, Tools, View, Web Capabilities and Miscellaneous. At the end of this table, I will have a final scorecard wherein I have tallied the number of features in which Word is superior and in which WordPerfect is superior. As a quick preview, I was able to find 18 areas in which Word was superior to Word Perfect and over 135 areas in which WordPerfect was superior to Word. PLEASE, if you are a person who uses Word and WordPerfect and you know of any areas in which Word is superior, e-mail a description of these features to me. Ironically enough, MS Word was strongest by comparison in the realm of graphics. Features which are roughly similar in number and ease of use in the two programs will generally not be compared or contrasted. I will also share a few thoughts concerning help and additional web comments and macros in more detail, as well as make some additional comments at the end. When I get a little more organized, I will set up the sources to hyperlink to their web sites, as much of my resource material came from the web. In the introduction, I will give the only four arguments in favor of using MS Word which I have heard. I will deal with all four arguments, as well. It is interesting to note that of the dozens of web-sites that I visited, I could not find a single web-site that compared Word to WordPerfect with respect to their various features in such a way that Word was judged superior. I found easily a dozen or more sites where these programs were compared feature-by-feature, where the person who built the web-site preferred WordPerfect. All commentary was check against WordPerfect version 8.0.0.225 and MS Word '97.2

PREFACE

Introduction: The following is a comparison between Corel's WordPerfect 8 and Microsoft Word '97, taken from their respective office suites. I realize that this particular comparison is going to seem rather lopsided in favor of WordPerfect 8. I will admit that I already had a preferential bias. One person that I communicated with and to whom passed on my rough draft told me that what she read made it clear to her that I had a definitely favored WordPerfect. So, I then spent days scouring the Internet for sites wherein Word was seen as the word processing program of choice. I engaged in dialogue, I argued, I cajoled, and I was unable to get the very people who were dedicated to the use of MS Word to give me a list of comparisons between the two programs which showed Word to be a better program. What I did get, without any solicitation, were a list of particular areas where WordPerfect could do things that MS Word could not from WP afficionados. I have added about several dozen differences since the first time I published this to the web. Now, some of them might seem rather esoteric to you, but a majority of the differences observed were a result of projects which a WP person had to do using Word (most WP users also must use Word, thereby giving them a better perspective on the two word processors). Often, they found that Word could not do what is a simple task in WordPerfect. Of the 100+ areas in which WP is clearly superior to Word, perhaps only 20–40 of these are areas which are pertinent to you. However, I guarantee you that whoever you are (given the fact that you are reading this), you will find at least 20 places where WP will decrease your work load considerably. And if you are involved in the time allocation of those who work for you, a significant amount of time will be saved by staying with or switching over to WordPerfect (this is apart from cost).

There were only four basic arguments in favor of using MS Word: (1) Every person and company that I know uses it; that should tell you that it is the better program. (2) WordPerfect will fall by the wayside. (3) VBA (this was the sum total of the reason given). The final reason given me to explain why MS Word is the better word processor: (4) Since Microsoft makes the OS upon which the suite is based, then it follows that MS should make the better office suite application. Return to topics

Answers to the arguments in favor of the use of MS Word. (1) Not every company and not every person uses MS Word. According to one source, 22 million people use WordPerfect, and 44 million use Word. Another source placed the Word usage at 60 million, and another gave them 90% of the market. Time magazine gave Word 75% of the market. In my web search, I ran into several legal firms who used the old WordPerfect, tried Word, and were in the midst of moving back to WordPerfect. U of H signed a recent agreement with Corel concerning WordPerfect. And there is a computer company which has signed a deal recently with Corel to include Corel Office Suite on all of their computers. (2) If computer history tells us anything, it is that companies rise and fall and rise and fall. There is every indication that Windows as an OS will face stiff competition in the next several years from Linux; and that Word will face stiff competition from WordPerfect, which offers a suite price that is often two-third's less, and yet provides more programs with better features. (3) I must admit that when I received the acronymic answer VBA, I thought the person was telling me that I made a Very Bad Argument or that I had a Very Bad Attitude. I have since found out that VBA is an attribute of MS Office. I posted several messages asking for more of an explanation of VBA and how this would be important for the average user, but I never got only one response. One general message explained VBA, but I must confess that I did not grasp it. In the reading that I have done, it appears that VBA can allow one to set up a Wizard, but I was not able to get more out of it than that. I asked Thuy Lee, who is a graduate of Humble High School and who teaches the various MS products for a living, and she explained, "Visual Basic is a programming language commonly used in MS. It is the backbone for MS customization. Although VBA is very powerful, learning the program can be tough. I tried to learn the language and was successful but I have to admit, VBA is not for the common user. MS did not do a very good job catering to the average user. MS wants the average company to pay for consulting. That's where people like me come into the picture. As for using VBA with friends, rare to none. It is not very easy to share VBA. I confess, I'm not MS's greatest friend. I teach the products, but that mostly because MS has such a great market presence." (4) Logically, you would expect since MS designed Windows, that Word should be well-suited to that environment. However, I have found Word to be slower than WP; that neither fairs well with regards to stability; and Word is certainly deficient in its capabilities and features. <Return to topics>

Original Purpose: In the school district where I work, it has been threatened that not only will Microsoft Office become our dominant office suite, but that ALL copies of WordPerfect will be erased from all school computers. This not only causes compatibility problems for teachers who have used WordPerfect for the last several years (I personally have thousands of hours of work which will be rendered worthless by such a transition), but removing WordPerfect from all school computers essentially forces all students in our district to either use Microsoft Office at home or it means that the work that they do at home cannot be continued at school. Contrary to the propaganda of Microsoft, the compatibility issue is a problem with Microsoft products and not a problem with their chief competitors, e.g., Corel WordPerfect Suite. Office does not want to be compatible with WordPerfect; this allows them their chief argument that a business should have MS Office in order to be compatible. For this reason, Microsoft has made document sharing between Word and WordPerfect difficult. However, WordPerfect has done everything in their power to make the user of WordPerfect also able to share their documents with Word users and to open and edit any document created in Word. This will be covered in more detail in the text to follow.

Acknowledgment: I originally was going to just xerox some articles off the Internet and from various magazines to show the comparison between the two office suites. I found that this conveyed too much information and the information was disorganized; furthermore, I was unable to find a site on the Internet where there was an extended feature-by-feature comparison of the two products. I found several places where WordPerfect 7 and Word '95 were compared feature-by-feature, but the similar comparisons of their successors was lacking, limited to a comparison generally of around ten features. So I sat down with both programs and compared them. When I ran out of things to compare, I referred to Laura Acklen's outstanding article from WordPerfect Suite Magazine from September of 1997, How Does Word 7 Stack Up Against WordPerfect 7? If there was anything which I left out which appeared to be substantial, her article pointed that out.

Personal revelations: One general characteristic of WordPerfect which I have always liked was the fact that it was so customizable. Even in the DOS version, I could make my own button bar and place macros on those bars; I could devise as many different keyboards as I needed and could completely customize those keyboards. With the Window's versions, the ability to devise a working environment which was what the user chose as opposed to those who wrote the software, has always been a plus for WordPerfect. I had heard that Word had become more customizable with Word '97; and I had assumed that because of that, the two programs were going to be closer by comparison than ever before. What surprised me is that the two programs are still miles apart with respect to features, customization, and with respect to ease of use. In investigating this matter by Internet I was surprised to find no postings anywhere of a comparison between WordPerfect any version and Word any version which favored MS Word. When investigating the technical forums, I was surprised to see that Word users had just as many, if not more, problems in using MS software than did those who used the WordPerfect Office Suite. <Return to topics>

Features: When it comes to comparing the relative features of WordPerfect 8 and Microsoft Word '97, there is no comparison. For every feature where MS held a slight edge, there would be twenty features in WordPerfect which were superior. For every slightly important feature where MS held the edge, there would be several extremely important features wherein WordPerfect was superior. In fact, I found five areas which I judged to be extremely important where WP was superior to Word. I did not find a single feature which I judged as extremely important where Word was clearly superior over WP. In fact, in the area touted by Word as the clear reason to choose MS products, compatibility, this is where Word most miserably fails. Word is less compatible than WordPerfect. What they mean is that if everyone uses the latest Microsoft products, then those users will not suffer compatibility problems. In a real world, where different offices use different products, those who use WordPerfect will have the advantage with respect to compatibility.

I should point out one more thing. I do not work for Corel in any way, form or fashion. I teach school and I sell real estate. I have put together this labor of love without any sort of compensation. Should Corel hire me? Certainly. Should Corel compensate me? Certainly. However, there is a reasonable chance that they don't even know that I exist. Corel Office has a significant number of people who use its suite and appreciate the improvements that they have made to an already outstanding program. I am certain that they are aware of this loyal client base.

Key:
$ advantage to WP	$$ major advantage to WP	$$$ Extremely important advantage of WP
$advantage to Word	$$ major advantage to Word	$$$ Extremely important advantage of Word

Borders and Fill
return to topics	WordPerfect 8	"work around"	Word '97
Borders	A very large selection of borders, each of which is very customizable.	Different but roughly equivalent. Most of the time, this will not be noted.	A very large selection of borders. The shadow color and width is not as customizable.
Borders	When in a border, one can move forward and exit that border either through reveal codes, using the arrows, clicking past the border with the mouse or turning the border off. $	Type in the text first and a hard return in Word and then add the border so that it does not include the hard return.	Once I got into a border at the end of a Word document, I could not go past that border. I had similar problems to this in Word which a "reveal codes" feature would help to solve.
Borders	A border can include groups of paragraphs or can be applied to individual paragraphs. $$	There must be some way to fix this, but I spent 10 minutes attempting to fix what is essentially a trivial problem in Word.	Even when I chose several paragraphs to be included by one border, Word still separated these into several sets of borders. At other times, everything was included in one border.
Fill	In WordPerfect, when it comes to placing fill within a border or in a table, you have a choice of a million colors, which actually look good and not as if they are three or four different colors thrown together in a pattern. $$	In Word, the fill will not look like a smooth color, but often like spots of one color inside another. It looks very unprofessional.
Fill	The fills could be separated into 21 different styles, apart from a simple percentage of fill. $$	There are 12 fill styles in Word apart from simple percentage of fill.
Compatibility
return to topics	WordPerfect 8	"work around"	Word '97
File Save as	WordPerfect, as presently shipped, can save files in 33 different formats. $$	Word will save in 15 different formats.
File Open	WordPerfect opens files written in 19 different formats. Downloads from Corel will increase this number. $$$	WP also ships with "Quick View", which opens, edits and prints about 70 different formats.	Word opens files written in 13 different formats. "Web-
wise" Word does not even have the option of "Open as an HTML file" nor will MS Word open most MS Works files.
Suite toolbar	WordPerfect's DAD bar allows all applications to be easily accessed in one click from this OS toolbar. $	Better than either of these are the toolbars that one can use with Windows '98 and newer. I found the ability to place items much easier with the Windows 98 toolbar, and they were as unobtrusive as the DAD bar in WP.	The office launching bar appeared at first to only allow certain Microsoft products to be launched. With a little work, I could get other programs on there as well, but it was not as intuitive as adding a MS Office product.
Comment:	I did some cutting and pasting between WordPerfect and Word in order to get some text to work with in Word. Even though I took the exact same text and dropped it into Word, it was formatted very differently on two occasions. In one, the drop caps appeared where they should; however 6 lines of text were indented instead of 4, so it didn't look right. The second time, the caps were sitting above the paragraph completely.
Additional comments:	Microsoft has made a big issue out of compatibility and some people advocate Microsoft Office so that we have compatibility. In all actuality, it is Microsoft which is only compatible with the exact same Microsoft products. If you have Word '95, don't expect to be able to read a Word '97 document; or if you have MS Works on your computer, don't expect to be able to easily transfer complete files between Works and Word '95 or Word '97.
Customization
return to topics	WordPerfect 8	"work around"	Word '97
Accessing a toolbar's features	In WP, if a toolbar is longer than one row, there are arrows that you can click on to access the other buttons. $	Make two toolbars in Word and place one above the other.	If you make a toolbar in Word which is longer than one row, it is difficult to access all the features that you have placed there.
Customizing a toolbar	To determine what a particular button does, the quick tip (which is editable) is visible. $	In Word, you can choose to display text and graphic; however, your toolbar will look different than the finished product (unless you choose image and text).	You can right click the particular button to find out what the name of the button feature is.
Customizing a toolbar	You can set the number of rows or columns for a toolbar or property bar. Although not easy to edit, the result you get is what you expect. $	A toolbar in MS Word (and WP) can be set up as a floating box. That box can be manipulated into 2 or more rows or columns and edited in that form. It cannot be easily placed on the top, bottom or side, however, without losing the two or more rows or columns.	A toolbar is simply one column or one row. If your toolbar is longer than one line, you can change it into a pallette or make it a one row free-floating toolbar, which was rather inconvenient.
Customizing a toolbar or a menu	WordPerfect's Menus, toolbars and property bars all act independently. When you choose to modify one of them, you cannot simultaneously modify another.	The menu in Word is simply a toolbar. When you choose to customize any toolbar, they are all available to customize simultaneously, including the menu.
Customizing a toolbar or a menu	All commands are in alphabetical order in their respective categories.	The commands are not in alphabetical order except under the "All" category, where they are.
Environment	Let's say that three or more people work on the same computer. In WordPerfect, each person can set up their own environment; that means tool bars, macros, keyboards, margins, etc. One keystroke can take you from Charlie's preferences to Lucy's preferences. If Lucy likes the menu that Charlie uses and his keyboard, but not his toolbars, she may selectively copy any portion of his template into hers. $	WordPerfect has had complete customization for about five years now. MS only recently (with Office '97), allowed greater customization of its programs. A macro would allow a quick customization of Word's environment. Changing the default template in Word would allow for several people to use the same computer with limited customization.	In Word, in order for two people to have their own settings on a computer, they each must design their own template. Keyboards, toolbars and menus may not be shared in part from one template to another.
Keyboard	Every key of the key board can be customized. 99 different keyboards can be set up. Keyboard will run macros, menu items, type out text, and start other programs. Assignments to keyboard are all kept track of and easy to read. $$$	Several keyboards can be set up in Word, but only one per document. Each template can have its own custom keyboard. However, you cannot use two different keyboards on the same document in Word.	Only one keyboard can be used in a document. The keyboard can run macros, type text or run a menu item. One cannot easily view all previous assignments to keyboard.
Placement of a toolbar	In WP, you may place the toolbar on the top, bottom, or on either side. You may do this with the mouse or through your settings feature. $$	Both programs made it easy to work with a pallette and change the number of rows in a pallette.	You could only maneuver Word's toolbars with the mouse. Sometimes, one toolbar would sit on top of another; sometimes you would loose half of your toolbar and be unable to use it.
Toolbar Icons	All features of WP have a corresponding icon. All features or commands have an accompanying description. There are very few situations where different features have the same icon. $	When there is no icon for a feature in Word, one can be designed and/or an icon can be copied. However, it is not immediately clear how to solve this. When a picture is added or copied, the text continues to show. Rather than the selection Icon only the selections are: default style, text only (Always), text only (in Menus); image and text. You can figure out which choice is the right one by eliminating the other three. Once the changes are made, there is no "okay" button to press. One must simply click elsewhere to end the process (otherwise, you could undo your changes).	A surprisingly large number features of Word do not have an icon. Some features or commands do not have an explanation or comment. Icons are not all unique in Word; that is, two similar but different functions can have the same icon.
Toolbar Icons	All toolbar features are displayed the same way—either with or without the text and with or without graphics.	In Word, each icon can be chosen individually for display. $
Toolbar Icons	When adding an icon to WP, there is an explanation in the dialog box as to what the function of the icon is. $	Many features in Word are like those in WP, except they require additional steps to achieve them.	In Word, if you want to know more about a feature, then you need to click on description for that information.
Toolbar Spaces	When customizing the toolbars in WP, spaces can be easily added. Two or more spaces may be added in WP to separate icons. $	I could not determine at first how to add spacing to the Word toolbars, although some spacing was already there.	The key to adding spacing is to right click a particular button and choose "start a new group." Two or more adjacent spaces could not be added.
Dialog Boxes
return to topics	WordPerfect 8	"work around"	Word '97
File open dialog box	WordPerfect's file open dialog box can be sized. $	None.	Word's cannot.
File open dialog box	WordPerfect's file open dialog box can be set to fill up the screen. $	None.	Word's cannot.
File open dialog box	WordPerfect's open dialog box comes with an extensive menu. $	None.	Word's does not as there are a very limited number of things that you can do within Word's file open dialog box.
File open dialog box	WordPerfect comes with a document preview which can be increased in size and even "torn off." $	None, other than to purchase a 3rd party utility.	Can't be done in Word.
File open dialog box	Opening a file in WP is like accessing explorer. You can drag and drop files with your mouse; use the keyboard or a right click to copy, cut, and paste files. A simple right click on a file in WP gives me 16 different options (some of these are from third party programs like Quick View). When you are in WP's file open dialog box, it is like being in Explorer except with more options. $$	You can always open up the explorer menu. However, then you lose file preview (unless you have Quick View installed, a $50 program which came free with most or all versions WordPerfect 8).	You have fewer than a dozen options of what can be done while in Word's open file dialog box.
Ease of Use
return to topics	WordPerfect 8	"work around"	Word '97
Accessing various functions and features	Almost anything one needs to do in WP can be accessed through the menus, or by a right click. Almost all features can be accessed in all three ways. $$	Both programs can set up tool bars to access whatever functions need to be accessed.	In order to access many of the functions of Word, I had to modify the menu by adding items which were not there before. Several times, I came across by accident a method of accessing a function. If I had inserted a header or a footer, for instance, then went into this box with a double left click and then right clicked it, I gained access to page numbering.
Menus	As has been pointed out, the menus are much more logically laid out. $	You can rearrange all of the menus in Word, but that is somewhat of a pain to do.	To find the feature to shrink text, one has to go through page preview and then click on the correct icon. It is difficult to determine how to formal pages, lines and documents.
Editing
return to topics	WordPerfect 8	"work around"	Word '97
Delete a word	In WP, Ctrl+Backspace or Ctrl+Del will delete a word, no matter where the cursor is found in the word.	I find it necessary more often to delete an entire word than just a piece of one. When I do, I don't like to sweat the insertion point. Such a macro could be written for Word, but it would not function correctly unless the cursor was place inside the word (not at the end or the beginning). To write a macro to cover all cases is beyond my area of expertise.	Where the cursor is found in the word makes a big difference in Word. If you are at the beginning of a word, then it is Ctrl+Del to delete the word; Ctrl+Backspace will delete the previous word. If you are in the middle of a word, then neither keystroke will delete the word. Both are required. Help had nothing under word or delete, although there is a command which reads delete word (this command deletes the next word or the remaining characters in a word.
Expand a document	One can expand a document as well as shrink it in WordPerfect. You wouldn't use this often, but let's say you shrunk it, didn't like it, then you could expand it to any desirable number of pages. $	The only workaround is to manually change font, font sizes and margins until you get what you want. This can involve hundred of keystrokes and mouse clicks versus 2 or 3.	You can't do this in Word.
Find and Replace	In WordPerfect, you can search out codes (369 codes, if I have counted correctly) and easily replace them with anything, including 77 codes. $$	I am certain that you can search for a hard return in Word; you do it by searching for a paragraph mark (which would be ^P).	You can search out and replace only 21 codes in Word (and hard return was not listed as one of them). That e-mailed letter that you want to fix up before you save it isn't so easy to fix up in Word.
Find and Replace	You cannot do this with a simple find and replace in WP.	This would have to be done in WP with a macro (which would be easy to do, but more time-consuming than Word).	You can change every occurrence of a word to a different font and size. $
Find and Replace	One person wrote me concerned that match case works for find or for replace independently in WP.	Although this appeared to be the case, I did not have a problem with this (I could not come up with a scenario where this would be an issue, including her illustration).	When match case is selected, it automatically works for find and for replace.
Relative Tab Adjustment	When the margins are changed, the tabs change relative to the margins. $	It is not unusual, in my experience, and in the experiences of others, for Word to act one way one day, and differently the next.	Word margins don't. Some tabs are mysteriously lost.
Separate Windows	WordPerfect has no comparable feature.	The same document in WP can be opened twice and the document windows can be sized appropriately; only one can be edited, however and saved with the original name.	In Word you can have two editing windows open for the same document. $
Smart Case Toggle	If initial caps are applied to a title, like "the wind and the rain", the result in WP is "The Wind and the Rain." $	Go back and change the prepositions and articles.	If initial caps are applied to a title like "the wind and the rain", the result in Word is: "The Wind And The Rain."
Reveal Codes	One can look at the codes in WP and see what is going on "behind the scenes." One can edit a document directly in the "reveal codes" screen portion. $$$	Once you use the reveal codes feature in WP, you won't want to be without it.	Word has no comparable function. Those who think that Word does have a comparable function are obviously ignorant of what WP's reveal codes is like.
Shrink Document	WordPerfect shrunk the same document right off the main menu (under "format") and shrunk the document to almost exactly one page. Then WP was able to expand it to two full pages (not 1.3 pages). $$	In Word, You could only manually adjust this bit by bit in word to get close to one page and to expand to two pages.	To shrink a document, one had to first go to "Print Preview" and then choose "shrink document." Word shrunk a 1.3 page document to less than 3/4ths of a page. There were no real options; just a button to click.
Fonts
return to topics	WordPerfect 8	"work around"	Word '97
Font	One can change already typed font following cursor by simply changing the font. $	This can be approximated in Word; it just requires more steps.	You can only change font by selecting text which has already been typed.
Font	An infinite choice of colors. $	None.	16 choices for text color.
Font Effects	11 (Redline and Italics are the additional font effects). Character and word spacing available through a different dialogue box.	Word can use the color red; WP can use different font (however, WP is unable to emboss or engrave every font). Italics are available in some fonts in particular for Word and WP.	12 (double strike-through, emboss and engrave are the extra fonts). Various types of underlining also available. Character and word spacing available through the same dialogue box. $
Fonts	WordPerfect ships with 1000 fonts. $$	Buy more fonts.	Word ships with 15 fonts.
Font Size	68 choices. $	You can type in the font size in Word from the dialogue box (as you can in WP). As usual, more keystroke in Word to duplicate WordPerfect.	16 choices.
Font Size	Fonts can be done to the nearest 10th of a point.	None	Fonts can be chosen to the nearest 0.5 pt.
Footnotes, Headers, and Footers
return to topics	WordPerfect 8	"work around"	Word '97
Beginning a footnote	Inserting a footnote is a one step operation. I have it tied to the keyboard, but it is also one click from the menu.	This can be fixed by placing "insert footnote now" on the menu, keyboard or toolbar.	Every time a footnote is created, there are two mouse clicks; one to initiate process and one to choose whether that is what you really want to do.
Editing a Footnote	A footnote can be edited by using the menu or clicking once on the footnote itself.	A right-click or a left-click on the footnote allows you to edit it.
Footnote Exit	When doing a footnote in WP, one can simply exit that footnote by F7 (the universal DOS exit keystroke for WP). You can also exit with your mouse. $	In Word, you must exit using your mouse. Under the index, again there was nothing under "exit" or under "footnote -> exit."
Footnote Font	Changing the font in WP involves two dialogue boxes. $	I never got the hang of changing the font without introducing an outline format, which gave me two sets of numbers for each footnote. One could be easily erased; but it had to be erased for each footnote.
Footnote Separator line	This can be changed by accessing footnote options in the menu. $	Obviously, this would need to be added to the menu or to the toolbar.	Although help in Word seemed to indicate that the separator line could be changed (and it seemed quite simple; it reads: "Change the line that separates notes from the document text: Footnote separator or Endnote separator"]. However, I could not locate that in the menu (I checked all the possible buttons) or under options for the footnotes.
Footnote Style	From one very simple dialog box which leads to 4 simple dialogue boxes (one which leads to 3 others), you can change the spacing of the footnotes, the indentation, and provide the same rich formatting for a footnote as you would for anything text paragraph. This change of style for the footnote does nothing untoward to the general text. $	I can accomplish the same thing in Word and in WP; it's just that WP requires about half the mouse clicks and is much more intuitive.	From at least 12 different dialogue boxes, one can change the font of the text and the font of the footnote itself in the footnote.
Footnote Style access	Menu: Insert -> footnote -> options.	Both programs should have offered at least two ways to access this feature.	Right click while in a footnote and click on styles.
Footnotes on first page	I've never any experienced any problems. $	I heard of people having problems with footnotes on the first page. I did not personally have that problem. I tried it with and without the page number being suppressed and my footnotes seems to be fine either way.
Header	Default setting places header on every page.	The first header I created was on the first page only. However, when I changed the setting, headings created afterward in different documents were placed on every page.
Headers and Footers	Two headers and two footers can be inserted by WP. One or both can alternate. $	None	You may insert one header and one footer in Word.
Headers and Footers	Because you can insert two headers (or, two footers), they can be placed on every other page as is often done in books. $	You could manually insert a new header or a new footer on every page and make certain the remarks note that it is for that page only.	This cannot be done in Word. I have been told that this can be done in Word. I haven't figured out how to, yet.
Format
return to topics	WordPerfect 8	"work around"	Word '97
Fit document	When you shrink or expand a document to any given number of pages, that is the end result. $$	None. Some tout these as identical features; but only people who have not used them both.	You can shrink Word documents by a page, but the result is often unpleasant. A 1.2 page paper would be shrunk to half of a page; to expand the size, it might go to 1.7 pages.
Justification	Left, right, centering, full justification and all justification available. $	Select text in Word and keep changing the spacing until it fits as you would like it to.	All justification not available.
Justification	Any line can be left justified, right justified and/or centered. $$	Use tables in Word or a series of tab's.	Only one justification for each line.
Justification	Full justification will expand and compress text (and you can choose by how much). $	None.	Full justification expands, but does not compress text.
Justification	All justification allows a header to be stretched from margin to margin. $	One can experiment with letter and word spacing in MS Word to get the same desired effect, but it takes ten to twenty additional keystrokes.	Word cannot easily do this.
Line height	The height of the line can be set to be relative or absolute be choosing either spacing or line height. $	Line height is only relative. Changing font or font size will automatically change the spacing between lines.
Margins set with menu	Click format, margins and set. There are two ways to get to this by keystrokes. $	Click file, page setup, margins. This feature could not be added to the keyboard except by macro.
Margins set with mouse	Can be done by mouse applied directly to the margins one sees.. When using the mouse, the margin value can be seen and it changes as mouse moves. $	(1) Change to margin, note the reading, and change it again if it isn't right. Or, (2) Double-click ruler (if your ruler is showing) will bring up the margin dialogue box. I couldn't find documentation for this under help in Word.	Can only be done through mouse applied outside the body of the text. You can only approximate your margin until you let go of the mouse.
Page formatting	You can subdivide a page in whatever way you would like, similar to PageMaker. $$	You can work with tables to achieve this. Section break is similar, but not quite the same. WP has section breaks as well as subdivision of a page. I checked MS Word's help on this, and I got ten options, none of which had anything to do with subdividing a page (I got options like troubleshoot master documents, change a margin or a border, etc.)	Word cannot subdivide the page.
Page Numbering	Dozens of options with regards to placement, font, additional text, etc. Can be accessed through format. Furthermore, everything that you need to do with regards to the number of any page can be done from one dialogue box. $$	I couldn't even get MS Word to recognize the additional text added to a page number in a WP document by cutting and pasting.	In Word, you can change the position of the page number but it is not obvious how to format the text itself (e.g., use a smaller font); nor was it obvious how to add the standard text to the page number.
Quick Format	Text and paragraph formatting can be copied using a right click and then used elsewhere in the document. If you change the original formatting, the other formats will change to match. $$	You just have to format everything either at the beginning or each and every paragraph and or title as you come to them.	Word has no comparable feature. There is something called auto-format, but it did not work the same way. Furthermore, it is less intuitive and therefore more difficult to use.
Quick Format	Quick Format allows you to maintain some consistency in your document. If you change the font size of your original heading which format you copied, then the other headings which were so formatted will also change. $$	The headings and paragraphs can all be formatted to look the same in Word, but not through an instantaneous change. You must apply a chosen style or a recently designed style which to your entire document.	Word does not have a similar feature to allow this kind of immediate change.
Styles	Sometimes there are styles in a document which I want to duplicate. One easy way to do this is to open reveal codes and select and copy the codes that you want to use in another document. $	This can only be done by copying styles or using styles in Word.
Styles or templates	80+ different templates. The entire menu has hundreds of different styles in the other Office Suite programs (accessible through WP). These are real styles where the entire page of one style is very different from the entire page set-up in another. $$	You could make them up from scratch in Word	20 different styles and templates. A myriad of paragraph styles (about 90), which differed mostly in font size and indentations.
Underlining	WordPerfect offers either a single or a double underline.	WP improved this in version 9	Word offers at least six different kinds of underlining. $
Word and letter spacing	You can adjust the spacing between letters and between words in WordPerfect and this is expressed in percentage. $	Manually add spaces between words in Word.	You can adjust the spacing between characters but not between words and the spacing is given in terms of points.
Graphics
return to topics	WordPerfect 8	"work around"	Word '97
Captions	In WordPerfect, the captions can be placed anywhere relative to the picture. A right click on the object reveals a menu, caption being one of the choices. The caption dialogue box is quite extensive and complete. $	In Word, if you created a separate text box, that could be moved about as a caption. If you needed to move the graphic, then you would need to move the text box as well.	I could get a caption to show up on the bottom, but it was difficult to figure out how to navigate to that point.
Clip Art	Comes with 10,000 clipart images. $$	Buy additional software.	Comes with 274 clipart images.
Clip Art	Clip art could not be extended off of a page.	One must crop clip art in another program and then bring it back into WP.	In Word, a piece of clip art could extend beyond the page and that extended portion would be automatically cropped. $
Drawing	To draw a graphic image, Corel Presentations is often automatically opened. It is possible to overlay certain images directly in WordPerfect.	The number of steps in WP is about the same as those in Word; there is some time lost when Presentations loads the first time. With a slower computer, this can be aggravating.	One may draw a graphic image right in Word. The drawing is quite fluid. $
Graphics Boxes	In WP, there is a choice of 16 different custom boxes (plus, you can add as many custom boxes as you want to this selection). $	If you have certain box attributes that you use, then the insertion of same could be part of a macro or inserting a previously designed file.	In Word, you can insert a text box and then modify its attributes.
Graphics Drawing	The drawing over a WordPerfect document is equally fluid, but not as intuitive and not as many choices are offered.	WordPerfect 9 corrects this imbalance. A person used to drawing individual objects right in Word will feel right at home in WP 9.	Word provides a myriad of shapes and figures which may be drawn easily and fluidly over the document. $$
Graphics Drawing	Clip art may be added as an overlay. One can leave WP and go into Presentations (which is almost automatic in some cases) and more can be done with an image; however, only bitmaps may be used to fill a shape.	The mixture of fills and pictures in MS Word produced some very cool effects. One would have to access a drawing program in order to match this in WP. WP would support gif and jpeg images, but was unable to integrate them with redesigned shapes as Word can.	Clip art and pictures and patterns may be inserted as a coloration of an object as well as an overlay. $$
Graphics Menu	WordPerfect has a complete graphic menu category with 19 options. $	You can add this category to the Word menu along with the features.	Word does not have a specific graphics category.
Graphics toolbar	For anything complex, WordPerfect often opens up Presentations (often you don't know that you have left WordPerfect).	WP improved this in version 9.	Word has a very good graphics tool bar within Word. Each additional graphic added to a Word document off the Word tool bar is treated separately, which is often disadvantageous.
Right-clicked graphics menu	Right clicking an image yields 17 options for the right click menu. $	Right clicking an image produces only eight options and most of those are all purpose options no matter what you right click.
Rotation	WordPerfect graphic boxes can be rotated any degree. $	In Word, you need to break the association. You can select clip, draw, ungroup. Then group and use the free rotate icon. Select clip, turn on free rotate and then rotate.	Word graphics can only be rotation in 90° increments and this was difficult to figure out how to do.
Watermark	There is a choice on the menu for a watermark. When an image is retrieved, it is automatically lightened and it is in the background. In any case, it is a simple process. $	In MS Word's help, I am at a loss as to why header and footers are involved in the making of an image watermark. This would eliminate two of the steps under help.	The help menu gave five moderately long steps and I had two additional toolbars, one help file and the paperclip guy all open at the same time in order to insert a watermark.
Macros
return to topics	WordPerfect 8	"work around"	Word '97
Initial recording of macro	Click on record (under tools -> macro -> record); must click on macro record to end recording macro.	Click on record (under tools -> macro -> record new macro); dialog box springs up
Initial recording of macro	Once you click on record, you name the macro. There is no limitation, for all intents and purposes, on the length of the name. $	You may not use spaces to name a macro.
Initial recording of macro	Once you name the macro, you begin recording macro. Macros are automatically stored in the same directory unless you specify otherwise when you name the macro. They may be added to the keyboard, menu, toolbar or property bar at a later time.	Once you click on record, a dialog box springs up. You must determine at this point whether the macro will be assigned to a keystroke, a toolbar and you determine whether it is stored in your normal.dot (default template), in the document itself or in another template.
Initial recording of macro	You must click on macro record to end recording macro.	A box pops up indicating that a macro is being recorded and there is a stop button on that box. $
Locating macros	Although I already knew where my macro files where located, I attempted to find this out via WordPerfect's help. Going to macro help was of much help. Going to the regular help and searching for macros was not helpful. Finally, under regular help, I typed in location and I would have stumbled across the location of the macro files.	Macros can be stored in a WP template, if so desired (check help -> location -> macros). Typically, macros are stored under C:/Corel/ Suite8/macros/WPmacros.	I first thought that I could find a macro as a separate file; however, macros are stored in the normal.dot template and accessed only by Tools -> Macro... -> choose a macro and click on edit. The help directions were quite clear here. $
Location of macros	Each macro is saved as a separate file and can be moved en masse or selectively. $	Macros can be copied in other templates and those templates can have the macros copied into the default template of another user.
Macro commands	Must simpler and easier to understand in WP. $$	See Macros in more detail	Macro commands are often very abstruse in Word.
Macro information	Recorded under document information (hidden from view) and the date can be placed there as well as automatically under file management.	WP can also place this information as a part of the macro by preceding the line with //.	The person who recorded the macro as well as the date of the macro travels with the macro automatically as a part of the macro.
Macros	Nineteen macros are included with WP 8. ALLFONTS will set up an editable list of all the fonts in the system, as well as a full printout of all the characters of that font. ADRS2MRG will change the addresses in the WordPerfect address book into a merge file. CloseAll and SaveAll are duplicated in Word under the file menu (they must be added when customizing the menu). There is a macro which will audibly read the contents of a document (voice-type software must be installed).	WordPerfect and Word could learn from one another here. However, with all of the viewers installed, WP can open any Word document and save it in whatever format is desired.	Twelve macros are included with Word '97. Only one is particularly important, which is a batch file, allowing the user to convert a group of files from MS format into another format or vice versa.
Menus
return to topics	WordPerfect 8	"work around"	Word '97
Menu movement	Menu is always on top.	A toolbar of all menus could be set up in WP and that could be moved to anywhere in the workspace. Icons could also be added here.	Word's menu can be moved as a menu in Word is simply another toolbar. For this reason, icons can be added to the menu in Word. $
Menus	WP ships with four menus and they can be customized and additional menus can be created, copied and/or customized. $	The key in designing a new menu in MS Word is to realize that a menu is really just a toolbar.	Ships with two menus which can be customized. New menus cannot be created but it is a process which is not intuitive as a menu is essentially a Toolbar. Finding the second menu a second time was difficult.
Menus	Menu items do not have pictures.	Toolbar items in WP have pictures and they are customizable by a right click.	Menu items have pictures which are easily customizable. $
Menu Organization	Under the heading format, one can find line, paragraph, page, document; and one can format those items. $$	Under the heading formal in Word, paragraph is there. I don't know where I would go if I wanted to format a line, page or document in Word.
Menu Organization	Sort is located under tools next to merge. To open a template, one must go to "new" first.	Sort is located under tables. Opening up a template for a document was found in styles.
Menu Organization	Making a document fit a specified number of pages is found under format. $	In Word, once you learn where something is, and you use it a lot, then you remember where it is. However, finding it in the first place is often a pain.	Shrinking a document can be found if you go to page preview under file, and then you must click the correct icon.
Menu Organization	No one will agree on the perfect menu; however, I believe that WP has the most reasonable set up. $	To insert a header or a footer in Word, you go to "View" rather than to "Insert" or to "Format."
Right Click Menu (table)	Inside a table, a right click gives you 18 options. $	This can be changed in Word, but the right click in WordPerfect gives you options not available to Word users.	Inside a table, a right click gives you 12 options.
Right Click Menu (text)	Text yields 14 options. $	See above.	Text yields 8 options.
Right Click Menu (selected text)	Selected text yields 12 options. $	See above.	Selected text yields same 8 options as simple text.
Right Click Menu	WordPerfect does not.	Even so, there are still more options with WP's right-click menu.	Word lets you edit the right click menu.
Navigation
return to topics	WordPerfect 8	"work around"	Word '97
Bookmark Insertion	When you choose to create a bookmark, its default name is the text which follows or the text which you have selected. $	Extra steps, as usual, to get the same result from Word.	You must name each and every bookmark. There is no default name.
Documents	When several documents are open at the same time in WP, the status bar will show these documents and you can go from one to another by clicking the status bar. $$	In Word 2000, separate documents appear to be opened in separate programs.	The status bar does not offer this option in Word.
Document Navigation	Ctrl + Home will give you several ways to navigate your document. You can choose to go up or down one page as well from the bottom right-hand corner of the document.	A right click where one finds page navigation will offer other types of navigation; however, it requires more mouse clicks in WP than in Word. WP improved this in version 9.	At the bottom right-hand corner of the screen, you can choose several ways to navigate through your document (by page, table, comment, etc.). $
Page up/page down keys	Takes you up one page or down one page. $	I have used this key dozens of times in MS Word and have never understood its exact function.	Takes you up or down 1/4th of a page or so. Using the page up or page down could land you almost anywhere.
Scroll bar	You can tug on the scroll bar in WP and the document moves accordingly with it. $	In Word, when you move the scroll bar in the middle, you can only approximate where you will end up in your document.	You can only do this with the arrows on the scroll bar in Word.
Printing
return to topics	WordPerfect 8	"work around"	Word '97
Booklet Printing	In WP, you can print a duplex (4 page 8.5x11) document onto 1 sheet of 11x17 paper so that when folded in half, you get a booklet with page 1 on the cover (right side of sheet 1), page 2,3 on the inside and page 4 on the back (left side of sheet 1). You do this by selecting multi page printing, side by side and booklet option to put first and last page on same side. $	I don't think that there is a workaround here.	You cannot do this in Word.
Printing	Clicking on print in WP takes you to a dialog box. An icon or a command which gives a quick print can be added to WP's menu or tool bar (print page; print document). The description, the name and the icons are all different. $	Why on earth does Word use the same icon and the same description to do different things?	Clicking on print in Word immediately prints the entire document. If you want to only print a couple of pages, then you go to menu and choose print. There are two different print icons which can be added to the toolbar or to the menu; however, they look exactly the same and their description is identical.
Print Preview	There is no print preview in WP because it is already WYSIWYG (when a document is opened, it is reformatted for the default printer). $	Because many people demanded it, WP 9 has a print preview feature (it essentially is equivalent to looking at a full page in WP. In WP 9, you can switch between several documents while in print preview mode.	Although Word is about 95% WYSIWYG, the codes look funny; going to print preview allows limited document editing ability; also, one cannot switch back and forth between documents anymore until print preview is turned off.
Tables and Columns
return to topics	WordPerfect 8	"work around"	Word '97
Borders	Each border can be set individually and completely customized. $$	The borders have pre-set selections which can be customized. Some customization resulted in the cell border as being too large.
Column and row indicators	WordPerfect can be set to show cell references. $	Manually count them. Fine for a small table.	Word does not have a comparable table feature.
Columns	WordPerfect offers four types of columns with as many columns as one wants. $$	I'm not certain if there is one.	Word offers one kind of column. Both programs allow for customizing the types of columns that they offer (e.g., borders, size, etc.).
Cross formulas	WordPerfect's can use values from different tables. $	Just make it one big table in Word, count the places to determine where y1ou are, join some cells where you normally wouldn't have a table, etc., etc. etc.	You can't do this in Word.
Exiting a table	No matter how you set up a table, you can always set your cursor to precede or to follow a table. $	Make certain there is a hard return before or after a table in MS Word.	If you set up your table incorrectly, it is difficult to exit it in either direction.
Editing a table	In revising this comparison, I decided to switch the headings around; I selected a set of cells with the mouse and then dragged them where I wanted them. The new row with all formatting in tact, was easily moved. $$	Using right click, cut, copy and/or paste, a row could be moved in Word. However, a new vacant row would have to be created, as this pasting would replace the existing cell contents. Formatting would have to be fixed. In WP, it was select and drag; in Word, there were at least a dozen steps required.	The contents of a single cell could be easily moved, but one could not select and move a row in Word using the mouse. When moving cell contents, they did not append the contents of the cell but replaced the contents entirely. Some formatting is lost.
Formatting as numbers	10 different types which can be customized. This can be accessed from a right click or from the menu. $	You have to do the table in Excel again.	It appears as though there was some way to customize some cell numbers if a formula is used, but it can't be done with a right click. There were only 7 possible number formats, and none of these could be customized.
Formulas	WordPerfect ships with about 98 formulas which can be used in WordPerfect tables. A formula bar may be accessed similar to a spreadsheet formula bar. $$	Do the table in Excel and then cut and paste.	It appears as though Word ships with 18 formulas, but it was not clear how to use them all.3
Formulas	Can be accessed by menu, additional formula bar, or right click. $	Do the table in Excel and then cut and paste	Can be accessed from menu only.
Formulas	Can be copied; relative cell relationship is maintained. $	Do the table in excel, cut and paste and then link the files or do what is suggested under Word.	This cannot be done automatically in Word. You must select the formula copied in the new cell, right-
click it and then choose update field.
Initial size	In WP, one can easily adjust the line height, which adjusts the size in any table. $$	Word can adjust the font size, which affects the height. Then text must be selected individually and that text changed back (however, some text or spaces must be left at the original height).	Word cannot adjust the line height by the font alone. Make some tables and then change the font in Word and see what happens. Select the table and change the font; see what happens..
Numbering Columns	You can number each column in WordPerfect (i.e., each column can have its own page number). $	You would have to manually insert automatic numbering at the top of each column (any later editing of the document would mess this up, of course).	This cannot be done automatically in Word. You must select the formula copied in the new cell, right-
click it and then choose update field.
Rotate a Table	In WP, in order to rotate a table, you insert it into a box and then rotate the box. $	One person suggested to rotate the text in each cell of the table in Word. An alternate method is to insert a section break and change the page to landscape. The negative here is that the other formatting (like page numbers and headings) will be inconsistent in the document.	Can't do this in Word.
Text alignment	Text can be aligned with respect to either side or top and bottom. Text can be decimal aligned. $

In order to decimal align columns in Word, block the column and set a dec. align tab where you want the divider to be. You don't have to tab in each cell, the whole column will automatically align.	Text can be aligned to the top or bottom or centered vertically. Other alignments require use of justification as well.
Viewing cell address	Automatically found in the status bar. $	A macro can be run in order to view what cell you are in.	Not found anywhere.
Updating	WP can be set up so that, when a number is changed, then the document is automatically updated. $	You can select what you want updated and then press F9 or, select update under print which is under options and your document will be updated prior to printing.
Viewing formulas	I could either insert a formula into WP through a right click or through the menu. The cell references are found at the bottom of the screen as well as on the table formula bar. When I inserted a simple formula, that was shown in the formula bar, but the answer was in the cell. $$	Inserting formulas and seeing them is not quite as intuitive in Word as it is in WP. Without the cell references, it is a little more convoluted to write a formula in a word table. You can either view the formula in Word or the answer, but not both.	After checking with Word help and dinking around a little, I could get Word to add a couple of cells together (a rather elementary function). Although the answer did not show on the paper, it did when I printed it out. I had to change the view menu in order to see the answer.
Conclusion	The tables in WordPerfect act like the tables in a spreadsheet and not as simple borders. One does not have to leave WordPerfect to gain the use of a spreadsheet (although the WordPerfect Suite ships with a spreadsheet program similar to Excel).
Tools
return to topics	WordPerfect 8	"work around"	Word '97
QuickMark	A bookmark is automatically placed in a document when the document is saved. Then one can go to the place in the document with on mouse click. $	User can set the bookmark manually.	Word has no comparable feature.
Sort	Five types of sort; new sort can be set to automatically be saved as a new file. Sort can be customized. Custom sorts can be saved to use again. WP differentiated between hard returns and items to be sorted. $	MS Word will sort second and third fields if these are placed into a table.	Fewer sort options. No true custom sorting. When I double spaced items to be sorted, the hard returns became part of the sort. Only the first item could be sorted in a list with several "fields."
Spell-check	When you accidentally type two words without a space between them (e.g., twowords), WP spell check catches this and offers the alternative of place a space between them. $	Word does fix some words which are run together without a space (like "onthe") because it is specifically built into their spelling tool.	Word doesn't offer this option either through a formal spell-checking or through a right-click.
Spell-check	Here's a nifty feature of WP's spell check which I just discovered: if there is only one possible alternate way of spelling a word (for instance, you type the word "zspelling"), WordPerfect will correct this even though it is NOT in the Quick Correct word list. $	Word will only correct what you tell it to correct. That is, if you have told auto-
correct that "zspelling" should be "spelling", it will change it. If you don't, you will just have to catch it later with spell-check or change it because you notice it's underlined.	MS Word does not do this automatically.
Suite toolbar	WordPerfect's DAD bar is placed as an integral part right on the Window's taskbar, which can be hidden to gain more space. $$	None	The office launching bar either takes up precious space or is hidden, but there is no easy access if it is hidden.
Template	In WP, you can individually share tool bars, menus, and keyboards. $$	None. You must put every type of toolbar or menu that you want into one template, or you cannot access them from a different template.	In Word, in each template, it is an all or nothing choice. You use all that is in the template or none of it.
Template	When a template is moved from one computer to another, the previous template is not removed nor are its characteristics lost. $$	None	If you move "Normal.dot" to another computer, then the custom items in the other program of Word are lost.
Thesaurus	In WP, the word great yielded 50 synonyms (and their synonyms). $	WP 9 really fell down on the job here; their Thesaurus if quite inferior to WP 8's.	Word allowed for 7 synonyms and their synonyms.
Toolbars	Toolbars and property bars could be placed separately in the workspace to allow more of the document to be seen.	The toolbars and menu could be placed separately throughout the workspace to allow more of the document to be seen.
Toolbars	Ships with 16 toolbars; new ones can be added. $	Ships with 13 toolbars; new ones can be added.
Tasks	Although it would never occur to me to use a template for writing a letter, I attempted to write a letter in Word and WordPerfect. Word was slightly easier to use and it did access the Corel address book (which surprised me). WordPerfect offered many more options with respect to the style of the letter, but was more difficult to determine how to insert the recipient's address.
View
return to topics	WordPerfect 8	"work around"	Word '97
Comment	When a comment is hidden in a WP document, there is a symbol in the margin which calls attention to the reader that there is a hidden comment. It can be clicked on to read and/or edit the comment.	WP's placement in the margin seems more prudent than in the middle of the document. However, in Word, when you hold the cursor over the comment, the contents may be read without clicking on it. Hopefully, both will learn from the other's program.	In Word, when viewing hidden comments is allowed via the options menu, the symbol shows up in the midst of the document (but does not print).
Document Heading View	At the top of the screen, the open document is marked unmodified if you recently saved it (helpful when you have several documents open). $	Word just lists the name of the document.
Document View	Only one toolbar button is required to toggle between page view and default view (there are actually three different toggle buttons in WP). $	In Word, you must put two buttons on your toolbar to go from one view to the other.
Document View	WordPerfect can view two active, editable pages of a document. $	Someone who only uses Word probably won't get the difference.	Word can't do this. Word can, however, view in two different windows two different pages of a document.
Font Preview window	There is a font preview window available in WP which pops up and displays in very large letters the font highlighted. It is big enough for small screens, bifocals and baby boomers to read. You do not have to go to the font dialogue box to access this. $	You can go to the font dialogue box, change it to a large font, then go through the fonts, find the one you want; change the font back to its normal size, and choose okay.	There is no similar feature in Word.
Opening a blank document	When you close all of your documents, a blank document set to the standards of your default template appears. $	You must click on "new document" in Word.	You close your documents in Word and nothing is left.
Page breaks	They look like page breaks. $	I had to go through a two page document several times in order to see the page break.
Print Preview	WordPerfect no longer has a Print Preview because it is a true WYSIWYG. There are guidelines in WP (margins and tables) which do not print up, but can be removed from the screen if you don't want to see them. $	In Word, this can function as the screen that one works in as long as you have only one document open. I don't know its other limitations.	Word has a complete Print Preview screen where one can go to see how a document will look in its final draft. The screen had to be reset every time I closed one document and opened another into it.
Toolbar icons	WordPerfect has more choices for its icon buttons (all of which may be customized). $	Some of Word's icons are simply words which take up more room.
True WYSIWYG	All headers, page numbers, etc. appear on the computer screen as they will in the document. $$	Tables and margins do appear as broken lines on screen in WP, but these can be turned off.	Although Word is almost WYSIWYG, not everything looks on screen like it will when printed.
Window	There are a number of ways to tile several documents; it can be set so that the active document is prominent. $$	There appears to be only one way to view the documents and the active document is not given any more space than the inactive document.
Web Capabilities
return to topics	WordPerfect 8	"work around"	Word '97
Editing	WordPerfect will allow you to edit a web document. $$$	Word '97 cannot do this.
Opens web documents	You can open any HTML document in WordPerfect. $$$	Word will open it mostly as a text document with a lot of formatting changes.
Prints web documents	When you print out a HTML document, it looks very close in printing to how it looks on screen $$$	When Word allows you to open a web document, it will print in only text without very little of the web formatting.
Comment	Although Microsoft touts itself as being progressive, and that one of the top ten most important improvements in Office 2000 is web publishing; in fact, this was mentioned as one of the big improvements in a Time Magazine article in the April 19, 1999 issue. However, these features have been available to WordPerfect users since WP 7, which came out in 1996 and these web features were further refined and improved by WP 8. What Word will eventually have, WP has had for almost 4 years (which is a long time in the computer world).
Miscellaneous
return to topics	WordPerfect 8	"work around"	Word '97
Access to Third Party Special Font Characters	These can only be accessed through the font dialogue box.	Whatever cannot be accessed in WP's 1500 character set would have to be gotten via a macro if quick access is desired.	Choosing characters brings up a dialogue box where all the various windings are given easy access to. If WP is installed, then you have access to the 1500 WP character set; if WP is not installed, then you don't. $
Advance	From any point in WordPerfect, one can advance in any direction any amount on a given page. $	Word's advance features are not as powerful and difficult to locate.
Automatic numbering	WordPerfect can be set up to insert automatic numbers throughout a document without being at the beginning of a paragraph. There was also a one keystroke way to access this, which was not intuitive. $	I could find no help documentation of this in WP and it was not easy to figure out how to set up automatic number from the dialogue. Help gave a quick one sentence solution (press SHIFT+CTRL+F6). The help documentation in Word did not explain how to do this. WP, as usual, was several steps shorter.	Word can also be set up to automatically number within a document. To begin this, simply go to insert, field, listnum. I was told by one person who used this feature to embed it in styles in Word
Characters	WordPerfect allows for the insertion of 1500 different characters in math, science and language fields. $$$	You can buy the different fonts and Word does provide easy access to character fonts. However, if you're going to buy the WordPerfect program for the fonts, you might as well install the whole program.	Word allows for the insertion of approximately 150 different characters. Word is set up to access whatever character sets are available on the hard drive; therefore, if you have WP and its character sets on your hard drive, word can use these symbols. However, you must have the WordPerfect fonts installed.
Date insert	Date and or time can be inserted by clicking the status bar in WP (as well as by the menu or using the keyboard or using the toolbar). It is nice to have the time and the date always on the status screen. $	This can be gotten as a menu item only in Word (and it can be added to a toolbar).
File management	WordPerfect's file manager comes with a full menu; the menu size can be adjusted and there are 19 buttons on the toolbar. The window to look at a document can be removed and sized separately. $$	To do any sort of file management I Word, you must go to explorer or another program.	Word's file manager cannot be sized, it has no menu, and the size cannot be adjusted. There are 9 buttons on the toolbar.
File Manager	WordPerfect, the tool bar in file manager can be customized and the dialogue box can be sized. $	In Word, when you open file manager what you see is what you get.
Integration	When in templates in WP, one is offered hundreds of templates in all suite applications. $$	Not only do you have half as many templates, but you cannot begin an Excel template from Word.
Printer	When working with two or more printers, WP displays which printer is being used on the status bar. $	If there are two printing options, there is nothing in Word to immediately let you know that you might be using the wrong printer.
Playfulness	WordPerfect tends to be very business-oriented. Backgrounds may be added to a WP document, but these backgrounds will print, unless the code is eliminated before printing.	Menus in WP open and close in an entertaining manner under Windows '98. However, there is no paperclip guy in WP. Personally, I liked the menu effects the first 3 or 4 times I saw them, but never warmed up to the paper clip guy.	Word offers the paperclip guy, a temporary background to your documents (which does not print out, but looks cool), and menus that open in an entertaining manner.
Printing	WordPerfect automatically adjusts for the various printers. $	The default setting for the footer must be changed in Word (do this in file, then page setup).	Word will, on some ink jet printers, will not print the page numbers.
Printing	WordPerfect, by default, lists the printer for which a document has been formatted for, on the status bar. Different printers will produce different results and this allows for a true WYSIWYG document. $	Word does not.
Printing	When a document is opened in WordPerfect, it is re-formatted for the printer in use, so that, if you choose to print from that printer, you have a true WYSIWYG document. $	In Word, you must go to Print Preview to see what is going on with your document.
Property Bar	Ships with 10 customizable property bars. New ones can be added. A property bar is a tool bar which automatically shows up depending upon the environment that you are in (e.g., selected text, in a table, header/footer, graphic, etc.). These features are peculiar to that environment.4 $$$	In Word, when you are in a table, then you can bring up the "table" toolbar" and then remove it when you are done. This is done automatically in WP in several different environments. You can also choose what environment will "trigger" what property bar.	Word has no comparable feature.
Repeat Function	In WordPerfect, you first choose how many times you would like an action repeated, then the action must involve one keystroke. It will be repeated the specified number of times. This can be a macro, text, a pasting of text, etc. $$	The repeat function in WP is simply quite impressive. Surprisingly enough, it was a MS fan who directed me to look at the repeat function, in hopes that Word's was better than WP's.	In Word, you use the repeat function after the fact and it simply repeats the text which you have typed once. It will not repeat a macro, although it might repeat the typing of some of the text in the macro. There are times I wasn't certain what would occur when I chose the repeat function.
Shadow cursor	The shadow cursor is a"ghost" cursor which tells the user where clicking would place the cursor (even if the mouse arrow is outside the margins). $	No comparable feature.5
Shadow cursor	The shadow cursor also allows the user to click anywhere in a blank document and begin right there. The hard returns and the tabs will be automatically set.6 $	Word '97 does not does this; however, a similar feature is found in Word 2000; Word does catch up in some areas.
Speed	Moving through a document in WP was quicker than the equivalent document in Word. $	On one person's computer, under the Windows NT OS, WordPerfect was very slow. I have not found that same problem duplicated elsewhere but I have heard that NT and WP often don't agree..	One particular document of only two or three pages took forever in word to skim through.
Recovered Documents	WordPerfect has a backup feature so that if you lose your power, WP will prompt you to open documents which were saved. They are listed as document 1, 2, etc.	In Word, a document is recovered and it keeps the name that it originally had. After the name, we have the notation recovered. $

Final Scorecard:

<return to topics>	advantage	major advantage	extremely important advantage
Corel WordPerfect 8	87	39	8
Miscrosoft Word '97	16	2	0

Help

One comparison between these programs which I have never seen involves the use of the help menu. Now, certainly some reviewers have made general references to help, but there has never been, to the best of my knowledge, a careful comparison of how helpful the help feature actually is in either program. Now, I did not explore this feature completely. There were some things that I needed to know how to do in Word that I used Word's help feature to locate. Ditto, there were features in WP which I generally did not use and I needed to see how to access them. Whenever I used help in either program, I checked the help feature in the other program and compared them. Most of those comparisons are found below. Originally, I had very little to say about this, as I have rarely used help in WordPerfect. However, as time progressed, I found myself using it more and more and being shocked at how poorly MS Word's help is worded.

Paul Bonner wrote: WordPerfect Suite 8 does more than compete with Office--it surpasses it in many significant ways. I'm particularly enamored of some of the innovations that appear throughout the suite's major applications, including PerfectExpert, a simple menu-like toolbar that runs down the side of the screen, offering quick, plain-English access to the features mostly likely to be of interest for whatever task the user is engaged in at the moment. The simple, straightforward support Perfect expert offers stands in start contrast to the patronizing, information-lite support spooned out by Microsoft's Office Assistant.7

PC Magazine: Corel's natural-language help system, confusingly named PerfectExpert, doesn't answer questions as well as Microsoft's Office Assistant. But, on the other hand, it doesn't waste screen space with animated icons.8 PerfectExpert...although not quite as natty as the animated actors in Microsoft Office 97, PerfectExpert did an adequate job of explaining many of the suite's encyclopedic features.9

I think the best way to approach this is to use a couple of examples. The feature advance is a very powerful feature, which allows for the placement of text "into" scanned in forms in WP which occupy the background as a watermark. I use the advance function to place math symbols (e.g., the sign of a ray, a segment, etc. appropriately); I also use them to place Hebrew vowel points. Both WP and Word have this feature.

WordPerfect's Directions	MS Word's Directions:
To advance a certain distance from the insertion point:

1.	Click Format Typesetting Advance.

2.	Select Left from Insertion Point, Right from Insertion Point, Up from Insertion Point, or Down from Insertion Point.

3.	Specify a position in the Horizontal or Vertical Distance text box."	Offsets the starting point of text that follows the ADVANCE field to the right or left, up or down, or to a specific horizontal or vertical position.

Notes

Before you use this field, try to adjust the text placement with the Font, Paragraph, or Tabs command (Format menu), or with the Frame command (Insert menu).

The switches used by the Switch	Moves the text that follows the field	\d

\u

\l

\ r

\x

\y	Down by the specified number of points. For example, { ADVANCE \d 4 } moves text down 4 points

Up by the specified number of points

To the left by the specified number of points.

To the right by the specified number of points.

The specified distance from the left margin of the text column or frame. For example,

{ ADVANCE \x 4 } starts text 4 points from the left margin.

To the specified vertical position relative to the current line position. The entire line of text that contains the field is moved.

In reading the directions above, which seems easier? Furthermore, although this is unrelated to help, let me mention one more item about this advance feature: in WP, WYSIWYG. When operating in the normal document mode, you see your text exactly as it will appear when it is printed. If you go to "reveal codes" and double click on the advance code, the dialogue box will appear in case you need to adjust the advance. In Word, clicking on the code does nothing. You cannot see how your text will look unless you go into "print preview," in which case, you can only edit one document. When I asked help in that mode how to gain the use of my cursor again, I was given the following topics to choose from: (1) Field codes: go to button field. (2) Troubleshoot linked text boxes. (3) Insert a video file into a Word document. (4) Insert a sound file into a Word document. Needless to say, none of these helped me get the function of my cursor back.

When I once said that you could insert numbers anywhere in a paragraph in WP but not in Word, I was corrected by a Word user. So, I went to help to see how this was explained:

WordPerfect Help	MS Word Help
You can insert numbers without tabs or levels anywhere in your document by pressing Ctrl+Shift+F5. This is useful, for example, when you want to number items within a paragraph.	Add numbers to items in paragraph text

1	Click in front of the first item you want to number within the paragraph.

2	On the Insert menu, click Field.

3	In the Categories box, click All or Numbering.

4	In the Field names box, double-click ListNum.

5	Click in front of the next item you want to number within the paragraph.

6	Repeat steps 2 through 5 for each list item.

Field codes: ListNum field

{ LISTNUM "Name" [Switches] }

Inserts a set of numbers anywhere in a paragraph. LISTNUM fields can be incorporated into numbering from a simple or outline-numbered list.

Instruction	Explanation

Name	Associates a LISTNUM field with a specific list.To emulate the AUTONUM, AUTONUMOUT, and AUTONUMLGL fields, use the NumberDefault, OutlineDefault, and LegalDefault names with the LISTNUM field.

Switches

\l	Specifies the level in the list, overriding the default behavior of the field.

\s	Specifies the start-at value for this field. This is always assumed to be an integer.

[Note: admittedly, I had to try 4 or 5 places before I found this in help; PerfectExpert was no help].	I found this topic fast in the MS help menu, but look at all of those steps!

I had been told by someone else to use "ListNum" from the fields; so I looked that up at the time to figure how to use it. MS's explanation is in the column on the right:	Examples

LISTNUM fields were used in this example to generate the numbers (i),(ii), and (iii):

The Borrower shall deliver to the Bank a certificate of its chief financial officer, certifying that (i) no Default has occurred, (ii) the attached financial statements have been prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and (iii) the attached certificate correctly sets forth the calculations for determining the ratios specified in Sections 5.08, 5.09, and 5.10.

Read this over and decide which is the clearest, and easiest to understand. Pick any topic and look it up in Word and then look it up in WordPerfect and you decide. Which is the easiest to understand and then to utilize? Even though WordPerfect's features are more powerful and do more, accessing them and understanding them is much easier in WordPerfect than it is to access and understand similar features in Word. If you have no clue as to how to access a particular feature, then that feature is not an advantage to you. I have noticed that there is this "Easter egg" mentality with MS Word users. There are some dandy features in Word, but they are well-hidden. MS's concept of help allows these features to remain well-
hidden. If you are lucky enough to stumble across an Easter egg in Word, then you often share it with friends. Other eggs are found through manuals and special hints found in various PC magazines. In WordPerfect, if you know a feature is there or you simply think a feature might exist, then WordPerfect's help menu will show you how to access that feature. The only general weakness which I found in both programs is that there was not enough cross-referencing. That is, often each feature could be located only by looking up a specific name and synonyms for a feature often did not help.

<Return to topics>

Macros in More Detail

One of the things which requires some more space is the writing of macros in WP and in Word. Although not always as clear as they could be, the names of the commands in WordPerfect are almost all simpler and easier to understand than those in Word. Below is an example of a simple recording of my name and address:

WordPerfect	MS Word
1

2

3

4

5

6	Application (WordPerfect; "WordPerfect"; Default!; "EN")

Type (Text: "Scut Fargus")

HardReturn ()

Type (Text: "2000 Lame Lane")

HardReturn ()

Type (Text: "Your Town, USA; 00007")	Sub address()

'

' address Macro

' Macro recorded 10/10/99 by Scut Fargus

'

Selection.TypeText Text:="Scut Fargus"

Selection.TypeParagraph

Selection.TypeText Text:="2000 Lame Lane"

Selection.TypeParagraph

Selection.TypeText Text:="Your Town, USA; 00007"

End Sub
I should note that the top line is automatically inserted in a WP 8 macro, but unnecessary; also, in WP 8, the lines are automatically numbered, which is helpful in lengthy macros or when troubleshooting a macro.	Note the commands for typing in text and placing a hard return in the macro. Almost any novice could open the WordPerfect Macro and know what was going on. If we did not know what was supposed to happen with this Word macro, we might find this, the most simplest of macros, to be rather abstruse.

<Return to topics>

Additional Comments about Web Features

I have only done a little publishing to the web, however, I have culled the following comments for other authors. PC Magazine (Sept. 97) wrote: The gem here is WEB.SiteBuilder, which fills the gap between the ability to publish Web documents and the need to manage those documents and enforce a style on all Web documents. Neither Lotus nor Microsoft provide any Web-site management tools, instead relying on separately purchased tools to augment their suites.10

Another comment on the Internet related capabilities: [Corel's] suite value-added technology can create richer Web content than Office 97's mostly save-in-HTML approach...Barista, an included technology allowing Windows 95 applications to produce Java output, is particularly exciting. Its print-driver architecture makes it easy to use, and it supports any Windows 95 application. Barista supports publishing Java-based documents, spreadsheets and presentations without programming. Office 97 has no counterpart for these features.11 All suite applications write to HTML.12

In reviewing the newest version of MS Office, Office 2000, an editor of the very biased bi-monthly PC magazine reports ...much of what MS Office 2000 has to offer revolves around the Internet. MS Office 2000 treats HTML files in much the same manner as regular Office file formats: You use the same dialog boxes to open and save HTML files. And by using a special set of XML tags, MS Office 2000 retains the sophisticated formatting and other properties of binary file formats when you convert them to HTML...Without question, MS Office 2000 goes farther than any other office suite in making the Web a part of your everyday work.13 Although the latest editions of Corel's Office Suite and the Lotus Suite are contrasted in the same article, the author fails to mention that these features have all been a part of the WordPerfect Office Suite, both 7 and 8, since 1996. It is nice to see that MS Office is finally catching up.

Lynn Ginsburg: Corel has an exclusive arrangement with Netscape to integrate Netscape Communicator with Corel-Central's group discussion and conferencing features, allowing you to schedule, collaborate on, and track workgroup tasks across the Internet or an Intranet. You can also share visual information via an online "white board" and participate in real-time chat sessions. The address book offers telephony features such as speed dialing and caller ID.14 <Return to topics>

Additional Comments

In regards to the comments which I made concerning the table features in WordPerfect, two people suggested that in Word to use Excel and then cut and paste into WordPerfect. They missed the point. What is marvelous about WordPerfect is that one does not have to leave WordPerfect in order to work with real, functioning tables. In fact, it was because of working with WordPerfect tables that I am no longer intimidated by a spreadsheet program. When I need more than one sheet in a table, I go to Quattro Pro; when I don't need but one page, using WordPerfect is the simplest option.

With regards to "work around's": admittedly, there are some features of WordPerfect which Word can mimic, if you are willing to put in the time. In WordPerfect, if you want to have a line which has words that are centered, right justified and left justified, you do the following: Type your left justified-text, click "center icon" (or, Shift+F6), type the centered text, press ALT+CTRL+F6, then type right-justified text. In Word, although this isn't difficult, it just takes time: Click table, table create, change the size of the table to a 3 x 1 table. Select entire table, right-click table", click "table auto format" and choose none. Click inside first table; type text. Click inside second table; click "centered text" icon, type in text. Click inside third table, click "right justified" icon, type in text. You will notice that it is a dozen more steps to accomplish the same thing in Word.15 This is typical of the features Word is able to mimic.

Let me give you another example: when inserting a caption into a graphic in WordPerfect, you are give the chance to place it in several positions. To move the caption in Word, you must do the following: Using the drawing toolbar to insert it under "autoshapes." Once it is inserted, then treat it like a picture and move accordingly. Now, this is not too many more steps than WordPerfect; the trouble is who would have thought to even try this? It is not an intuitive set of steps. As has been pointed out, there are a lot of features which Word cannot duplicate and some of the times when it can, the workaround is just flat-out difficult.

As I have mentioned, several people sent me additional areas where WP was superior to Word. Sometimes, these areas fell out of my area of expertise. Let me include one of those here.

From Don Potteiger:

I just perused the WP8 vs WORD97 document and I believe it may have missed one more very important advantage to WP8. In the MERGE feature I can; 1) do a keyboard merge 2) merge from a macro using merge variables (big advantage) 3) use more merge commands including logic (test for conditions of variables, etc.

Let me add to this a list of quotes that I have collected from the Internet and from various magazines.

PC Magazine: Unlike Microsoft Office 97, which caused widespread problems by introducing new file formats, the new Corel suite uses the same formats as before...Corel one-ups Microsoft's wizards with its PerfectExperts, automated templates that offer extensive options for creating complex files.16

PC Magazine (Sept. 97): Where Word gets divided awkwardly between easy-to-use and programmer-only features, WordPerfect still makes all of its massive power available to everyone..Corel's PerfectScript doesn't require programming experience if you want to create or modify macros..17

From a review of WordPerfect 8: Just when it looked as if Microsoft Office would conquer the desktop with dreadnought certainly, WordPerfect Suite 8 appeared, and it's more than a great suite. Using it is like discovering you're a virtuoso pianist. Not to mention that it does everything Microsoft Office 97 does, for $200 less...The apps [in WordPerfect] merge so seamlessly, it's possible to move from the word processor to the presentation manager's drawing module and not realize you've changed programs...The suite will ship with over 100 ready-rolled projects, which provide over-your-shoulder suggestions. the best part is that they're nonlinear, meaning you don't have to know exactly what you want to do before you start doing it.18

From the CRN Test Center, from their Dec. 15, 1997, Issue 768, by John Yacono: In the opinion of the CRN Test Center Engineer, the Corel [Office Suite] is more feature-rich and powerful than Office 97...Based solely on performance, Corel comes out ahead. <Return to topics>

Conclusion: There are very few features in Word which are superior to WordPerfect's features. However, again and again in WP, there is feature after feature which is more flexible, more easily accessed and there are hundreds more features in WP than there are in Word. To a person who types a letter now and again or writes a memo now and again—they would not really notice a great deal of different. However, for the person who spends an hour or two in a word processor daily, the difference between the two programs is tremendous. Certainly, there are some work-around's in Word in several areas; however, these work around's are time-consuming and not always intuitive.

To give you an analogy that you might fully grasp. The difference between Microsoft Word and Word Pad (which is built into Windows '95) is analogous to the difference between WordPerfect and Word. People who use WordPerfect just hate to scale down to an inferior program with (1) will not duplicate their documents; (2) will not allow them to make equivalent documents from scratch; and, (3) is lacking tremendously in features. Just as a user of Word would not want to be forced to use Word Pad, so a WordPerfect user does not want to be forced to use Microsoft Word.