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WordPerfect 9

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Word 2000

Word Pro 9

Bookmark dialogue box.

At the bookmark dialogue box, you can set bookmarks, edit them, rename them, delete them, go to them or go to them and select the text. It is quite intuitive. §§

You may go to, delete or create a bookmark from this box.

You may create, go to or delete a bookmark from this box.

Going to a bookmark with selected text.

WP simply goes to the bookmark.

For hyperlinks and bookmarks to function if your document is changed to HTML, the hyperlinks must be to bookmarked selected text.

Word will go to the bookmark and select the text.

Word Pro will go to the bookmark and select the text.

Going to a bookmark with unselected text.

WP goes to the text.

Word simply goes to the bookmark.

Word Pro simply goes to the bookmark.

Naming bookmarks

Whatever text is selected or whatever text follows the book-marked place is the name of the bookmark, meaning spaces can be included.

On subtitles of chapters which I write, I often have this keyed to sort of a table of contents at the beginning of the chapter. WP saves me quite a number of steps when creating a hyperlinks.

A bookmark cannot have a space in its name (when I did this, I was given no explanation as to why I could not name the bookmark what I wanted to name it).

Spaces are allowed in naming a bookmark.

QuickMark

This is a tremendous feature. A QuickMark may be set at any time; it is a temporary bookmark. I use them all of the time in macros to get my cursor placed back where I started the macro. Also, a WP can be set up to insert a QuickMark wherever the cursor is when a document is saved, and then when WP opens that document, it can be set up to go immediately to that QuickMark. §§

This is a great little feature which, surprisingly, has not been duplicated by the other programs. It is one of those that when you have it, you use it.

Not found here.

Not found here.

Setting a bookmark having selected text.

The text that is selected is the default name for the bookmark (it can be easily and immediately changed). §

This saves you a great deal of typing if you use a lot of bookmarks. If you rename your bookmarks, then the amount of typing is almost identical.

You must name the bookmark.

You must give a name to the bookmark; there is no default name.

Setting a bookmark without selecting text.

If you do not choose the text, then WP takes where the cursor begins, adds a few words, and that is the name of the bookmark (it can be changed in an instant). §

You must name the bookmark; the dialogue box may be hovering over the text so that you must move it, if you want to name it by whatever is written.

You must give a name to the bookmark.

Unique features

Bookmarks can be moved using the bookmark dialogue box.

Neither feature is important enough to give a § to.

A hidden bookmark can be created with Word. Even after reading the help file, I did not grasp what was being done here.

Didn’t notice any.

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WordPerfect 9

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Word 2000

Word Pro 9

Borders

WP 9 has 94 different borders and it is easy to add new ones. The line borders are very customizable. The graphical borders are essentially like watermarks (although they do not operate the same way). §

Although Star Writer and Word did not have the fancy borders like Word Pro and WP, these could have been inserted as graphics and made the size of the page.

Word also comes with a very large selection of borders. The border color has become much more customizable; the size and shadow are not quite as customizable. There were no fancy borders.

Word Pro takes a palette approach and the border of a page is handled from a page layout pallette. It had a huge number of options. The graphical borders offered were extensive, but there were no pictures. They were more like very fancy borders. §

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. §

Another option in Word is to 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 outside of that border. Inserting a section break solved that.

Word Pro was most similar to Word in this respect.

Borders

A border can include groups of paragraphs or can be applied to individual paragraphs. If you continued to add hard returns, the border contained the hard returns and additional text. To exit a paragraph border, one could either use reveal codes and then go past the border; or, one could simply click with the mouse. §§

It was easy to place a border around one paragraph in Word. Select the text, chose border, and then paragraph and the border desired. With point and shoot, one could click outside of a paragraph border in order to leave it. §

Although Word Pro was similar to Word, the border could be modified with a right click (which could then bring the text dialogue box up). §

Borders, terminating

Borders could be discontinued, applied to the entire document, or just to the one page from the border dialogue box. On the negative side, WP inserts another page after the introduction of a border. This has caused me to print blank sheets of paper at time when I forget to delete it (I don’t follow their reasoning here). §§

I liked WordPerfect doing what it claimed to do; a page break would allow an easy insertion of a new border. Borders could be easily turned on and off from the same dialogue box. Word and Word Pro both required a section break as well.

Although the option to apply to this page only was lacking, there was the choice apply to this section only. In order to change borders, a section break (insert -> break...) had to be inserted and then borders could be applied to that section only. One could click outside of the border to get outside of a paragraph border. §

Lotus Word Pro had section breaks which were similar to Word’s. The key was to go to create -> section.

Borders, editing

The border in WP could be edited from the standard dialogue box.

The border in Word could be edited from the standard dialogue box.

Only Word Pro allowed a right click editing of the borders (a right click on the page brought up the page format option, which brought up the combination dialogue box. §

Fill, colors for paragraphs and pages

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. WP’s colors could be customized. §

Word’s fill improved considerably with this version, rivaling WP’s, also allowing for customized colors. §

Word Pro also had a fine selection of colors–256 of them.

Fill, styles for paragraphs

The fills could be separated into 65 different styles, apart from a simple percentage of fill. §§

There were no styles or patterns for paragraphs that I could discern.

72 different patterns could be applied to a paragraph. Turning it off was difficult. §

Textures

87 different textures, but a bit more difficult to access than Word. §

Word’s location for these textures is the same as for patterns. In WP, you have to insert the file as a graphic.

24 different textures. §

No textures.

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WordPerfect 9

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Word 2000

Word Pro 9

Column types

4 different column types to choose from (newspaper, balanced newspaper, parallel, parallel with block protect). §§

Only one real choice in columns—

newspaper.

Parallel columns.

Discontinue columns

Go to the columns under format and click on discontinue in the column dialogue box.

Go to column dialogue box and choose one column and choose from this point forward.

Choose create -> parallel columns.

Formatting columns

33 border choices, plus shadow and fill options. Under the border and fill, one could choose to have a line between the columns or no. §

Very limited in formatting. You could choose to have a line between or not.

Nothing by way of formatting choices.

Inserting columns

This was automatically applied from that point onwards. §

You had to choose from that point onwards, otherwise the whole page got reformatted.

Choose create -> parallel columns.

Resizing columns and margins

This could be done with the mouse or from the dialogue box.

From the dialogue box or from above columns on column bar (you must be in that column to resize it from the column bar).

From using the mouse (this was a bit awkward; you could not change one column without changing the other; i.e., the spacing remained the same). I couldn’t always get the double arrow and the hand didn’t seem to do what I wanted it to do.

Typing in next column

Either use the mouse to click into the next column or Ctrl+Enter. §

I could not figure how to go from one column to the next. The only way I could figure it would be to type until I got to the end and it would go into the next column.

You could mouse click from being in one column to get you into the next.

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WordPerfect 9

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Word 2000

Word Pro 9

File Save as

WordPerfect, as presently shipped, can save files in 75 different formats. §§

 WP only saves up to AmiPro 3.0 and not in Word ‘95. 

Word will save in 29 different formats, but not any recent version of WP and no version of Word Pro.

Word Pro will save in 42 different formats, including WP and Word. §

File Open

WordPerfect opens files written in 54 different formats. Downloads from Corel will increase this number. §§

WP also ships with “Quick View”, which opens, edits and prints about 70 different formats. As you see, MS Word makes the least effort to be compatible with anyone else. However, if the WP fonts are installed, I have seen it display complex WP documents.

Word opens files written in 23 different formats. I have seen it open some fairly complex WP documents when the WP character sets were installed on the computer.

Word Pro opens about 50 different types of documents, including recent versions of Word and WP. §§

Suite toolbar

WordPerfect’s DAD bar allows all applications to be easily accessed in one click from this OS toolbar. The program icons appear to be sitting in the icon tray. Adding various application is easy and if you maximize your space with auto-hide, then you will appreciate Corel’s approach here. §§

From Word ‘97 to Word 2000, there have been some definite improvements. With the advent of Windows ‘98, where toolbars can be easily made, all of these suite toolbars are obsolete. One great advantage of this toolbar over Corel’s is that the icons are easier to group.

The old office launching bar appeared to only allowed certain Microsoft products to be launched. The new one is greatly improved, adding the feature auto-hide. Adding another program was easy. §

It was easy an intuitive to add other programs to Lotus’s drawers; however, it was not always easy to access this toolbar. When I reinstalled Lotus, it placed its icons in the icon tray, which I liked much better than their suite bar.

Comment:

Additional comments:

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WordPerfect 9

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Word 2000

Word Pro 9

Customizing a toolbar (display options)

Most of the button which I use had different icons; there were some exceptions, however. The tool tip could be customized. §

I liked having easy access to 400 different icons in Star Office; I liked being about to have three options with each icon in Word, and I liked being able to customize the tool tip in WP.

Once an icon was placed on the toolbar, several options could be set, including icon, text or both for that individual icon. 42 icons to work with, along with cut, paste and edit. §

It wasn’t clear how to cut and paste icons, nor, once they were edited, how to apply them. You couldn’t choose between icon, text or both.

Customizing a toolbar (display options)

Individual buttons could be customized from scratch or other icons could be copied, pasted and then modified. §§

It was fairly easy to customize a button in Word. The options seemed to be a little more complicated, but I could intuitively determine what to do without going to help. §§

Icons could also be edited in Word Pro. Icons could not be copied, pasted and modified, as in Word and WP. §

Customizing a toolbar (display options)

Each toolbar could be individually placed, with the option of text, icon, or text and icon. Number of rows could be set as well. As many toobars are desired could be used. §

Word Pro and Star Writer were very weak in this area.

I was not able to set the number of rows with Word, but as many toolbars as necessary could be used. The toolbars could be individually placed anywhere on the screen. §

Word Pro was by far the most limited here. There appeared to be one row of icons, no matter how many toolbars were available. It was easy to choose the environment for each toolbar, but with a one row limitation (unless you choose to go with a pallette), it was not very helpful.

Customizing a toolbar (how many functions are available?)

About 550 different functions are available.

It was really too difficult to try to determine the quality of the selection here.

Over 1000, although over 100 are dedicated to drawing a very specific shape, and a considerably number are dedicated to going to a particular web site.

About 550, although a considerable number are dedicated to running a program or inserting an individual Greek letter.

Customizing the toolbar (what does a button do?)

We have an icon and a short description of the function. Also, holding the mouse over the button on the toolbar gives you a description as well (if you are thinking of removing a button). §

When you choose the icon, you must press another button to get a description. You do not know what an already existing icon does while editing a toolbar.

Next to each icon is the description and for existing icons, a description is given if you hold the mouse over the icon (this is in the dialogue box, not on the toolbar itself). §

Customizing the menu

WordPerfect ships with four different menus (including a Word ‘97 menu) and more can be added if necessary. These four can be copied and customized. §

If you did not know that a menu was a toolbar in Word, then you could easily become confused.

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.

Word Pro ships with 5 menus (including a WP, a Word and a Word Pro Lite) which can all be customized. It was quite intuitive.

Customizing a menu

Menus operate differently than toolbars, and therefore do not use icons.

Word’s menus are simply toolbars. A toolbar can be set up with similar functions in WordPerfect (there are drop down menu items which come with icons).

Word’s menus can use icons.

No icons for menu.

Comment

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.

A menu is a toolbar, for all intents and purposes. Word does not have property bars.

Word Pro ships with five menus (including a WP and a Word menu), all of which can be customized.

Customizing a toolbar or a menu

All commands are in alphabetical order in their respective categories. §

Until I discovered that All category in Word, it was difficult to find the feature that I wanted in Word.

The commands are not in alphabetical order except under the “All” category, where they are. §

Very, very tough to find the icons that you want, as they are not categorized or in alphabetical order. They appear to be in the order that you might want to access them.

Customizing a right click menu

There have only been one or two occasions during which that I wanted to customize a WP right-click menu. They offer more options from the get go than Word or Word Pro. However, the latter two can be customized. §

Although it cannot be customized, WP was very careful in its original selection of right click options, particularly for tables.

The right click menus were well organized and very easy to customize, once I asked help (which was very helpful here). Go to tools -> customize -> toolbars -> shortcut menus. Note that each of the three categories given is simply a heading. §§

From file -> user setup -> menu customization, one can edit up the right click menu (which is specific to twenty different environments). §

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 mostly customized. The keyboard can run macros, type text or run a menu item. One cannot easily view all previous assignments to keyboard. §

There is a very limited assignment of the F keys to certain styles.

Toolbar Icons

All features of WP have a corresponding icon. All features or commands have an accompanying description. A few icons in WP are duplicated. §

Some 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 (like save and save as...), can 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).

As mentioned, the customizing of a button can be done, but it is less clear how to apply it and whether or not it will remove the original icon altogether.

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. §

The key to adding spacing is to right click a particular button and choose “start a new group.” Two or more spaces could not be added. As is often the case with Word, you have to know the combination in order to determine how to use the feature.

Spaces were easy to add. §

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WordPerfect 9

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Word 2000

Word Pro 9

File open dialogue box

WordPerfect’s file open dialog box can be sized. §

.

Word’s cannot.

Can’t be sized.

File open dialogue box

WordPerfect’s file open dialog box can be set to fill up the screen. §

None.

Word’s cannot.

Nope

File open dialogue 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.

Ditto for Word Pro.

File open dialogue box

WordPerfect comes with a document preview which can be increased in size and even “torn off.” §§

None, other than to purchase a 3^rd party utility.

Can’t be done in Word. You have no control over the preview box at all, which makes it worthless in many cases. §

No preview at all.

File open dialogue box

The open file dialogue box in WP is like accessing MS 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 a dozen plus 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.

Ditto for Word Pro.

File save dialogue box

Save or save as automatically and seamlessly connects you to Windows Explorer; whatever you could do in Explorer, you can do from WP.

WP had this feature back with WP 7.

You can now access favorites from Word’s save as dialogue box, which is an important improvement. As with the other dialogue boxes in Word, there are a very limited number of things that you can do.

Font dialogue box

15 options apart from size, font, color, shading and underline styles. Kerning and spacing found elsewhere.

Hard to choose the best out of these. Word Pro should have had what the font looked like.

A few more options than WP, but most similar to WP here. Special on-screen font effects found here only.

Font box could be left open. Although fewer font features than WP, there were a whole host of formatting features available here. Box can be left open while changes are being made. An okay button would have been nice. Why wasn’t there the example of what the font would look like?

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WordPerfect 9

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Word 2000

Word Pro 9

Accessing various functions and features

Almost anything one needs to do in WP can be accessed through the menus, toolbar, keyboard or right clicking. Most functions can be accessed in all four 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.

Right-clicking brings up a good number of options including various function boxes.

Making it simple

WordPerfect ought to have a simplified menu with only the most basic features for new-comers.

I write a lot; at least 2 hours a day, and often as much as 4. However, not everyone needs the power that I need.

A step in the right direction: Word 2000 has a feature where only the most used menu items show up on the menu. §

Word Pro has a Word Pro Lite menu. Unfortunately, you have to know where to go to access it. §

Menus

The menus are much more logically laid out. Formatting a paragraph, a page, a line or a document, for instance, are all found under format, as is make-it fit. §

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.

I found Word Pro’s menu to be one of the very worst and most disorganized. The saving grace is that Word Pro offers 4 other menus. §

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WordPerfect 9

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Word 2000

Word Pro 9

Delete a word

In WordPerfect, 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 placed inside the word (not at the end or the beginning). To write a macro to cover all cases would require one to move forward and backward one word and then move one letter from where they are, in order to get into the middle of a word.

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.

Word Pro operated just like 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. Certainly, you might expand a 1.5 page document to make it look more balanced. §

 The only workaround is to manually change font, font sizes and margins until you get what you want. This can involve hundreds of keystrokes and mouse clicks versus 2 or 3.

You can’t do this in Word.

There is no expanding a document in Word Pro except by changing the font and margins.

Find

You can search forward and backward. §

You can only search forward.

Find

At the end of the document, you are prompted to search from the beginning of the document.

Although you are not prompted at the end of the document to search from the beginning, when you click find next, you return to the beginning of the document.

Find and Replace

In WordPerfect, you can search out codes (338 codes, if I have counted correctly) and easily replace them with anything, including 86 codes. To clean up an e-mail message, it is very easy to get rid of the unintentional hard returns and keep the intentional ones (if they added 2 hard returns between paragraphs). §§

To change all bold to italics in WP requires a macro. For the other three programs, a macro tied to the repeat function could remove all of the hard returns in a document.

You can search out and replace only 21 codes in Word (and hard return is not 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. I was unable to remove several hard returns in a document. I have since found out that to find a hard return in Word, you search for a paragraph mark or ^P.

I couldn’t figure our how to search for any codes, although it seemed as though I could search for some formatting codes. I couldn’t remove hard returns in a document. My guess is that a hard return would be found by searching out ^P.

Find and Replace

You cannot change a particular word from one font and size to another with a simple find and replace in WP. You would have to write a macro and then use the repeat function of 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. I found this to be very intuitive and easy to do, although I personally wouldn’t use it. §

Can’t do it here.

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.

Separate search and replace capabilities like WP.

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.

Not here either.

Shrink a document

WordPerfect, when told to apply its make-it-fit function, you may choose several different things to allow WP to modify, including margins, font size and line spacing. Furthermore, when you choose the amount that WP should shrink the document to, it will do that. §§

In the other three programs, 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 3/4^ths of a page. There were no real options; just a button to click. §

No such feature in Word Pro 9

Shrink or expand selected text

You can choose a paragraph or more in WP and ask WP it make it to fit within certain space parameters. §

Do it manually in the other programs.

Nope.

Nope.

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.” §

No such option; it is either upper case or lower case.

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WordPerfect 9

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Word 2000

Word Pro 9

Access to special 3^rd party characters

Other characters from other sets are accessed by going through the font dialogue box.

To see other special characters from 3^rd party fonts in WP, one would have to use the ALLFONTS macro to see all of the different characters on their computer. Once I have run this once, I keep this document on my hard drive for later reference. Another workaround is to have a full set A–Z as a special document, and then view this with different fonts using instant preview.

Word allows one to access whatever special characters have been installed by 3^rd party fonts. Word did seem to gather together all of the special character sets together. §

Word Pro, from the same dialogue box, allows you to see each different font as a font set and they can be chosen randomly by double-clicking. Several different characters can be accessed from different sets. Word Pro did seem to gather together all of the special character sets. One very big plus is that some different character sets can be gotten in whatever font it is that you are using. That is, if you need, for instance, a 3/4^ths symbol, in technical font, Word Pro can do that. §§§

Font

One can change already typed font following cursor by simply changing the font. If text in WP has previously been selected and changed, then that formatting is retained. §

This can be approximated in the other 3 suites; it just requires more steps.

You must select the text which has already been typed in order to change it.

Same as Word.

Font colors

An infinite choice of colors. §

Word 2000 catches up to WP 7, 8 & 9.

An infinite choice of colors. §

About 260 colors.

Font Effects

11 (Redline and Italics are the additional font effects). Outline feature worked, but could not be seen on screen. 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. Only Word has the cute, on-screen effects.

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. Word also had a half-dozen on-screen font effects (like sparkle). §

Lacked outline, shadow, redline, emboss, engrave and double- strike-through.

Fonts included

WordPerfect ships with 1000 fonts. §§

Buy more fonts.

Word ships with over a dozen additional fonts.

Didn’t notice.

Font size

It appears that any size, large or small, is possible.

Any size is possible.

Any size is possible.

Font size

Fonts can be done to the nearest 10^th of a point.

Fonts can be chosen to the nearest 0.5 pt.

Nearest 10^th of a point.

Special characters

WordPerfect ships with 1500 special characters which can be accessed from any Corel program via Ctrl+W. There are math symbols, Greek, Hebrew, Arabic, Japanese, etc. If you need it, it’s here. §§§

If you have WP installed on a system, then Word and Word Pro can make use of the special characters. Finding just the symbol that you want is much easier in WP than Word or Word Pro because of the way these characters are organized.

Word ships with about 150 special characters. Inserting a symbol took about 2–3 seconds for the dialogue box to appear. The second use was almost instantaneous.

Lotus ships with 100–200 special characters (3 character sets). When you choose insert -> character, there is a box with all these and other characters available at the top of the screen.

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WordPerfect 9

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Word 2000

Word Pro 9

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 in Word 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.

This was a two-click operation in Word Pro as well. I don’t know that I wanted to wade thru their commands to make it a one-step operation.

Browse by footnote

You could browse by footnote in WP. §

You could browse by footnote in Word. §

I could not figure out how to do this in Word Pro.

Editing a Footnote

A footnote can be edited by using the menu or clicking once on the footnote itself. There are five separate commands that can be added to the keyboard, menu or toolbar. §

The typical student writing a term paper will find WP so much easier to deal with in this regard.

A right-click or a left-click on the footnote allows you to edit it. I could only find the options of styles (in general) and insert footnote which could be added to the menu or to a toolbar.

A right-click or a left click on the footnote provides access to editing it. Their smarticon setup gave a lot of options, but it was quite disorganized and I could not find any of the footnote options.

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."

I could exit with the mouse or with the escape button. §

Footnote Font

Changing the font in WP involves two dialogue boxes. Click on footnote and then options. §

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.

This could be done, but it was not easy or completely intuitive.

Footnote Separator line

This can be changed by accessing footnote options in the menu. It takes about 2–3 mouse clicks. You don’t have to be in a footnote to change the separator line. §

Although help in Word seemed to indicate that the separator line could be changed, there were six steps in the directions, which were nearly 150 words long.

While in a footnote, a right click brought up the dialogue box to change the separator line. §

Footnote Style

From one very simple dialog box which leads to four simple dialogue boxes (one which leads to three 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. A change in the footnote style does nothing untoward to the regular 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. I was unable to figure out how to modify the style of the footnote without affecting the rest of the text in Word.

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. When I changed the style in my footnote, I also ended up changing the style of the text in general (I’m certain that this can be done without ruining the other text style). Help didn’t.

By carefully following the directions given under help (which were moderately complex, but easy to follow), I was able to modify the style for the footnote without affecting the style of the body of the text. §

Footnote Style access

Menu: Insert -> footnote -> options. Now, a property bar pops up specific for footnotes, but it was not very helpful. I ended up inserted additional footnotes without meaning to.

Both programs should have offered at least two ways to access this feature. WP’s property bar should have been better and included an options button.

Right click while in a footnote and click on styles.

Footnote options could be gotten from the main menu and from a right click inside a footnote, but the style options were not there.

return to topics

WordPerfect 9

comments

Word 2000

Word Pro 9

Fit document

When you shrink or expand a document to any given number of pages, that is the end result. You can control what formatting will be changed; the font size, margins or line spacing. §§

If anyone ever tells you that Word has a similar feature to WP’s fit document, this means that they do not even have a clue as to how different these programs are in quality.

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. Also, this is a hard feature to locate however, help made this an easy find. §

No such thing in Word Pro

Indenting

In WP, you can left indent an entire paragraph with F7, and indent from the left and right with ctrl+shift+F7 (old-timers will probably use the 6.1 keyboard, where this is F4 and shift+F4). A backspace will back off the indentation as it would a tab. The paragraph formatting will give this in a mouse click or take you to the dialogue box for more complex indenting. §

A paragraph can be selected in any program and the margins set for that paragraph. WP’s method simply requires fewer keystrokes.

One can indent from the left and right in Word, as long as you learn the keystrokes, and it becomes a hidden format which you must know the combination to undo. This can also be done from the paragraph dialogue box, which is easier. Left and right indentations could be set.

The text dialogue box group allows paragraphs to be indented in several ways. Adding an indent could not be undone with a backspace. Indentations from both sides had to be the same, even from the dialogue box.

Indenting

Indenting in WP can be applied to different lines in the same paragraph. §

Whatever you do by way of indentation to any part of a paragraph in Word affects the entire paragraph.

Whatever you do by way of indentation to any part of a paragraph in Word Pro affects the entire paragraph.

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.

All justification not available.

Justification

Any line can be left justified, right justified and/or centered. §§

Use tables or a series of tab’s to approximate what WP does easily.

Only one justification for each line.

Each line has its own justification.

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 or a title 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.

I couldn’t even figure out how to change the spacing of the text or the words.

Line height

The height of the line can be set to be relative or absolute be choosing either spacing or line height. §

The line height in Word can be set to be relative or absolute. Three is also an at least selection. §

Line height is strictly relative.

Make-it-fit

In WP, you can select text within a document and make it fit to a specific number of pages. §

Not here.

Not here.

Margin set

Left and right margins can be set for any amount of text, including a portion of a paragraph. §

Although margins can be set separately for selected text, it will affect the entire paragraph in Word.

Margins appear to affect the entire page.

Margins set with menu

Click format, margins and set. The margin dialogue box could be accessed via the keyboard. §

Click file, page setup, margins. I could not add this feature to the keyboard.

I could not customize the keyboard.

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. This is a very cool and intuitive feature. §§

(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.

Top and bottom margins could be set with 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.

Word cannot subdivide the page.

Word Pro cannot subdivide a 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. §§

In Word, you must click into the page number and select it to change the font.

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.

Doing a page number and a header together was awkward and didn’t always work out.

Page numbering

Pages could alternate on the inside or outside. §

WP allows for more advance publishing.

The placement of page numbers was quite limited.

The placement of page numbers was very limited, as were the options.

Quick Format

Text and paragraph formatting can be copied using a right click and then used elsewhere in the document. §§

Word has no comparable feature. There is something called auto-format, but it did not work the same way nor was it as powerful. Furthermore, it was less intuitive and it was therefore more difficult to use. It appeared to work once and then it turned itself off.

Fast format in Word Pro was quite intuitive, but changing one portion which was fast formatted did not change the others. It was much easier to figure out and use than Word’s version, albeit, not as powerful as WP’s. §

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.

Changing fast formatted text in Word Pro does not affect the other text.

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.

There’s no reveal codes, so styles can only be copied through the dialogue box.

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. I personally make little or no use of the shipped templates in WP.

20 different styles and templates. A myriad of paragraph styles (about 90), which differed mostly in font size and indentations.

There were 45 templates in Word Pro which were all very different and the formatting was easy to follow from the dialogue box. §

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. §

I couldn’t figure out how to do this in Word Pro.

return to topics

WordPerfect 9

comments

Word 2000

Word Pro 9

3D

An object in Presentations but not in WP, (e.g. a rectangle) can be easily changed into a 3-D object. §

Open Presentations, create the graphics image you want, then select it and copy it into WP.

An object in Word can be easily changed into a 3-D object. §§

I had trouble opening up Lotus’s presentation program (probably too much open at the same time).

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. The other programs do not compare in this area. §§

 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. Obviously, this is not much of an issue unless you deal with graphics, then it becomes quite important.

You first select the graphics box, and then choose insert->caption. Surprisingly enough, a right click did not give you a caption option. If you don’t like the way the caption looks, you must delete the caption and try it again (as per Word’s help).

Getting a box in the first place was not easy; it was not clear how to get a graphic into the box (text was easy, however). If a caption is too long, it gets cut off. That can be fixed with a right click and frame properties. The caption is another box placed near or inside a box.

Clip Art

Comes with 10,000 clipart images. §§

Buy additional software or download some graphics. According to one person, the full install of MS Office 2000 yields 16,000 pieces of clipart (I don’t have the full version, so I couldn’t check it). Both WP and Word offers sites on the web for additional artwork (and lots of it).

I couldn’t determine how many clipart images that shipped with Word, as there is nothing given in the help, I could not figure out where the clipart was hidden on my hard drive, and the way it was organized (which was not bad) allowed for clipart to be counted twice (I would guess fewer than 500 images, however).

There did not appear to be any clipart in Word Pro. There was no obvious way of inserting it from elsewhere (other than copy and paste). I could easily copy and paste out of the other three programs.

Clip Art

Clip art could not be extended off of a page, but it could be taken past the margins.

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. §

Obviously limited in its capability (see above).

Cropping clipart

This can be done, but it is very convoluted for WP. Right click, choose image tools, choose that magnifying glass, and then chose the portion you want to crop. It took me several tries. §

WP can do a lot better than this!

Cropping with Word was just as convoluted as with WP. It could be done, but it was not easy. The cropping menu is similar to that found in Star Office, except that it worked. §

Can’t do.

Graphics Boxes

In WP, there is a choice of 14 different custom boxes (plus, you can modify any of these or 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. Once you have a graphics box that you like, you can either copy and paste it throughout your document or save it by itself in insert it when you need it.

A style of box can be created in Word Pro, once you get the hang of it. It appeared to be easiest to create the box and the look, then right click it, choose styles, and name it. Not all attributes transferred with the style, however. §

Graphics drawing in document

It is now possible to draw certain images directly in WordPerfect without opening up Presentations (this was done automatically in previous versions so that some users did not realize that they were using a different program). Now, the same shapes and lines which are found in Word are now found in WP. §§

One of the few areas where Word was superior to WP in 1997 was the ability to add quick graphics, e.g., boxes, circles, etc. Now this can be done similarly in both programs.

One may draw a graphic image right in Word. The drawing is quite fluid. §§

Rectangles and circles can be drawn directly into a Word Pro document, but with less variety than Word or WP.

Graphics Fill

Various graphics, e.g., circle, squares, etc., can be filled with a plethora of graphics, textures, etc. §§.

WP mimicked Word’s modus operandi in filling an image. Right click image, choose properties, and fill.

Clip art and pictures and patterns may be inserted as a coloration of an object as well as an overlay. §§

For some reason, I could not get the graphics fill to function. I could not find it. I recall this working reasonably well several versions ago.

Graphics Menu

WordPerfect has no graphic menu category; you must choose a different menu or make your own (up to 60 options can be added). §

You can add this category to the Word menu along with the features.

Word does not have a specific graphics category. You must make your own in Word as well. §

No real graphics menu. However, you may change over to a WP menu, which has a limited graphics menu.

Graphics toolbar

There is a customizable toolbar designed strictly for graphics when a graphic is chosen. There is another toolbar which may be used which deals with graphics. §§

WP combines the best of Word and Star Writer.

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. §

The older version had a reasonable graphics toolbar. I don’t know if I have simply taxed my systems memory or whether it is no longer there.

Real-time preview:

This is very cool—select an image and then, on the property bar, choose fill. There are 64 different fill styles which you may see in your image on your document before you apply them. §§

Corel needs to do this for textures as well.

Not here.

Not here.

Right-clicked graphics menu

Right clicking an image yields 18 options for the right click menu (surprisingly, cut and copy are not among these options). §

Right clicking an image produces fifteen options, an improvement from Word ‘97.

Right click menu produces 18 options, which, oddly enough, are not as helpful as though in WP.

Rotation

WordPerfect graphic boxes can be rotated any degree. Just right click, choose rotate, and then use your mouse to rotate it. §§

Word should make this easy to do via a right click. This is a much easier task in WP and Star Writer.

Word graphics can rotated only from the graphics toolbar. Select the image, draw, then rotate and flip. There is a button for free rotate on the toolbar. §

Couldn’t figure out how to do it.

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. §§

If you are using Word and watermarks on a regular basis, you had better do much of this by macro.

In word, watermarks are placed in headers and footers. A page watermark could be created by inserting an image onto the page, expanding it to full size, changing the wrap, and then modifying the contrast and brightness.

6 steps given, including a short film (and, once all of this is done, there is a limited choice of watermarks).

Final comment

return to topics

WordPerfect 9

comment

Word 2000

Word Pro 9

Headers and Footers

Two headers and two footers can be inserted by WP. One or both can alternate. In WP, when a new header or footer is chosen, then a new one begins (so you could have a section heading on odd pages, and a chapter heading on even pages, both of which can change throughout the document.. §

You may insert one header and one footer in Word. With a section break, a new header can be added.

You may insert only one header and one footer in Word Pro or two, if they are on different pages..

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.

Headers and footers could be placed on every other page, and it was fairly easy to do so. §

Styles

I have always found it easy to change the style of the headers and footers. I never had to go to the help menu for this. §

Word Pro was slightly less intuitive and WP.

Headers tended to be independent entities in Word, meaning that they could be changed manually on every page.

Once I changed the style for one header, the others would change as well. §

return to topics

WordPerfect 9

comment

Word 2000

Word Pro 9

Helpful hints:

If you use macros, you will need to add to the menu macros help (see Macros for that).

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WordPerfect 9

comment

Word 2000

Word Pro 9

Install as you go

Although you could install components later, WP did not call for the disk to install a feature. In WP 9 SP4, I chose to install everything. However, the Help files were not installed for whatever reason. I had to locate the disk in order to install them. Under SP4, WP did call for the disk for additional installation.

Some of what WordPerfect and Word left out I found to be necessary (e.g., the help files for macros in WP and the filters for Word). What was most irritating with Word is that it called for the disk a half dozen times before I tried to install everything. Even after that, Word still called for the disk for things that weren’t installed.

Word, when a feature that you needed wasn’t installed, would call for the disk and install it on the fly.

Not observed.

Install what you want:

It was easy to pick and choose what you wanted to install.

In Corel Office, you have to be aware that the “X” without the bright white background meant that not all components were being installed.

It was easy in Word to pick and choose what you want to install.

Not observed.

Overwriting of dll’s

When WP was installed, there were no options given concerning dll files.

At the end of the installation, Word listed each dll file separately and asked if it should be overwritten by an older file. §

Not observed in Lotus.

Settings retained

The settings from WP 7 and 8 were not transferred over into WP 9 at installation.

Although these settings could be transferred, the result was a less-stable WP 9.

Word 2000 automatically transferred the toolbars and settings from Word ‘97. §

I did not have an earlier version of Lotus Office Suite installed.

Suggestions

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WordPerfect 9

comment

Word 2000

Word Pro 9

Ctrl+C, Ctrl+X, Ctrl+V

Copy, Cut and Paste

?, Cut and Paste.

Alt+Shift+D

none

Date field

Ctrl+D

Date text

Delete word

Ctrl+F

Find and replace

Find

Ctrl+J

Justify Full

Justify paragraph

Ctrl+I, Ctrl+B, Ctrl+U

Italics, bold and underline

Italics, bold and underline

Italics, bold and underline

Ctrl+P, Ctrl+Shift+P

Print..., Print document

Print, Font size select

Ctrl+Q, Ctrl+Shift+Q

Find QuickMark; set QuickMark

Reset paragraph, Symbol font

Ctrl+R

Justify right

Right paragraph

Ctrl+S

Save

Save

F1

Help

Help

F2

Find and replace

Find and replace

F3

Save as...

Auto text

F4

Open

Redo or repeat

Alt+F4

Exit WP

File close or exit

Shift+F4

New blank document

Repeat find

Ctrl+F4

Close

Doc close

F5

Print

Open

Ctrl+Shift+F5

Insert Paragraph #

Bookmark

F6

Next Pane

Other pane

Shift+F6

Previous Pane

Other pane

Alt+F6

Next window

Next window

Alt+F7

Flush Right

The other justifications of this line remain in tact in WP

Next misspelling

Shift+F7

Center Text

Ditto

Language

F9

Font...

Update fields

F12

Table

Save as...

Shift+F12

Borders/Fill

Save

Shift Del, Shift Ins, Ctrl Ins

Cut, Paste, Copy

Cut, Paste, Copy

Customization of keys

Almost all keys and key combinations (apart from those reserved by the Windows OS) can be customized in WP, including the letter keys. In other words, if you learned to type on that other keyboard (is it Dvorak?), then you can change your keyboard to match what you are used to). §

Almost all of the keys can be customized (not as many as in WP, however). There is an extensive assignment of properties already to Word’s keyboard. You cannot reassign the basic keys.

Keyboards

Ships with several keyboards (you may have up to 99 different keyboards with any one template)

I have 4 keyboards which appear to have come with WP 9; however, they may have been part of a template copied from a previous version of WP. Those who have used WP in the long ago past will want to use the DOS WP 6 keyboard

MS Word ships with one keyboard (which is mostly customizable). On the negative side, if you use your template on another computer, in order to use your customized keyboard, then do not name it normal.dot, as it will supplant the other default template, thus wiping out their customizations. If you are going to heavily customize your keyboard (or anything else in Word), then name your template something like myname.dot and set that as your default template. I have not tried using a foreign keyboard, which can be added from the Windows menu.

Printing keyboard shortcuts

I know of no way to do this in WP.

The shortcuts in Word (except for assigned macros) can be printed or saved in a document. §

Viewing shortcuts

Since I placed the keyboard in use on my status bar, I click keyboard (on the status bar), select the appropriate keyboard to view, edit, and then I can view the shortcuts. Otherwise tools -> settings -> customize -> keyboards -> select the appropriate keyboard and then edit.

In any of these programs, it is a good idea to devise a keyboard map, if you do much by way of customizing to your keyboard. I found a simple table format to be the easiest (I customize my keyboard entirely).

You print the shortcuts (check help for how to)

Additional comments

Additional comments:

Additional comments:

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WordPerfect 9

comment

Word 2000

Word Pro 9

Change of case macro

I have a macro in WP which allows me to place my cursor anywhere in a word and then change its case (unless it is the first word of a sentence). §

I often need to convert from a lower case to an upper case in a word (or vice versa).

The commands concerning case change are found under format. This is a command which can be assigned to a key. §

I could not do this in Word Pro.

Correction of typing errors:

I wrote two macros and added them to my keyboard to correct these problems. No matter where I am in a document, if I notice that I have mistyped a the or an and, I simply press Ctrl+E (or +D) and the error is immediately fixed and I am back right where I was when I noticed the mistake (this all occurs in a split second). Go to these macros below: §§

I tend to make a lot of typing errors, some of which I solve using QuickCorrect. However, one which I make a lot is that I type a space between the h and the e in the, and place the e with the following word, yielding two misspelled words (I do that same with and, which yields one misspelled word).

Although I could use find and replace to solve the problem, I had to insert and then remove a bookmark. The problem I ran into was the replacement of th e at the beginning of a sentence. It did not automatically capitalize it. I would have to write a separate macro for that. Assignment to a key was fairly easy. §

Although I could use find and replace to solve the problem, I had also placed a bookmark and then erased that bookmark as a part of the macro. I could not figure out how to add this macro to the keyboard for use in the future.

Ending a macro

Tools -> macro -> record

Advantage of WP: fewer toolbar buttons needed. Disadvantage of WP: you must realize that you begin and end a macro with record.

A box pops up, which allows you to end the recording of the macro.

A box pops up, which allows you to end the recording of the macro.

Initiating a macro

Tools -> macro -> record

Tools -> macro -> record new macro

Tools -> macro -> record

Macro help

Extensive; there is actually a whole different module dedicated to this. Although you can get to this module circuitously through the normal help menu, you will want to add this command to your menu (or toolbar) if you use macros a lot. You right click the menu, edit that menu, and go to the category help and choose macros... It says online Help on using macros; but it gets this from your disk (I personally install the macro help, knowing I will need it). Although WP is deficient in this area, it is still way ahead of its competitors. §§

Here is a serious flaw in WP’s menu. There are two commands, macros online, which opens up Explorer, which will then go to Corel macro web page. The other, which is under the category Help is unfortunately not on the menu and must be added. It appears, by the comment, to be the same as macros online, but it is not.

No index for help with various macro commands.

There is an extensive menu on the various Lotus script commands. I couldn’t figure out how to place it directly on the menu, however. §

Macro language

Relatively simple. §

Moderately difficult.

Bizarre.

Macros

Almost every WP user has a few macros which they use. There are easily a hundred sites on the web with various WP Macros for the taking.

Most of the people I know who use Word do not use any Word macros (in fact, only people who I have visited with on-line use Word macros. I don’t know of anyone in real life who does. There are no macro resources on the web comparable to WP’s.

I don’t know if I have even seen an amateur web site for Word Pro (there must be one).

Naming macros

Few limitations as to length or spaces. §

If you use several hundred macros, as I do, you want to be able to figure out what’s what.

Limitation of length and spaces.

Spaces not allowed.

shipped macros

There are 25 macros which ship with WP9, among which are: adrs2mrg (copies the address book into a merge data file), allfonts (creates a list of every font in your Windows system and shows a complete sample of the text), checkbox (places a checkbox into a document which can be clicked to add or remove a checkmark); closeall (closes all open documents and prompts you to close those that have been modified); cvtdocs9 (allows multiple documents from another program to be formatted for WP9); savetoa (saves a document wherever and also saves it to another drive—in this case, drive A). §§

Anyone is going to find a macro in WP9 that they will use again and again (I used a modified version of savetoa daily for a backup of my work). Every time I set up a new computer with new fonts, I run allfonts.

There were only two; one allowed for a mass conversion of documents (no parameters were given beyond that).

No shipped macros that I could find.

Storage of macros

As separate files; their location can be modified. These macros could be placed into any directory or sub-directory, but only two of these could be listed under location of files. This means that when a macro is added to the keyboard, toolbar or menu, the entire path must be chosen if it is not in one of those two specified directories (this is a yes or no question which you are prompted to answer).

In WP, you go to the Macro file and open it and edit it separately. In the other programs, you go to macros and then edit the individual macros from there.

Inside Normal template.

In their default template (I think).

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WordPerfect 9

comment

Word 2000

Word Pro 9

Copying of menus

Whatever menus that you have elsewhere can be copied over into WP 9 without losing any other settings. §

Portions of someone’s default settings cannot be copied into someone else’s default settings.

Didn’t test Word Pro in this regard.

Copying of menus

Menus from previous versions on computer are not automatically copied into WP 9 at installation.

This must be done by hand in WordPerfect.

The toolbars from Word ‘97 were copied into Word 2000 (and a menu is simply a toolbar in Word). §

I didn’t test Word Pro in this regard.

Creating a new menu

In WP, you can create a new menu from scratch, but you are really working from scratch.

Although WP had a list of menus, you had to add all of the menu selections.

Once you figure out how to make a new menu, MS has some set menu categories as well as the appropriate functions to go with the categories. §

Once you got to the editing of menus, it was fairly easy to determine how to make a new menu, as well as how to customize it. Word Pro came with built-in categories and groups. §

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. §

No pictures for Word Pro menus.

Menu placement

The 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. §

Menu is always on top.

Menus shipped with product

Four menus: an Internet Publisher menu (which appears whenever you are in an HTML document; a MS Word Menu (for those going from Word to WP), and the WP 8 and the WP 9 menus. §

There are limitations as to what you can do with an HTML document; the Internet menu in WP automatically confines you to those limitations.

Only one menu ships with Word, so if you are used to another word processing program, you might as well get use to Word.

Five menus are shipped with Word Pro: Word Pro Standard, Word Pro Lite (a very good idea), a MS Word menu, and WP menu, and an old Ami Pro menu (Word Pro’s predecessor). §

Menu Organization

Under the heading format, one can find line, paragraph, page, document; and one can format those items. §§

After the simple typing of text, most people do more formatting than anything else in a document.

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.

I found Word Pro to be slightly better organized than 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.

Sort was found under text. A tools menu is needed in Word Pro.

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.

No such item in Word Pro.

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.”

No format or insert menu; however, the page and text menus were reasonable.

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 13 options.

14 options.

Right click menu (text)

Text yields 14 options. §

See above.

Text yields 9 options.

11 options.

Right click menu (selected text)

Selected text yields 14 options. §

See above.

Selected text yields same 9 options as simple text.

11 options.

Right click menu editing

WordPerfect does not allow for this.

Even so, there are still more options with WP’s right-click menu.

Word lets you edit the right click menu. §

I don’t believe that you can change the right-click menus in Word Pro.

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WordPerfect 9

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Word 2000

Word Pro 9

Ctrl+up arrow

To the beginning of a the present paragraph at first word of the that paragraph . From there, it will go to the beginning of the first word of the previous paragraph. §

Maybe I am just used to it, but since I personally type a lot of papers using two hard returns, it is more useful for me for the cursor to begin at the beginning of the paragraph and not at the beginning of an empty line.

To the beginning of a line immediately after a hard return.

To the beginning of a line immediately after a hard return.

Ctrl+down arrow

To the beginning of the first word of the next paragraph.

To the next beginning of a line after a hard return, whether there is a paragraph there or no.

Same as Word.

Ctrl+left arrow

To the beginning of that set of continuous characters; if at the beginning of a set of characters, it goes to the beginning of the previous set of characters.

Certainly you could argue here as to which is preferable.

Like Word Pro.

To the beginning of the next word unless it is followed by a period or other sentence terminator, and then it goes to the end of the word (not the sentence), and next click takes you to the beginning of that word. Parentheses will also cause the cursor movement to get weird. It will stop before and after the first half, but only before the second half.

Ctrl+right arrow

To the beginning of the next set of characters.

Like Word Pro.

Similar to above but the curosr moves forward.

Page Up and Page Down

These do exactly what you would expect them to do. You go to the top of the next page or the top of the previous page. §

Word users either don’t use these buttons or have gotten used to their text disappearing from view. As a WP user, when I use Word, this is just another one of the frustrating aspects of Word which needed be.

You go up and you go down, although it is not clear how much. Often, the text disappears out of view, when using page down, but page up does not automatically reverse the position.

Page Up and Page Down seem to go the same amount of space up and down, but not a page. You cannot use Page Up to go to the top of the first page.

Scroll bar

In WP 8 and 9, the document moves in real-time as you use your scroll bar.

This was a feature which was not in WP 7 or Word ‘97.

In Word 2000, the document will move in real-time when you tug on the scroll bar.

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WordPerfect 9

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Word 2000

Word Pro 9

Cost

Early on, you can usually find complete suite versions of Corel WP Office 2000 for as little as $20–30. This are often OEM versions, which are not really legal to sell (and come with one CD only). You can usually find the full-tilt version in the stores, as an upgrade, for around $100 (if you want Paradox and Dragon Naturally Speaking, you’ll pay about $60 more). Take my word for it—you want the upgrade. Other options include buying the Corel family pack ($60–100), which has WP and Quattro Pro (and a couple other programs). Another very viable option is to pick up the academic version of WP—it will not have a manual, but it will only cost about $40. This is available for students, educators, and pastors (try your local college bookstore). There are differences between WP 7, 8 and 9. If any of these differences are important to you, you can install more than one version of WP on your computer at a time without incident. Copies of WP 7 and 8 are available on the web usually for around $15–50. §§

This is worth its own section.

As an upgrade (which is generally possible for most computer users), you will pay in excess of $200 for the cheapest version of MS Office (in most cases, you will get everything that you really need in the cheapest version). If MS Office 2000 requires a previous installation of MS Office, you can usually find Office ‘97 on the web at ebay for about $30 or less. You can install Office ‘97 and 2000 coterminously on your computer (although, I don’t know why you would want to).

The millennium edition of Lotus Millennium Edition Suite can be gotten for as little as $9.95 on the web—you should be able to locate it for no more than $30. §§

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WordPerfect 9

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Word 2000

Word Pro 9

Customizing status bar

Printer, date and time can be text or icon, either by the intuitive right-click or through tools and then settings. Even the size of the text and the width can be customized. There are far more things that can be added to the status bar than there is room for. §§

In picking out my favorite choices for WP’s status bar, there are still 11 not used. In Star Writer, you can choose every display option and still have room left on the status bar.

The status bar cannot be customized.

No customization possible.

Date insert

Date and or time can be inserted by a click on the status bar in WP. §

This can be gotten as a menu item only in Word (and it can be added to a toolbar).

No date or time on status bar.

Important displays

The font, its size, and whether it is bold or italicized are found on the status bar. §

With the many toolbar buttons I use, I don’t have room for bold or italics, so my status bar keeps me informed (when I go to the end of a line, at the end of a word or the bottom of the page, etc., it is nice to know what the text is going to be like.

Text information not to be found on status bar but on toolbar.

Text font, size, and basic attributes found on status bar. §

Important displays

When given enough room, your various documents are found on the status bar. You can even drag and drop text and images using this status bar. §

A second document is placed on the Window’s toolbar but not on the status bar. Text can be dragged and dropped, but it is done in such a way as to indicate versions of a document (i.e., it might end up red or crossed out).

Other documents found only via the Window option on the menu.

Important displays

Time and date. §

No time or date.

No time or date.

Location of cursor in text

If I change the margins in WP, the position on the status bar is relative to the edge of the paper. §§

It’s better to have something than nothing.

When I change the margins in Word, the positions on the status bar remain the same relative to the margin. §

Must display rulers to see the exact position.

Interactivity

Status bar can be used to insert the date or the time, to change the font, to edit or change the keyboard or to bring up the go to dialogue box, all via a single click. §§

Find and replace can be invoked from status bar, as can the recording of a macro.

Primarily font changes can be made using status bar. However, go to and help may also be accessed.

Printer

When working with two or more printers, WP displays which printer is being used on the status bar. §

Which printer is being used also has an effect on the look of the document itself.

If there are two printing options, there is nothing in Word to immediately let you know that you might be using the wrong printer.

Printer not shown.

Viewing cell address of table

Automatically found in the status bar. §

A macro can be run in order to view what cell you are in.

Not automatically found anywhere.

Not found anywhere.

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WordPerfect 9

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Word 2000

Word Pro 9

Adjusting the size of a table:

In WP, the width and height of a cell can be adjusted by the mouse. §

In Word, the width and the height of a cell can be adjusted using the mouse. §

Only the width of a cell can be adjusted by using the mouse.

Borders

When a cell is chosen, then, by default, the cell options are displayed under borders and fill. §

The default selection, even when a cell is chosen, is the entire table.

The default selection for a single cell is that single cell. §

Border

Borders tend to remain inside the individual cells. The final result of customizing the borders of WP tended to look more professional. §

There is a wide variety and selection in all of the programs when it comes to borders and fill.

Some borders, when chosen for a particular cell, go outside the boundaries of that cell.

Some borders, when chosen for a cell, go outside the boundaries for that cell.

Cross formulas

Numbers and cells in other tables can be referenced in formulas in a later table. §

Instead, what you would do in the other programs is make a huge table and then format it so that it will appear not to be a table in the middle.

I couldn’t do this in Word.

I couldn’t do this in Word Pro.

Cutting and pasting in a table

Select the row(s) that you want to move, cut -> rows; then move to the insertion point and paste. The rows that you selected are not emptied but removed entirely. Wherever you choose to paste, these rows will be inserted. You will not lose the text which is there. §

Also, in Word, if you simply select and then drag the rows, they will erase what is in the rest of the table.

In Word, you must select the rows, cut, then you must select the empty rows again and delete them. Then, wherever you choose to move those rows to, you must create an equal number of blank rows and then paste. It is a pain to move a row.

Decimal alignment

You can align the decimals in WP. §

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.

You cannot align the decimals without adding spaces.

You cannot align the decimals without adding additional spaces.

Editing a table

With the mouse, a row could be selected and moved; all cell formatting moves with it. §

In this version of Word, an entire row can be selected and then moved; however, the cell formatting stays behind.

Rows can be selected and moved, but the cell formatting remains behind.

Editing a table

If you select a row and then mov it up or down in a table, the other rows will automatically adjust and show up above or below. The previous rows will not be overwritten. §

This is a very tricky move in Word. Sometimes when an entire row is moved, you wipe out the row to where it is moved; other times everything proceeds as it should.

You cannot really select a row in Word Pro.

Editing a table

In WP, you can add, remove and resize rows and columns and it the table behaves as you would expect. §

I joined the cells in the top row in Word (I would do this for a header row) and then tried inserting a column. The top row got suddenly larger and had an additional column which was not aligned with my new column. What’s up with that?

Exiting a table

You can always easily put your cursor before or after a table, no matter where you placed the table. You can either do this via reveal codes or hit home three times plus the up arrow. §

Beginning text before or after a table should be an easy thing to do.

Since the inception of point and shoot in Word, you may easily place your cursor and begin typing after a table. This is not so easy if you didn’t open up a line before your table.

You can place text prior to and following a table fairly easily in Word Pro (just hit the home and up arrow, then hard return to get a line above the table. Click below the table to begin typing after a table (your cursor won’t go where you click, but it will allow you to type outside the table.

Entering a formula

In WP, you need only type an equal’s sign (=) or a plus sign (+) followed by whatever formula you choose and you immediately have a formula without even clicking on the formula symbol. §

Doesn’t work that way in Word.

Doesn’t work that way in Word Pro.

Entering a formula

Any formula can be entered. If it cannot be computed, then zero is the answer. The advantage here is that the numbers in the other cells can be added later. §

Entering a formula without numbers in the respective can be done, but then, when numbers are added into those cells, the formula does not automatically compute the answer.

A formula must be workable in order to enter it into a cell.

Formatting

Easy to rotate text. §

Easy to rotate text. §

Could not figure out how to rotate the text in the cells.

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 (although this could be added to a toolbar and edited into the right-click menu).

Can be accessed by the menu only (although this could be added to a toolbar and edited into the right-click menu).

Formulas

98 formulas ship with WordPerfect. Keys below the “F” keys and on the number pad can all be used for basic functions. §§§

This is fairly easy and intuitive in WP, and I am certain that this could be done in Word and Word Pro; I was unable to do it after studying help for several minutes.

Word improved again in this area. I was able to set up some basic formulas after a bit of work. This was not easy, however. Nearly 20 formulas ship with Word. Although the help can be followed here, this is definitely not very easy to do.

Ships with 6 formulas and I could not get it to work. I couldn’t get the keys below the “F” keys or the number pad keys to set up the most elementary function either.

Formulas

Formulas can be copied and relative cell references are maintained (using the § sign can make these absolute references). §

Relative references are maintain; however, you must select the copied text, right-click and then choose update fields.

Formulas can be copied and relative cell references are maintained. §

Formulas, changing the values of reference cells

When the value of a cell is changed, WP can be set up so that the formulas which refer back to that cell are automatically updated. §

Once you change the values of reference cells in Word, you select the value in the cell, then you must click on insert formula and then click okay.

Changing a reference cell triggers an automatic updating of the dependent formula cells. §

Formulas as numbers

There were 10 ways to format numbers in any given cell (or group of cells). Each of these could be modified in a half dozen or more ways. §

Since I use tables in WP a great deal, it is important to be able to format the numbers as money, to determine the number decimal places, etc.

I could not figure out how to format the numbers in a cell.

Almost as many types of formatting available with Word Pro as in WP; a veritable plethora of currency formats. §

Initial size

Changing the font size automatically will change the row height.

Changing the font size automatically changes the row height.

Changing the font size changes the row height.

Initial size

Changing the line height will change the size of the rows of the table. Changing the spacing only kicks in when there is a hard return involved (as it should be). §

Any amount of text height can be determined with WP, which is helpful for the worksheets which I must produce.

Changing the spacing of the lines will also change the table which is inserted afterwards.

Once the table is made, then the height can be changed by selecting the table (or some portions of some rows) and changing the number of lines for any text.

Insertion of a row

Right click table, choose insert, and the options are number of rows and whether they are inserted before or after (this can be gotten from the menu as well or from a button). Formatting features are taken from that row. §

Insertion of a row can be gotten from the menu (choices include inserting before and after). Some of the formatting from the top row was brought down (I don’t know why).

A row can be inserted only from a right click; it is only added after the row where the cursor is.

Insertion of rows

As above. §

Many more mouse clicks in Word and not nearly as intuitive as WP.

Select the number of rows that you would like to insert in your current table (you need not select the entire row), then go to table -> insert -> and choose rows above or rows below (this can also be done from the table toolbar (the only way suggested in MS Word’s help).

Rotate a Table

A table can be inserted into a box and the box contents rotated 90°, 180° or 270°. §

I could not get a table or a box to rotate in a document.

A table can be inserted into a box and the box rotated 90°, 180° or 270°. §

Updating

WP can be set up so that, when a number is changed, then the cells based upon the various formulas in the document are automatically updated. §

This should be the default setting in WP.

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.

When numbers in cells are changed, the cells dependent upon formulas are updated automatically. §

Viewing cell address

On the status bar, you always know what cell you are in. §

I seem to recall that there is a macro that you can write for MS Word to let you know where you are.

There is no screen indication of where you are in Word. For a small table, this is unimportant; for a spreadsheet table, this is unacceptable.

There is no indication of where you are here either.

Viewing formulas

When the formula bar is showing, the formulas are found in the formula dialogue box. §

You can find that formula in Word and Word Pro, if you don’t mind the additional keystrokes.

Must select value of cell, then table, then insert formula and a dialogue box will come up with the formula in it.

Must right-click and go to formula edit.

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Conclusion

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WordPerfect 9

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Word 2000

Word Pro 9

Number of toolbars

Ships with 20 toolbars, including a MS Word toolbar. §

Ships with 16 different toolbars.

Ships with about 15 different toolbars.

Placement

Toolbars can be individually placed. §

Toolbars may be individually placed. §

Toolbars are on top only.

Property bars

WordPerfect has the unique property bars which appear when a different environment is entered into. There are about 40 different property bars. They can be customized and placed differently than the toolbars. §§

Whether you have selected text, are in a footnote or in a table, there will be a context-specific toolbar that will pop up automatically in WP. In Word, you must add or change your toolbars.

Not found here.

Not found here.

Toolbars

Toolbars can have several rows. You can design just one toolbar with everything on it. §

In Word, several toolbars can be designed and several used at one time.

Toolbars are only one row long. §

Only one toolbar of one row; and several toolbars do not completely fit on the screen at the same time.

Addendum

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WordPerfect 9

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Word 2000

Word Pro 9

Adding words to dictionary

Spell-check automatically will use your added words to offer suggestions for misspelled words. §

Spell-check automatically will use your added words to offer suggestions for misspelled words. §

Although Word Pro will add words to a customized dictionary, it rarely offers those words as possible corrections (except when it comes to capitalization).

Automatic spell-check

Excellent automatic spell-check feature.

I was unable to locate Word Pro’s automatic marking of misspelled words at first. It is under view-> show/hide. None of the word processing software corrected a misspelling unless the misspelling and correction were in the dictionary WP 8 did this.

Excellent automatic spell-check and automatic spell-correct feature.

Automatic spell-check and spell-correct feature.

Caps fix

If you leave your Caps Lock on, WP will fix that when you type a normal sentence (i.e., capitalizing the first letter). §

Word does this as well. §

Not here.

Individual spell-check

A misspelled word can either be right-clicked for a corrected spelling, or that spelling may be found in the prompt-as-you-go box. §

A misspelled word can be corrected via a right-click; there was no prompt-as-you-go toolbar box. §

Individual words cannot be spell-checked. However, the spell-check can be left on while typing, so that individual words can be dealt with.

Outlines

WP, under Tools, offers 6 different outlines and 6 numbering styles, including the most common outline which I grew up with. You can create an additional style of outline or numbering, as well as modify an existing outline style. §

When showing a student how to use MS’s outline features, I was surprised that the most common outline style was not there apart from the headings. In other words, for the student to create such an outline, he would first have to go in and modify one of the existing outline forms.

MS offers 7 outline styles and 7 numbering styles, excluding the most common outline form that I grew up with. Actually, it was there, but, for whatever reason, would not continue automatically with a hard return. It also inserted various headings as a part of this outline. These styles may be modified, but you cannot create an additional style of outline.

Outlines

As a part of the outlines feature, one could from that window apply various styles to text (this would be in order to maintain consistency throughout a project.

This can be reached or effected in other ways in the other programs, so it is not necessarily a superior feature.

Not found here.

Outlines and Bullets

11 bullet styles including one in an outline format.

7 bulleted styles (it was not obvious that they were in an outline format). However, MS allowed for 60 small pictures as a part of their bullets, which was cool. §

Repeat

In WP, you click on repeat first, choose how many times you want the next keystroke to be repeated, and then execute the keystroke. Most often, you would use a macro with this. §§

I never even knew about this repeat function until a reader pointed it out.

The repeat function was set into motion after the keystrokes that you wanted repeated. It was unpredictable as to which keystrokes and how many would be repeated. In any case, each click gave one repeat—not very helpful if you want to run 50 repeats of some action.

Word Pro did not appear to have a repeat function.

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. WP could sort by the second or third word, which might be separated by spaces or by tabs. §§

MS Word will sort second and third fields if these are placed into a table or if tabs are placed between the words. Word Pro was unable to sort a list of words which came immediately after a table. When I moved them further down, it did fine.

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.” If a tab was inserted, then the second field could be sorted first. §

Word Pro offered a great many sort options and was probably the easiest to understand. It could sort by the second or third word, whether or not spaces, commas or tabs were inserted. §§

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. Word automatically changed a couple of common words placed next to each other without a space but was unable to offer a solution for the simplest of mis-typing’s.

Word Pro 9 not only caught the misspelling of placing two words together without a space, but offered the correct solution when spell-checked. §

Spell-check

Here’s a nifty feature of WP’s spell check: 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. §