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Re: Ventura vs. MS-Word

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Posted by Tom Whitlow on June 11, 1997 at 16:45:53:

In Reply to: Re: Ventura vs. MS-Word posted by Rick Frye on April 10, 1997 at 15:52:51:

: : I have been using Ventura since 1988 (V1.1).
: : Is there any remaining truly valid non-emotional reason to continue to use it instead of changing over to MS Word?
: : My technical manuals are typically 200 to 400 pages with 40 to 80 page chapters, line drawing, few pictures, black/white laser output.
: : I would REALLY appreciate some input, as one of my clients is pushing real hard for me to convert to Word (which I already use as a word processor).
: : Thanks!
: :
: : Bruce Koehler

: If your client wants you to switch, that may be reason enough. I've used Ventura about as long as you have, and I've used Word for a few years, too. You can accomplish quite a bit in Word the same as Ventura, but you sometimes take quite a loss in ease of control.

: For example, if you use Ventura's table of contents or indexing features, you'll find it difficult to make that work as well in Word when you're dealing with multiple "chapters" (master documents of that size can become unweildy). Keeping your graphics to stay where you put them, or stay with the text they're supposed to be with, can also be frustrating in Word.

: On the other hand, Ventura is no match for Word in text editing capabilities. Word styles have the added advantage of being based on the style it was built from, so if you do it right it's a piece of cake to quickly change the whole look of your document with a few easy steps. You can also write macros in Word to handle repetitive tasks.

: If my client wants a document in Word, or whatever application, that's how I'll produce it. If they don't care, I try to pick the tools that work best for the task. I often play with a design in Word because it's so easy to change attributes for just one paragraph, but then I'll do the production in Ventura because the control is better over the span of a large project. So I use both, trying to maximize the strengths of each.

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Re: Ventura vs. MS-Word Tom Whitlow 16:53:40 6/11/97 (1)
- Re: Ventura vs. MS-Word LLoyd 16:23:02 12/06/2000 (0)

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: : : : I have been using Ventura since 1988 (V1.1). : : : Is there any remaining truly valid non-emotional reason to continue to use it instead of changing over to MS Word? : : : My technical manuals are typically 200 to 400 pages with 40 to 80 page chapters, line drawing, few pictures, black/white laser output. : : : I would REALLY appreciate some input, as one of my clients is pushing real hard for me to convert to Word (which I already use as a word processor). : : : Thanks! : : : : : : Bruce Koehler : : If your client wants you to switch, that may be reason enough. I've used Ventura about as long as you have, and I've used Word for a few years, too. You can accomplish quite a bit in Word the same as Ventura, but you sometimes take quite a loss in ease of control. : : For example, if you use Ventura's table of contents or indexing features, you'll find it difficult to make that work as well in Word when you're dealing with multiple "chapters" (master documents of that size can become unweildy). Keeping your graphics to stay where you put them, or stay with the text they're supposed to be with, can also be frustrating in Word. : : On the other hand, Ventura is no match for Word in text editing capabilities. Word styles have the added advantage of being based on the style it was built from, so if you do it right it's a piece of cake to quickly change the whole look of your document with a few easy steps. You can also write macros in Word to handle repetitive tasks. : : If my client wants a document in Word, or whatever application, that's how I'll produce it. If they don't care, I try to pick the tools that work best for the task. I often play with a design in Word because it's so easy to change attributes for just one paragraph, but then I'll do the production in Ventura because the control is better over the span of a large project. So I use both, trying to maximize the strengths of each.

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