WordPerfect 8.0 catches up fast in word processing

WordPerfect 8.0 catches up fast in word processing

By Zatni Arbi

JAKARTA (JP): Once in a while, Microsoft Word for Windows 97,
which is part of Microsoft Office 97, surprises me.

First, document files created with this version cannot be read
by earlier generations of Winword. This is not really a surprise,
of course. Any new version usually packs new features that the
old ones won't be able to handle. It's no problem, either,
because there is, as one would expect, the option in Winword 97
that allows us to save our documents in Winword 95 or even
Winword 6.0 format.

The problem is, each time I did this, I got a file in Rich
Text Format (RTF). While Winword 95 or Winword 6.0 have no
problem opening a file in this format, other word processor
programs may choke. Several friends have also reported having
problems when opening Winword 7.0 in a Mac, and it usually
happened when their deadline was just half an hour away.

More serious than this, however, are the inconsistencies I
have encountered in formatting a long document. For example, when
I had to print a 10-page document in two balanced columns; I had
selected all the text in the columns and applied a different font
and font size formatting. When I printed the document, I found
that one paragraph -- for some unknown reason -- had a font size
one point larger than the rest of the text. I fixed it by
repeating the formatting procedure, and the next printout came
out perfect.

There were other times when I seemed to have lost control over
the formatting and even margin settings of the text on the pages.
This included boldface and other font attributes of the numbering
characters in the number list that refused to be altered. I soon
learned that changing the font or its attributes after I'd
created a list using the automatic list feature would most likely
gave me a headache.

Every time I was frustrated by Winword's insistence on acting
according to its own will, I wished I had decided to use
WordPerfect for the project in the first place. I would end up
longing for the formatting codes that we find in WP's Reveal Code
mode. In my experience with WordPerfect, these codes put me more
in control as far as complex document formatting is concerned.

Better WP

Then, when Kany Chan, Corel's media relations manager for
Greater China and Southeast Asia, handed me a copy of WordPerfect
Suite 8.0 after her recent presentation at Grand Hyatt, Jakarta,
I was elated. I wasted no time in exploring its strengths and, of
course, weaknesses.

One will immediately appreciate the real consistency found in
the user interface across all core applications in the new
WordPerfect Suite 8.0. WP, Quattro Pro and Presentation now have
the same look and feel. Unlike in the past, we can no longer
accuse whoever sells us WordPerfect Suite that they are just
selling a box into which they have thrown in a set of disparate
application programs.

The interface is now very clean. In fact, as you can see in
the accompanying picture, the menu items in WP's menu bar is now
almost identical to the one you find in Winword 7.0. Only the
Table menu item is missing in WP 8.0. This time we explore WP
8.0. We will take a look at the other programs in WP Suite 8.0 in
the future. Installation was smooth and quick, considering the
fact that my hard disk was already full with all sorts of things
and that it is already time again to reformat it.

On my 133 MHz Pentium machine, WP 8.0 runs at least as fast as
Winword 97. It doesn't take very long to load, and opening files
is also quick. Reports in magazines such as Byte and PC World
also confirm that WP 8.0 is noticeably faster than the previous
versions. Corel has obviously done a good job in optimizing the
program codes.

On-the-fly spelling and grammar checking, which is my
favorite, is also available in WP 8.0. However, one of the best
additions in WP 8.0, as well as in other core members of the 8.0
Suite, is certainly the Property Bar.

Property Bar was first introduced in CorelDRAW 7.0, and it
became an instant hit. Containing all properties pertinent to
whatever we are doing, the bar changes as we move to work on a
different object. So, for example, when we type in the text, the
Property Bar will display all current properties of the text
including the fonts, the font size, alignment and paragraph
styles. It even displays alternative words when WP 8.0 spell
checker encounter a word that it doesn't recognize.

If we click on a table in the document on the screen, for
instance, the Property Bar will display all properties of the
table, including the number format of the cells. In addition to
these properties, the bar also contains icons that are relevant
to the object we are working on.

This allows us to have on the screen only the icons that we
need and it helps minimize clutters. There are 32 different
property bars altogether, and you could modify any of them if you
wish.

Nifty tools

When we move a column or row border in WP 8.0's table, the
program will tell us the exact position of the cursor. This helps
a lot if we have to format a large number of tables in our
document.

Another welcomed innovation is the Cursor Shadow. In other
word processors, we always have to start at the top left-hand
corner of the blank page after we open a new document. In WP 8.0,
with Cursor Shadow turned on, we can move the cursor directly to
the center of the page and a shadow cursor will follow. It will
automatically tell us where the insertion point -- the I-beam --
will be when we click the mouse button. So we can immediately
start typing the front page of a report, for example, without
having to tap the ENTER key many times to get down to where we
want the title to be placed.

Changing fonts is now more convenient than ever. Each time we
select a font from the font list found in the Property Bar or the
Format toolbar, WP 8.0 will display the typefaces of the font so
there'll be no more guess-work involved.

WP 8.0 has no decorative animated wizard, but the
PerfectExpert offers equally, if not more, exhaustive answers to
our questions and guidance for what we want to accomplish. On the
CD-ROM there is also the on-line electronic manual.

Wish list

WP 8.0 no longer accepts file created with Wordstar. In
Indonesia, this can mean a lot of hassles because a lot of users
are still sticking to Wordstar. While CorelWordPerfect 6.1 was
still able to open a Wordstar 4.0 file, it is rather unfortunate
that Corel has decided to drop this format from its list of
convertible files. Interestingly, although it cannot open
Wordstar 3.0 to 4.0 files, WP 8.0 can still recognize them as
such.

Another thing that Corel still has to perfect is the movement
of the insertion point. In other Windows-based word processors,
the insertion point always stops before a punctuation mark (a
period, a coma, a semicolon, a colon, a question mark or an
exclamation mark) when we move around using the Ctrl-Arrow key
combinations. This makes navigating with the arrow keys more
precise. WP 8.0 still carries a legacy of the DOS-based WP. The
insertion point only stops before the next word.

Why is this so important? When I want to delete a word or a
string of words, I usually highlight it first and then type in
the replacement. This way I can make sure that I don't make more
mistakes. Now, if I want to delete a word at the end of a
sentence, for instance, I'd like to select the word with the
period not included so that I won't have to retype the period. In
WP 8.0, I'll still have to type in the punctuation marks.

Furthermore, when we move a word from the center of a sentence
to the beginning, the first letter will not be automatically
capitalized as it would in Winword. Luckily, WP 8.0 will
recognize the missing capitalized first letter and will suggest,
for example, "Lazy" as the replacement for "lazy". The good news
is that Ctrl-End no longer erases the entire line to the right of
the insertion point, as older versions of WP did.

WP 8.0 has proven that the old word processor champ is still
very much alive and kicking. Its imperfections are minor, and I'm
sure one can easily live with it. On the other hand, the seamless
integration among the core applications and the accessibility of
the formatting codes that put the user in control are really its
strong points. Besides, like the previous versions of WP, it is
also very task-oriented. Therefore, I guess, from now on I'm back
with WP again.