Csm Applications Faq

Date: Sun, 17 Jul 1994 07:36:27 +0700
From: eharold@sunspot.noao.edu (Elliotte Harold)
Subject: New version of the application faq

Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.apps,comp.answers,news.answers
From: elharo@shock.njit.edu (Elliotte Rusty Harold)
Reply-To: elharo@shock.njit.edu (Elliotte Harold)
Organization: Department of Mathematics, NJIT
Summary: This document answers a number of the most frequently asked 
	questions about Macintosh application software on Usenet.  To avoid 
	wasting bandwidth and as a matter of politeness please familiarize 
	yourself with this document BEFORE posting.
Subject: Macintosh application software frequently asked questions (FAQ)
Keywords: FAQ, Macintosh, Mac, macintosh, mac, apps, applications
Followup-To: comp.sys.mac.apps
Approved: news-answers-request@mit.edu


Archive-name: macintosh/apps-faq
Version: 2.3.0
Last-modified: July 11, 1994
Maintainer: elharo@shock.njit.edu

Frequently Asked Questions about Macintosh Application Software
===============================================================


               comp.sys.mac.faq, part 4: 
               comp.sys.mac.apps
 
               Copyright 1993,1994 by Elliotte Harold
               Please see section 5.8 of the general FAQ if you wish to 
               redistribute, revise or republish this document in any way.

               Archive-name: macintosh/apps-faq
               Version: 2.3.0
               Last-modified: July 11, 1994
               Address comments to elharo@shock.njit.edu


What's new in version 2.3.0:
----------------------------

     This FAQ list now features URL's for a lot of software.  See
     the general FAQ list for details.

     1.6: What's the best spreadsheet?

     Now that Lotus has abandoned 1-2-3 the only full-powered Mac 
     spreadsheet is Excel.

     1.7: What's the best JPEG Viewer?

     I've removed mentions of some of the less effective tools for
     viewing JPEG's.

     1.9: What's the best drawing application?

     The release of Illustrator 5.5 and the proposed Aldus/Adobe
     merger is making Illustrator a clearer choice.

     1.11: What's the best OCR software?

     Xerox TextBridge does a better job of recognition than I had
     previously indicated.


                         Table of Contents                        
==================================================================


I. What's the Best...
    1. Text editor
    2. Word processor
    3. Genealogy software
    4. TeX/LaTeX
    5. Integrated application
    6. Spreadsheet
    7. JPEG Viewer
    8. Electronic publishing software
    9. Drawing application
   10. Typing tutor?
   11. OCR software?
II. Microsoft Word
    1. How can I assign styles to characters?
    2. How can I automatically generate cross-references?  
    3. How can I change a Word document to TeX?  and vice-versa?
    4. How can I depersonalize Word?
    5. Where can I get more information?
III.  TeachText
    1. How can I change the font in TeachText?
    2. How do I place a picture in a TeachText file?
    3. How do I make a TeachText document read-only?


RETRIEVING THE ENTIRE FAQ
=========================

       This is the FOURTH part of this FAQ.  The first part is also 
  posted to this newsgroup under the subject heading  "Introductory 
  Macintosh frequently asked questions (FAQ)" and includes a complete 
  table of contents for the entire document as well as information on
  where to post, ftp, file decompression, trouble-shooting, preventive
  maintenance and conditions for reproduction, posting and use of this
  document outside of Usenet.  The second, third, fifth and sixth parts
  are posted every two weeks in comp.sys.mac.system, comp.sys.mac.misc,  
  comp.sys.mac.wanted and comp.sys.mac.hardware respectively.  Please
  familiarize yourself with all six sections of this document before
  posting. All pieces are available for anonymous ftp from 

  ftp://rtfm.mit.edu/pub/usenet/news.answers/macintosh/

  Except for the introductory FAQ which appears in multiple
  newsgroups and is stored as general-faq, the name of each 
  file has the format of the last part of the group name followed 
  by "-faq", e.g the FAQ for comp.sys.mac.system is stored as
  system-faq.  You can also have these files mailed to you
  by sending an E-mail message to mail-server@rtfm.mit.edu
  with the line:  

  send pub/usenet/news.answers/macintosh/name 

  in the body text where "name" is the name of the file you want as 
  specified above (e.g. general-faq).  You can also send this server 
  a message with the subject "help" for more detailed instructions.  
  For access via Mosaic use 

  http://www.cis.ohio-state.edu/hypertext/faq/usenet/macintosh/top.html



=========================
WHAT'S THE BEST...  (1.0)
=========================

TEXT EDITOR?  (1.1)
-------------------

  	   Available shareware and freeware text editors that can
  handle more than 32K of text include McSink, BBEdit Lite, Edit II 
  (with grep style searching), Alpha (particularly nice for working 
  with TeX files), Stevie (for fans of vi), and microEmacs.  The 
  feature sets of these editors overlap somewhat but are not identical.  
  Since all are available via anonymous FTP, there's no reason not 
  to try them all and find the one you like best.  See

  ftp://rever.nmsu.edu//pub/macfaq/BBEditLite.sit.bin
  ftp://rever.nmsu.edu//pub/macfaq/Alpha.sit.bin
  ftp://rever.nmsu.edu//pub/macfaq/EditII.sit.bin
  ftp://rever.nmsu.edu//pub/macfaq/Stevie.sit.bin
  ftp://rever.nmsu.edu//pub/macfaq/microEmacs.sit.bin
  ftp://rever.nmsu.edu//pub/macfaq/McSink.sit.bin
  
       I use Rich Siegel's BBEdit Lite for the FAQ because it can word 
  wrap to a specific number of characters and indent lines with spaces.  
  (You didn't think I did all this nice formatting by hand, did you?) 
  It's also a very nice programmer's editor.  BBEdit has an extensive
  interface for adding custom externals written in Think C so if you
  need a feature that's not built-in you can add it.  For me the only
  thing that's missing is automatic word-wrap, but that's available
  from the Text Editor Patches 1.3.1 by James W. Walker.  Some others
  may also miss a macro language that's easier to use than writing 
  code externals in C which brings us to my second choice.
  
       Alpha ($25 shareware) is a text editor that includes a full
  featured implementation of the tcl scripting language and extensive
  search and replace capabilities.  Emacs users will feel at home
  with this powerful program.  Unfortunately it's System 7 dependent. 
  Shareware authors take note: About 40% of all installed Macs are 
  still running System 6.  If you actually intend to make some 
  money, then you shouldn't cut out half your market at a swipe.  
  
       Stevie is vi-workalike for the Mac, but since Stevie isn't 
  an interface to an ex-style editor as is vi, it's not as powerful 
  as its UNIX inspiration.  microEmacs is likewise NOT a full featured
  implementation of Emacs.  If you want to do Emacs style Lisp
  programming and keybinding (and I can't imagine why else anyone 
  would ever want to use Emacs on a Mac) you'll probably be happier 
  with Alpha.


WORD PROCESSOR?  (1.2)
----------------------

       I have seen the future, and its name is WordPerfect. 
  WordPerfect has almost every feature of competing word processors
  including not only basic and advanced word processing tools (style
  sheets, spelling checker, thesaurus, grammar checker, outliner,
  equation editor, on-line help, multiple import and export formats,
  etc. etc. etc.), but many features more commonly associated with
  desktop publishing software (text and picture boxes, tables,
  multiple column layouts, indexing, EPS and uncompressed TIFF
  importing, etc. etc. etc.) as well.  Furthermore it has two
  abilities that have been glaringly absent from Microsoft Word for
  years, automatic cross-referencing and a built-in macro language. 
  While most of these features are available in third party products
  for other word processors, by the time you've bought the other word
  processor and one or two add-ons you've already spent more than on
  WordPerfect alone.  Finally there's a native PowerPC version.  No 
  other word processor company has one yet.  You can get a demo from

  ftp://rever.nmsu.edu/pub/macfaq/WordPerfect_3.0_Demo.sit

       As I said WordPerfect 3.0 is the future of Macintosh word
  processing.  Unfortunately I'm not sure it's the present.  Not all
  of these capabilities actually work.  Many of those that do are
  incomplete in their current incarnations.  Finally WordPerfect 
  needs about 1800K of RAM and seven megabytes of hard disk space for 
  full functionality, and still manages to make Word look like a speed
  demon.  Screen redraw is abysmally slow.  And there are non-trivial 
  bugs in file import and export, macros, and WorldScript.  To finalize
  matters street prices for WordPerfect have gone up, and Wordperfect 
  Corp. no longer offers lifetime toll-free technical support.  As 
  thrilled as I was to see a real competitor for Microsoft Word, I'm 
  afraid the initial glow has worn off.  I cannot recommend WordPerfect 
  at this time. 

       This brings us to the longtime champion of Macintosh word
  processors, Microsoft Word 5.1.  Word is still the market leader
  and still fulfills ALMOST every conceivable word processing need. 
  Word is virtually guaranteed to have at least one feature you can't
  live without which just isn't available in any other word processor.
  (Well, it's probably available in WordPerfect, but the difference
  is that in in Word it works.)  For me that feature is outlining.
  For you it may be styles or mail merge or cross-platform support.  
  Whatever you need chances are that Microsoft Word can provide it.
 
       Finally since Word is the market leader, there's a greater
  chance that it will be upgraded and supported in the future, both
  by Microsoft and by third parties.  Many people have been burned 
  by committing to word processors that were subsequently abandoned, 
  leaving them with files they could neither exchange with others 
  nor convert into better supported formats.  It's also nice that you 
  can be virtually certain that anyone you send a Word file to will 
  be able to read it, and that any program which needs to import 
  word processing documents will import a Word file.  And if there 
  is some feature you need that Word doesn't have, like auto-numbering 
  of equations, there's a very good chance a third party tool exists 
  to provide it.  

       Users with limited disk space, 68000 CPUs, or less than four
  megabytes of memory may want to consider WriteNow 4.0, a word
  processor noted for its speed, small memory appetite, minimal 
  disk footprint, and small price, about sixty dollars.  Unlike the other
  products discussed here, WriteNow really is designed first and last
  to be a word processor, not a document formatter.  It doesn't have
  an equation editor, text boxes, an outliner or other features more
  associated with desktop publishing than with writing.  If all you
  want to do is write, WriteNow may be the choice for you.  Users
  behind the power curve and even those out in front of it may also
  want to consider ClarisWorks whose word processing functions are
  more than sufficient for basic writing.  While more expensive than
  WriteNow, ClarisWorks also provides many other well-integrated
  features in a small and speedy package.
  
       Almost everyone who buys a computer immediately either buys or
  borrows a word processor.  Certainly they get one before they get
  a modem and net access.  Consequently the market for freeware and 
  shareware word processors is miniscule.  Nonetheless there is one.
  Datapak's Word Solution Engine Demo 2.2 is a full-featured free 
  word processor.  Don't let the word "Demo" fool you.  What Datapak
  is demoing is the capabilities of the word processing engine they
  license to software developers, not the word processor itself which
  is fully functional and free.  WSED supports editing files larger 
  than memory, WorldScript, simple styles and all the standard 
  features you'd expect in a Macintosh word processor.  There's no 
  manual or technical support, but what do you expect for free?  
  In any case the program is simple and intuitive enough that 
  neither should be necessary.  See

  ftp://rever.nmsu.edu/pub/macfaq/WordSolutionEngineDemo.sit.bin

       Among writers of technical documents that include many 
  numbered equations, tables, and figures, FrameMaker is particularly
  popular.  Unlike Word it has the cross-referencing, auto-numbering
  and sectioning capability to match its tables, drawing package, 
  and equation editor.  However FrameMaker really is more of a desktop 
  publishing package than a word processor, and it's priced like 
  one.  The educational discount price for FrameMaker is close to 
  the non-educational, street price of Word 5.1 or WordPerfect; and 
  competitive upgrades are not available.  When creating a Framemaker 
  document you need to give a lot more initial thought to the layout 
  of the page than you would with most word processors.  It's much 
  harder to just launch FrameMaker and begin writing than it is in 
  any of the other word processors.  FrameMaker is not well suited 
  to general use. 

       Many netters swear by (and at) Nisus from Nisus Software.  Nisus
  3.4 has has several features not found in any other Macintosh word
  processor including very powerful macros and multiple Undo's.  It's
  also missing many features included in other similarly priced
  packages like tables, useable styles, and support for most System 7
  features.  The fully WorldScript savvy edition is copy-protected by
  an ADB dongle; but if your writing is limited to Roman languages
  and Japanese, the non-copy protected limited flag edition will
  serve equally well.  Furthermore Nisus can actually handle all the 
  languages it claims to, unlike WordPerfect which keels over when 
  faced with anything more complicated than Cyrillic.  For writing 
  in non-Roman languages Nisus is the obvious choice.  However for 
  writing in English or another Latin langauge, you'd probably be 
  better served by one of the other cheaper, more feature rich 
  programs like Word, WordPerfect or WriteNow.
  
       MacWrite Pro 1.5 is a solid product but has nothing special 
  to recommend it beyond the name of the company that makes it.  
  If MacWrite was produced by Friendly Neighborhood Software (tm)
  instead of Claris, it would have been eliminated from the market
  long ago.


GENEALOGY SOFTWARE?  (1.3)
--------------------------

       Leister Productions' Reunion is the most powerful, flexible,
  graphical, and easy-to-use Macintosh software for producing family
  trees and doing genealogical research.  At $115 street it's also
  the most expensive.  Reunion is available from all the usual
  sources  of payware software.  If all you want to do is chart your
  own family tree back a few generations, you may want to consider
  the less powerful and less flexible, but considerably cheaper
  Personal Ancestry File (PAF for short) from the Church of Jesus
  Christ of Latter Day Saints (the Mormons for short).  It's designed
  primarily for easy downloading of data into the Mormons' central
  database so it's not as easy to use as Reunion and lacks some basic
  features.  For instance there's no provision for children of
  unmarried couples.  PAF is, however, only $35.  It must be ordered
  directly from the Mormons at
  
		Salt Lake Distribution Center 
		1999 West 1700 South
		Salt Lake City, UT  84104
		(800) 537-5950

  The product number is #30992 (Macintosh) and an IBM version is also
  available.  MasterCard and Visa are accepted for a $2 fee. However
  your card is charged for a cash advance rather than a purchase so
  interest will begin accruing immediately and your credit card 
  company will probably tack on about a 2.5% cash advance fee.
  
       Simple descendant and ancestor charts can be produced with the
  shareware HyperCard stack Our Family Tree 1.3 by Timmy G. Bremer.  See

  ftp://rever.nmsu.edu/pub/macfaq/OurFamilyTree.sit.bin
  
  However this stack is limited compared to PAF and the much more 
  powerful Reunion.  For instance, pedigree charts can only go back 
  five generations.  


TEX?  (1.4)
-----------

       Textures from Blue Sky Research is easily the superior
  implementation of TeX for the Mac.  It's the only TeX for the Mac
  that typesets and displays text and equations continuously as the
  TeX code describing them is typed, includes PostScript versions of
  the Computer Modern fonts, or allows simple copying and pasting of
  graphics and formatted pages between TeX and other Mac applications.
  If you work with TeX on a daily basis, Textures at $195 student price 
  is worth a look.  Blue Sky Research is famous on the net for technical 
  support that should be a model for the industry.  For more information 
  send E-mail to sales@bluesky.com.
   
       Andrew Trevorrow's OzTeX is not as sophisticated or as Maclike
  as Textures, but OzTeX files are somewhat more easily exported 
  to TeX systems on other platforms than are Textures files.  More
  importantly OzTeX is only $30 shareware and available from 

  ftp://midway.uchicago.edu/pub/OzTeX/

      OzTeX is the most integrated and Maclike of the shareware TeX's.  
  It's also the only shareware TeX with anything approaching complete 
  documentation.  It's slower than the other programs discussed here, 
  but does allow background compilation and printing.  If you only 
  need to print or preview an occasional TeX document, get OzTeX.
  
       Tom Kiffe recently released CMacTeX 2.1, a more modular TeX 
  for the Mac.  The different pieces of this full TeX package like
  dvipreview, TeX, and METAFONT are all available separately. CMacTeX
  is available in both freeware and commercial versions.  The
  freeware version is available for anonymous ftp at 

  ftp://ftp.shsu.edu/tex-archive/systems/mac/cmactex/

  The freeware package includes information on ordering the commercial 
  version which costs $25 and adds the "big" TeX and Metafont packages. 
  Both versions include METAFONT, dvips, and various other TeXie tools.
  However both versions require a PostScript printer.  Unlike the
  other TeX programs CMacTeX cannot print to a QuickDraw printer. 
  CMacTeX's documentation is somewhat lacking.

       Finally Wilfried Ricken maintains DirectTeX, shareware, 
  $100 for up to three copies, $20 for each additonal copy.  It 
  can be retrieved from 

  ftp://hadron.tp2.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/pub/directtex/ 
 
       DirectTeX sits on top of and requires the payware MPW.  This 
  provides it with exceptionally strong macro abilities but makes
  it by far the least Maclike of the four packages.  DirectTeX
  supports bidirectional typesetting as is needed for Hebrew and
  Arabic.  It includes most TeX utilities such as BibTeX, METAFONT,
  and various tools for working with .dvi files.  DirectTeX is the
  fastest shareware TeX and offers the most complete collection of
  TeX capabilities and tools.



INTEGRATED APPLICATION?  (1.5)
------------------------------

       Most software is driven by the needs of power users.  Features
  are added to sell into the power-user segment of the market since
  they're the hardest to please and spend the most dollars.  Triple
  Omega Paperware Corp. and its competitors need to design cocktail
  napkins in 16,000,000 lifelike, mouthwatering  colors so 
  Big Software Inc. has its programmers spend many hours adding
  photorealistic color capability to Bloated Draw 7.2.  Meanwhile
  Father O'Brian finds he needs all the hard disk space on his Color
  Classic and more money than he gets in the collection plate on 
  a good Sun…

Showing first 20,000 characters of 38,631 total. Open the full document →