Mark Masny, you said on 11/1/01 5:01 AM >As one who is on the cusp of buying Nisus Writer, and also one who >likes Word 2001, I would be interested in hearing what it is about >Writer that appeals to writers of books and articles where the >multi-linguistic and advanced search capabilities are not overtly >relevant. Nisus is aimed more at creative writers and writing professionals (editors, translators) than MSW, which looks more to the needs of people working in offices. MSW tends to constrain you to a MSW way of working whereas Nisus seems more relaxed and intuitive once you get used to it. Some things about it are a little different! In particular, Nisus is praised for its long document capability (alhough it works best with plenty of memory), and for its exceptional find and replace capabilities and its macro language, which gives it a powerful grip on repetitive editing tasks given a bit of a learning curve. Some versions of MSW from 6 onwards were not considered all that stable whereas NW is frequently praised for being rock solid. Writers tend to like that! With any MS application one is relegated to being a very small voice in a world dominated by one company. With Nisus, every individual user matters and if you have a difficulty to resolve, you'll quickly find others who have been that way before. This list (and its companion, Nisus Hub) is a great source of support. Often idiosyncratic, frequently witty, occasionally irritating to some, it has a no-flame ethos but heaps of personality and the dialogue frequently draws in the Nisus people themselves right up to the top. Word may be a good standby for those awkward file sharing taks that don't always translate well, for its excellent table tool, and for its built-in outliner of sorts - not the greatest implementation but it's there - and its ability to zoom. But who wants to work in it? Rush out and buy Nisus. You won't regret it. Ian Greig
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