Other Items | WP | Word | Comments |
WordPerfect: RealTime Preview | WP: 10 | | If you read the
Preamble
, you'll already know what this feature is; if you didn't read the Preamble, then this WordPerfect feature allows you to see changes to your document in 'Real Time'. For example, if you want to change the Font of your document or a selected piece of text, add columns, change line spacing, text size, etc., you 'hover' over a menu item or icon, and WP instantly applies the change to your document . . . if you don't like that change, hover over the next font, line spacing, (etc) icon; keep going until you find the one you want. In Word, you apply a change, don't like it, undo it, go back to the menu, apply another one, don't like it, undo it, go back to the menu, etc, etc, etc. This WP feature alone saves you ages when formatting your documents. |
Word & WordPerfect:
Task-Specific Wizards: | WP: 10 | | WordPerfect has
158; Word has
4. |
Word & WordPerfect:
Customize Keyboard | WP: 1 | | WordPerfect has more capabilities. |
WordPerfect: Launch a Program from your Toolbar | WP: 1 | | WP only. WP allows you to add an icon to your Toolbar so that you can quickly launch a program. Word allows you to go quickly to other Microsoft products. |
WordPerfect: Back and Forward | WP: 1 | | WP only. Move through documents as easily as you move around Web Pages. Word has a Browse-By feature, but this only records edits—not clicks. |
Word &
WordPerfect: AutoScroll | WP: 1 | | Maybe this isn't as big a feature as it used to be, as most people probably have a wheel mouse by now, but for those who don't, it's good to know that this feature is available. It's still hidden in Word. |
Word: IntelliSense | | Word: 1 | Only 1 point? Put it this way: I have most of Word's 'IntelliSense' features turned off. I have had 1 example of it working well. (By the way, WordPerfect has had 'Perfect Sense' since
version 6.1 . . . PerfectSense is for when you change text—this ensures that text is always in the correct tense).
Proof that most users DON'T LIKE Word's much-hyped IntelliSense feature is that Microsoft added Smart Tag AutoCorrect options that ask you whether you wanted the change that Word just made; if you didn't, you have the option of undoing it
AND of turning off that AutoCorrect Feature. Additionally, MS gave this its own Menu Item—again, so that people can easily stop Word correcting their work. |
Word: Smart Tags | | Word: 1 | Good idea for adding people to your Outlook Address Book or for scheduling a meeting on a certain date, etc, as MSOffice detects dates and names, then asks you if you want them added, scheduled, etc. (via an icon). In the 2 years since it was introduced, I haven't used it once . . . |
Word: Smart
Tags (Paste) | 
| Word: 1 | The other Smart Tag implementation arrived in the form of a Paste Icon. When you Paste Text, a Smart Tag appears to the right of the pasted text—it gives you options that have been available in WP for as long as I can remember:
Word Smart Tag | WP Equivalent |
Keep Source Formatting | Automatic |
Match Destination Formatting | Right-Click 'Paste without Font Attributes' |
Keep Text Only | As above |
Apply Style or Formatting | QuickFonts |
This is
a nice implementation of WP 's features but it's more of a case of
Word catching up with WP than anything revolutionary. |
| Word: Improved International Features | | Word: 5 |
Microsoft Office Word 11 provides improved features for creating foreign-language documents and for using documents in a multiple language setting.
Mail Merge chooses the correct greeting format based on the gender of the recipient if the language requires it. Mail Merge can also format addresses based on the geographical region of the recipient.
Enhancements to typography result in better display of text in more languages than ever before. Word 11 supports more Unicode ranges and includes improved support for combining diacritics. This feature means nothing to me, but obviously will to many other people. |
| Word: New Look | | Word: 1 | OK, I know this isn't a 'wow' feature, but it's nice! The new colors are soothing, cheery, and make the software nicer to work with. I know that working with the new version of Outlook is especially enjoyable just because of the new look. That may sound stupid, but it is a scientific fact that color affects people's mood, so why shouldn't software be nice-looking? This would get 5 points if I were comparing PIMs, as I spend so much time in Outlook, and the enhancements are far more noticeable there than in Word, but Word does deserve a point for the new color-scheme that Office 2003 has. |
| WP: Classic Mode | WP: 1 | | In contrast to MSO's new look, Corel discovered that many people liked the old DOS look of WP! For those people who do (and to help people who still use WP-DOS make the move to WP‑Windows), Corel added this feature to let users change their keyboard and environment to the WordPerfect 5.1 color and keystroke scheme |
| WP: Reveal Codes Printing | WP: 5 | | Reveal Codes is an excellent feature for helping to troubleshoot documents, but everyone knows that a printed copy is often easier to read, and it's often easier to spot errors in! Corel has, therefore, added this feature to WP11 to boost what is already WordPerfect's best feature! |
| Word: Tablet PC support | | Word: 1 |
On a Tablet PC, you can quickly provide input using your own handwriting directly into Office documents as you would using a pen and a printout. OK, again, this may not be a "wow" feature, and it probably only impacts a minority of people, but for those who may use it, it's probably a good feature (although I read that MSO's handwriting and voice-recognition features are not great). |
| WP & Word: Unicode | | Word: 5 | While Corel slowly introduces Unicode into WP, Microsoft has embraced it. Personally, I would like to see Corel get rid of its WP Fonts and replace them with Unicode. Not only would it make conversion with Word even better, it would bring WP up-to-speed. People who work with foreign languages often need characters outside the standard WP Font Character set. This doesn't affect me, but for others, it can be a hindrance. |
WP: Conversion Utility
Word: Batch Convert | WP: 1 | Word: 1 | Both programs now have a fast way to convert a number of documents in a single go. |
Word: Personalized Menus | | Word: 1 | When these were first introduced, I couldn't decide whether this was a good or bad feature. I've read reviews where people said they hated them and turned them off. However, after using them for several years, I've decided that I do like them, and I like the fact that they've been added to Windows. It can be a bit annoying hovering over a Menu when you want to use a feature you don't use all the time, but if I had to choose whether or not to have them, I would choose to have them. |
OTHER POINTS | WP: 31 | Word: 17 | |
