Yes, we haven't answered the original question. I won't answer it either.
Just a quick plug for WordPerfect. In my experience I can write a file in
WP6.0 (from 1993) and open it in WP11 (for 2004). And I can open my WP11
file in WP6.0. WordPerfect updates therefore have not presented the
problems that WORD updates do to users.
WP has a pretty slick equation editor. I do not know the internal engine,
but I have equations in my dissertation from 1993 and can read them still
in my updated version of WP. And, you can change the font of the
equations; I have done so in various documents.
I was talking with a student, and she said, "Nobody still uses
WordPerfect!" I don't think that's true, or the company would not exist
and keep writing new versions. But, if anyone has been forced to switch
to Word away from WP, this note is to say my condolences, and to point out
that the $129 or so university price for the software is *well worth*
paying for it out-of-pocket, for WP allows flexibility in documents, knows
how to put footnotes on the correct page, and offers the level of backward
and forward compatibility that should be standard for any software company
trying to help people do their work.
I suppose LaTex is the best answer if you are going to spend your life
writing papers with equations, or if you work with people with whom you
need to share documents and want a platform-independent document and they
are LaTex-enabled. I work alone 90% of the time (and the 10% is always
with someone using some flavor of WORD), and some of my papers have
equations while some do not. So WP has been an effective tool for me.
You might consider it.
Take care.
Sam
On Sun, 13 Nov 2005, Marcello Pagano wrote:
> I restrained myself from posting yesterday! But the gauntlet has been
> thrown.
>
> I use LaTeX. The only time I have had to use Word is when I am part of
> a writing team when the others only use Word, and those documents tend
> to *not* be mathematical in nature. I dislike it.
>
> I have also used PowerPoint and LaTeX for producing slides--I am
> currently in my LaTeX phase. For the PowerPoint slides I have the
> Design Science Mathtype and have not had the problems Clive reports--you
> can choose the font, size, colour etc... Indeed, it is much easier to
> manipulate the fonts in PowerPoint than in LaTeX--see what gyrations you
> have to make to get bold Greek letters in math mode in LaTeX slides.
> The Mathtype looks suspiciously close to LaTeX, and my guess is that the
> engine that is driving Mathtype is probably something like LaTeX. Note
> that it can spit out LaTeX code for you! And some people value the
> WYSIWIG aspects of Mathtype and not have to go through the
> edit-compile-view cycle to see what every change will finally look like.
>
> Graphics are much easier to deal with in PowerPoint. I have a tablet
> (IBM/Lenovo X41) and I use it for presentations and have the ability to
> handwrite on the slides too as I make my presentation; a very
> impressive capability which sits much more naturally with PowerPoint
> than with the way I actually do it, via LaTeX and pdf. I recommend this
> capability for anyone who teaches; it combines modern type
> setting/graphics/film capabilities with the Socratic stick-in-the-sand
> method of teaching. Much more immediate and much less slick.
>
> What is true in general, although LaTeX was the earlier kid on the
> block, the newer capabilities tend to come sooner with the commercial
> software. If you are patient enough and willing to wait, what sometimes
> to turns out to be a year or two, then fine. If you need occasional user
> support (not the caliber of Stata and Statalist, of course!) then the
> commercial software is a better choice. Indeed, it is difficult to make
> general statements about LaTeX because it probably means something
> different to everyone out there depending on how the package has been
> implemented on their machine.
>
> But all Suzy wanted was, "I am searching for inexpensive (or freeware)
> statistical/mathematical fonts/symbols that can be used in a word
> document." We all took "word" to mean "Word".
>
> m.p.
>
> Clive Nicholas wrote:
>
> >Alan Neustadtl wrote:
> >
> >
> >
> >>FWIW, I purchased the mathtype equation editor and keep it current and
> >>have never had any problems with it. I do produce large documents
> >>with lots of equations.
> >>
> >>
> >
> >steep! But if I get the chance to revise my thesis, I won't be rewriting
> >it in MS Word, that's for sure! Now, before Marcello Pagano gets cross...
> >
> >CLIVE NICHOLAS |t: 0(044)7903 397793
> >Politics |e: [email protected]
> >Newcastle University |http://www.ncl.ac.uk/geps
> >
> >(Learning to use LaTeXEditor along with my MiKTeX pacakge.)
> >
> >
> *
> * For searches and help try:
> * http://www.stata.com/support/faqs/res/findit.html
> * http://www.stata.com/support/statalist/faq
> * http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/stata/
>
*
* For searches and help try:
* http://www.stata.com/support/faqs/res/findit.html
* http://www.stata.com/support/statalist/faq
* http://www.ats.ucla.edu/stat/stata/
