<HTML><BODY style="word-wrap: break-word; -khtml-nbsp-mode: space; -khtml-line-break: after-white-space; "><DIV><DIV><FONT class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;">On Oct 17, 2006, at 1:00 PM, Matthew W. wrote:</SPAN></FONT></DIV><FONT class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;"><BR class="Apple-interchange-newline"></SPAN></FONT><BLOCKQUOTE type="cite"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: separate; -khtml-border-horizontal-spacing: 0px; -khtml-border-vertical-spacing: 0px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-variant: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; -khtml-text-decorations-in-effect: none; text-indent: 0px; -apple-text-size-adjust: auto; text-transform: none; orphans: 2; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; "><DIV><FONT class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;">Why:</SPAN></FONT></DIV><DIV><FONT class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;">Beyond Word: John Kisner</SPAN></FONT></DIV><DIV><FONT class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;">Hobnob with us and talk Mac shop, and eat cookies!</SPAN></FONT></DIV></SPAN></BLOCKQUOTE></DIV><FONT class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;"><BR></SPAN></FONT><DIV><FONT class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;">I've begun to outline the presentation. Ironically, I'm doing this on Keynote instead of a word processor. </SPAN></FONT></DIV><DIV><FONT class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;"><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></SPAN></FONT></DIV><DIV><FONT class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;">I'll cover a range of products that, depending on how you look at it, either build on TextEdit (the utility that comes on the Mac), or that trim the bloat from MS Word. Here is the current lineup (in vague order of "feature strength"):</SPAN></FONT></DIV><DIV><FONT class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;"><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></SPAN></FONT></DIV><DIV><FONT class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;">TextEdit</SPAN></FONT></DIV><DIV><FONT class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;">Mariner Write</SPAN></FONT></DIV><DIV><FONT class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;">Nisus Writer Express</SPAN></FONT><FONT class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;"></SPAN></FONT></DIV><DIV><FONT class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;">Pages</SPAN></FONT><FONT class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;"></SPAN></FONT></DIV><DIV><FONT class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;">Mellel</SPAN></FONT></DIV><DIV><FONT class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;">AbiWord</SPAN></FONT></DIV><DIV><FONT class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;">MS Word</SPAN></FONT></DIV><DIV><FONT class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;">NeoOffice</SPAN></FONT></DIV><DIV><FONT class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;">RagTime Solo</SPAN></FONT></DIV><DIV><FONT class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;"><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></SPAN></FONT></DIV><DIV><FONT class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;">The goal won't be to crown the "best" application, but to highlight the strengths of each. Topics will include:</SPAN></FONT></DIV><DIV><FONT class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;"><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></SPAN></FONT></DIV><DIV><FONT class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;">1. An increasingly important distinction is whether the programs take full advantage of the OSX technology. For instance, I believe the "aqua" technology is what makes fonts look better on the screen in some of the programs. I want my screen to look as good as the printed page.</SPAN></FONT></DIV><DIV><FONT class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;"><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></SPAN></FONT></DIV><DIV><FONT class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;">2. There are two common forms of document exchange right now: PDF and MS Word files. For actual collaboration, the ability to exchange files in a common format is crucial (often MS Word), but to simply pass along a finished document you can now use pretty much any software, however obscure. </SPAN></FONT></DIV><DIV><FONT class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;"><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></SPAN></FONT></DIV><DIV><FONT class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;">3. Some of these programs are memory hogs. We've come a long way since WriteNow, which came on a 400KB floppy. This is mostly an issue for those using machines with 256 megs of ram (or less), but is also important if you routinely have 3-6 apps open at a time.</SPAN></FONT></DIV><DIV><FONT class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;"><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></SPAN></FONT></DIV><DIV><FONT class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;">4. Most of us have occasional need to make invitations or flyers. Sometimes a document is more readable if the text is split into 2 or more columns. We'll also see how they function as simple page layout software.</SPAN></FONT></DIV><DIV><FONT class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;"><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></SPAN></FONT></DIV><DIV><FONT class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;">5. Cost is an important issue, as is frequency of upgrades (free and for a fee).</SPAN></FONT></DIV><DIV><FONT class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;"><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></SPAN></FONT></DIV><DIV><FONT class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;">6. Etc.</SPAN></FONT></DIV><DIV><FONT class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;"><BR class="khtml-block-placeholder"></SPAN></FONT></DIV><DIV><FONT class="Apple-style-span" size="4"><SPAN class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px;">By the way, AppleWorks no longer ships on the new Macs, and hasn't been updated in years. Like it or not, that trusty old standby is running on borrowed time. Come to next week's meeting to see the future of word processing on a Mac.</SPAN></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>