if anyone knows of really good word processing apps ...

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TomRitch
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if anyone knows of really good word processing apps ...

Post by TomRitch »

On MacInTouch Reader Reports/Applications: Adobe and alternatives someone asked
My question is if anyone knows of really good word processing apps that can maintain and update links to graphics files. ... For long document creation that includes multiple graphics, that ability is sorely needed I think ...
Although I have little expertise with graphics and lately my use of NWP has been less, I answered as best I could. :)

If any more informed NWP users care to better enlighten MacInTouch readers, I expect your input would be appreciated. :D
TomRitch
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Re: if anyone knows of really good word processing apps ...

Post by TomRitch »

Continuing to follow MacInTouch, today the discussion has this comment:
Thom Hogan
I'd second Bill Schwartz's comments about NisusWriter Pro with one caveat: it's still 32-bit.
My technical books range into the 800-page range with complicated layout and graphics. At present, I have to be very careful about things, as I break the 32-bit boundary fairly often with NisusWriter Pro, despite not embedding the graphics (i.e. linking instead).
With most of my documents, I have to make sure I reboot and load only NisusWriter Pro and do my output immediately without making changes. Otherwise, some things will push the program to break the 32-bit barrier and then strange things happen. Things like Auto Indexing a document like mine will clearly and totally break the 32-bit barrier, so I can't use those functions.
Yes, I could break the works into sections, but then I lose some of the cross-referencing and some other tools. Still, NisusWriter Pro is better than any version of Word for this type of work. If they'd just give me 64-bits to work in, I'd be very happy.
Actually Bill Schwartz posted the original inquiry asking for a word processor recommendation. The comments recommending NWP which Hogan agrees with are mine.

Searching this forum I found only a couple of requests for 64-bit code. Perhaps lack of discussion of the possibility of 64-bit code is because those who produce long works which could benefit from 64-bit have been forced to use other software.

Hogan's comment suggests 64-bit would allow NWP to meet the need for software to produce long documents. I think Nisus targets this market, but according to Hogan's otherwise very favorable comment, 32-bit NWP does not meet the needs of documents which are long. Apparently NWP in its current 32-bit implementation does not address much of its intended target market, which remains unserved. Developers of other applications have remarked that they found conversion to 64-bit surprisingly easy and less prone to bugs. This clearly suggests a request for a 64-bit NWP.
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greenmorpher
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Re: if anyone knows of really good word processing apps ...

Post by greenmorpher »

From where I sit, 64 bit code for a WP is BS. NW was dealing with very long documents with graphics on about half a bit code, dammit! Let’s get real here. You’re saying NWP doesn't deal with long documents? What’s your evidence?

Cheers, geoff
TomRitch
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Re: if anyone knows of really good word processing apps ...

Post by TomRitch »

Geoff,

See also "Any plans for a 64-bit version?" on this site. Taken together, I would say the comments suggest what was reported as a 32 bit limit is actually a bug in NWP. My guess is that Martin et al are on it.

I am not trying to say anything, just to facilitate a discussion that is now spread between two threads here as well as the initial one on Macintoch. Here you are preaching to the choir. Perhaps Macintouch readers who may be less familiar with NWP would benefit from your observations based on extensive experience.

Tom
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martin
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Re: if anyone knows of really good word processing apps ...

Post by martin »

Thank you for giving us a mention in that discussion Tom, we appreciate that!

As for the 64-bit issue: we are aware that 64-bit is desirable and we do have plans to provide a 64-bit version of NWP. Please see my longer reply in the thread specially on 64-bit.
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greenmorpher
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Re: if anyone knows of really good word processing apps ...

Post by greenmorpher »

martin wrote:Thank you for giving us a mention in that discussion Tom, we appreciate that!

As for the 64-bit issue: we are aware that 64-bit is desirable and we do have plans to provide a 64-bit version of NWP. Please see my longer reply in the thread specially on 64-bit.
"Desirable" from a marketing perspective I would say, Martin, but it begs the question of RAM to support it, doesn’t it? Where does it stop? Answer = tending towards infinity.

For goodness sake, very long users, replace your HD with an SD.

And drink plain black tea instead of coffee. It's healthier! :)

Cheers, geoff
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martin
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Re: if anyone knows of really good word processing apps ...

Post by martin »

greenmorpher wrote:"Desirable" from a marketing perspective I would say, Martin, but it begs the question of RAM to support it, doesn’t it?
There are benefits to 64-bit besides the marketing keyword. Yes it's true that most people will never have troubles with 32-bit apps reaching their RAM limit. But hardware these days is natively 64-bit. Apple's developer tools and frameworks all prioritize 64-bit apps. There are certain OSX features an app cannot use unless it is 64-bit. It's a matter of being in harmony with current technology.
For goodness sake, very long users, replace your HD with an SD.

And drink plain black tea instead of coffee. It's healthier! :)
Upgrading a hard drive to a SSD (solid state drive) is indeed a very nice speed increase!
I'll hold my tongue on the coffee vs tea argument ;)
techwriter
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Re: if anyone knows of really good word processing apps ...

Post by techwriter »

I'm still stuck using Framemaker 7 on an antique Mac for a few reasons:

1-Column balancing is excellent THROUGHOUT the body of the text. With Nisus I often get a left column that is a half-inch shorter than the right column.

2-I need dictionary-style smart headers updated on the fly.

3-For some projects, e.g., subject bibliographies, I need paragraphs that are numbered automatically with an index that refers to paragraph numbers, not page numbers.

One more thing with long documents: The old Framemaker runs like a bat out of hell on steroids, partly because it makes it easy to break your long projects into smaller sections and final indexing is done when you update the "Book" manually.
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greenmorpher
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Re: if anyone knows of really good word processing apps ...

Post by greenmorpher »

Framemaker is/was a dedicated desktop publishing program built specifically for the kind of task you are talking about -- it was long acknowledged as the killer app for such things as reference books and manuals..

NWP is a word processor.

I had at laugh at/with a friend of mine the other day. he has been writing a book in Word on Windows. When it came to submitting a chapter to a publisher a couple of weeks ago, they told him it had to be in the latest version of Word. He opened his Word doc in the latest version of Word and it was scrambled. he had to run his file through a conversion process.

From Word to Word!

LOL.

Cheers, geoff
techwriter
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Re: if anyone knows of really good word processing apps ...

Post by techwriter »

Actually, for this requirement:

3-For some projects, e.g., subject bibliographies, I need paragraphs that are numbered automatically with an index that refers to paragraph numbers, not page numbers.

This can be done with professional quality bibliography software. I used to do it in Pro-Cite back in the day when Framemaker was the king. I suspect Endnote can handle that and then Nisus can be used for final formatting.
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phspaelti
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Re: if anyone knows of really good word processing apps ...

Post by phspaelti »

techwriter wrote:3-For some projects, e.g., subject bibliographies, I need paragraphs that are numbered automatically with an index that refers to paragraph numbers, not page numbers.
Here a macro that will generate an index with paragraph number references, in a separate document. This does not support "Index as…", though I believe this could be added if needed.
IndexByParagraphNumber.nwm
(19.99 KiB) Downloaded 489 times
philip
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