Not my choice. (Lotus Word Pro)

Member Name: johnsy32

Product:	Lotus Word Pro
Date:	21/05/05 (707 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Page view is good when writing documents

Disadvantages: I can't get used to the interface, I prefer Word

Lotus Word Pro is a word processing program that comes as part of the Lotus Smart Suite package. You can produce anything that might need to contain text and graphics. It's a good program and I've only used it a couple of times, mainly to see how it works. This software is installed on the network where I work and so is Microsoft Office, and I always go for the Microsoft Software, I prefer this software, it is hard to use another program once using MSWord. It just seems that nothing else can ompare, and this one doesn't. I don't like the graphical interface icons they are messy and unprofessional, and don't make the program very inviting at all. But Lotus uses the same range of icons all across their older software including Lotus 1,2,3 and Notes. And they look bad.

You have all your usual word processing capabilities like the option to set out columns, change text attributes, insert graphs and graphics. It is pretty simple to use and anyone with any previous experience of word processing will be able to pick this program up straight away. It is easy to use and a cheaper alternative for your word processing duties.

Word Pro does come with some good templates including memos fax cover sheets, letters and invoices etc. But the best ones have to be the calendars, where you can design you own calendars. You can use the templates and build them so they what you want them to be.

WordPro can be put to anything that includes word processing for example, newsletters, documents, letter etc. And it is great at completing these tasks. All word processing should be up to this standard, but it will come down to personal preference.

Installation
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Installation of this product is very easy and it is your useful agree to some terms and conditions and click some next buttons. It is your usual procedure that is pretty easy with some previous experience of software installation.

Help Files
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The help files are very clear and any information you might need relating to Word Pro can be found there. It has answered any questions that I have had. It uses a windows help file set up so everything is indexed and searchable.

Conclusion
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Word Processing is one of the main reasons for owning and using a PC and this product is very capable of giving some
great results, but it comes down to personal preference. Learning Microsoft Word will be a lot more beneficial considering that Microsoft Office products are very often company standard. The only reason that they still have this program on the network in my office is that no one could use Microsoft Excel, and wanted to use Lotus 1,2,3 because one
person had used it before instead of learning a new product and one that is more popular. They are now stuck with paying two licences to two different companies and so much information has built up on the Lotus Office Suite, that it would cost even more to completing make the change. This just means that it might be worth while considering the benefits of using the more expensive standard.

Once you've used Microsoft packages, it's hard to go back to another developer software. This program does the job, but others are nicer on the eye and a little more complex in the tasks that you can get them to do.

Summary: