LinuxPlanet: Word to the Wise... Some Conclusions and Some Surprising Final Recommendations

[ Thanks to Kevin Reichard for this link. ]

"Best of Class: High End
Though troubled by the feeling of bulk and outright clunkiness, we give the nod to StarWriter, which boasted the best ratio of features to stability to cost. StarWriter will be right at home on any corporate desktop, and does an all-around good job mimicking most of the features people have come to expect (right or wrong) from the desktop publisher/word processor hybrids that make up the best of commercial word processors."

"Best of Class: Midrange
If Applix Words didn't have quite enough "stuff" to put it past StarOffice in the high-end feature wars, it certainly came out shining in the midrange tests. We can easily imagine the average corporate word processor user making a smooth and easy transition to Words. It's well-behaved, well-documented, and easy on older hardware."

"Best of Class: Household and Student
If the task at hand is nothing more than letters or simple papers, there's no reason to spend money or put up with bulk. AbiWord, even in its state of prerelease development, proved reliable and usable. Some pitfalls in the form of "Under Construction" signs here and there may not make it a good choice for inexperienced or easily startled users; but a Linux-savvy user who just needs light formatting capabilities at this point is a perfect fit."

"Best Overall
We don't know if there's an "average" user out there, and it's hard to make a call about a best overall word processor. Going into this series, we decided it wouldn't make sense, having carefully delineated between different complexities of task, to crown a clear winner. On the other hand, if any program among those covered should get the nod, it's likely Applix Words."

Complete Story

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