“The office and word processor market has always been critical
to the success of most computer platforms, as most users use these
applications more than any other. Unfortunately, when adventurous
Linux users were trying out the alternative operating system on
their desktop workstations for the first time, the lack of anything
easier to use than the arcane LyX typesetting system was a real
disadvantage. However, since then many groups of people, both
corporations and free software developers, have been working hard
to deliver useable word processing solutions to Linux.”
“The first such application we will review in this word
processing series is Abiword, a core component of the GNOME Office
Suite. Abiword is actually being developed as part of the AbiSource
Project, a project to deliver free open source productivity
applications. They are sponsored by the SourceGear
Corporation.”
“When you open Abiword for the first time, you are greeted with
a familiar word processing interface. In fact, if you have
experience using any other popular software package, such as
Microsoft Word, you’ll recognize most of the toolbar functions. For
screenshots of Abiword running on several platforms, refer to
AbiSource’s Developer page. Being a theme fanatic, I was happy to
see that being a GNOME application, Abiword was using the same
theme the rest of my Helix GNOME desktop was using. Aesthetics
aside, the interface is very clean, organized, and well presented.
The application follows good interface guidelines, and provides the
user with tooltips for most of the buttons.“