When does not enough features turn into too many?

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propstuff
Posts: 24
Joined: 2003-12-04 18:51:11

When does not enough features turn into too many?

Post by propstuff »

A friend once described Word as being able to "do just about anything, .....it's just that doing the simplest thing is just as complicated!"

I think he got it in one:-D

Now: NWX is currently being developed and doesn't (yet) have enough features for me to be able to use it for my work; but it will. (soon?)

The pressure to add features with each release is inevitable in any product from toothbrushes to Jumbo Jets.

I don't give a damn about strikethrough, but I'd like instant (eg option key) access to superscript and subscript. I'd like to be able to easily place images anywhere in the page I want and wrap text around them, but before that I'd prefer instant access to special characters.
Most of all, I want it to be SIMPLE and EASY and "LOGICAL" :-D

So here's the question: what's the bottom line for everyone out there?
What is a must-have and what is a "bonus"? How do you add features without succumbing to featureitis?
When does a word processor stop being a word processor and become a page layout programme?
What on earth does "logical" mean in this context?

cheers,
N.

ps, seasons greetings
Nicholas
550MHz TiBk, 512Mb, OS 10.2.8 NWX 2.0
JBL
Posts: 170
Joined: 2003-04-25 14:33:59

Post by JBL »

I think that it is only partly true that more features equals more complication. Classic Nisus had a pretty powerful "named ruler" system that was really intuitive. I am hoping we will see that reappear soon. Classic Nisus also had a really powerful search and replace system (partially replicated in NWE) which allowed you to do things like find all the underlined text in a file so you could copy it into another file in one step. If you needed this feature it was just as easy as doing a regular search but if you didn't it had no effect on the ease of use of the rest of the program. I have full faith that programs can be made full featured and still easy to use (just look at OS X which hides the full power of UNIX).

That said, essential features for me are:
1) Styles.
2) The ability to import Classic Nisus files and keep the styles and formatting.

Two other features that would be really nice are:
3) the ability to place graphics on the page and have text wrap around it.
4) a decent manual (in particular one that goes into some detail about how to use PowerFind Pro and macros)
lyonelk
Posts: 7
Joined: 2003-05-23 23:32:10

Post by lyonelk »

For me and certainly many others :

1) footnotes
2a) tables (with graphic or image import)
2b) styles
3) place graphics on page
4) better integration with Bookends
5) ... In fact, NisusWriter 6 in OSX !

For me, NisusWriter 5 an 6 in OS 9 are the best wordprocessor program and I will the better for OS X.

It's seem to be urgent for Nisus Software if the rumors concerning a new MacWrite for MacWorld expo are more than a rumor. And Mellel is a good program too.

I'm a little more positive and optimistic with the version 1.1 than the version 1.0. But it's always slower than expected
JBL
Posts: 170
Joined: 2003-04-25 14:33:59

Post by JBL »

lyonelk wrote: 5) ... In fact, NisusWriter 6 in OSX !

For me, NisusWriter 5 an 6 in OS 9 are the best wordprocessor program and I will the better for OS X.
For me Classic NW is still the best word processor for OS X. The truth is, while I use 6.5, I rarely use features that were not in 3.17 (my first copy of Nisus). I kept upgrading out of loyalty to the company that produced such a great product, but when NWE 1.0 couldn't even open Classic documents and keep the formatting (I am not talking about fancy stuff, I am talking about the center justified paragraphs being centered and the right justified paragraphs being right justified), I got pissed and vowed I wouldn't pay until it could.
rmark
Official Nisus Person
Posts: 428
Joined: 2003-02-11 10:49:05
Location: Solana Beach, CA
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Opening Nisus Writer Classic files

Post by rmark »

JBL,

Thank you for your support throughout the years.

I'm surprised that you write that Nisus Writer Express does not display the correct justification of your Nisus Writer Classic file.

Nisus Writer Express is able to read the text layer of your classic Nisus Writer documents. Footnotes will appear at the end of the file

If, by chance, you open an older Nisus Writer Classic file (any file created by Nisus Writer version 3.4 (which still runs in OS 9) through 6.5), do not save it. Close the file without saving and leave it on your hard drive for a later version of Nisus Writer Express.

If you need to get the text out of the file, you can open it, select all, copy and paste into a Nisus Writer Express file, but, close the original Nisus Writer file without saving it. Even so, opening an Arabic or Hebrew document displays those characters... all jumbled up in *Jaguar* but (I've seen this with my own eyes) 95% correct in *Panther*.

As we add features to Nisus Writer Express, those Nisus Writer Classic documents that used those features will open correctly in Nisus Writer Express. Thank you for your patience.

I hope that explains things a bit better. Please let me know if you have any more questions.


If you have a Classic file that simply *will not open correctly* in Express, please send a report (with a copy of the file) to <support@nisus.com> so we can test the situation and develop a fix if necessary.
Write On!
Mark Hurvitz
Nisus Software Inc.
JBL
Posts: 170
Joined: 2003-04-25 14:33:59

Re: Opening Nisus Writer Classic files

Post by JBL »

rmark wrote:JBL,
If you have a Classic file that simply *will not open correctly* in Express, please send a report (with a copy of the file) to <support@nisus.com> so we can test the situation and develop a fix if necessary.
Actually, I have tried at least half a dozen large files (mostly on earlier versions of NWE) and they all had the same problem: the paragraph styles get all mixed up so that some that should be centered are left justified and vice versa, some that should be indented are not and vice versa. I sent in a sample during your beta test, and another when the problem wasn't fixed in 1.0. Your message inspired me to download and test out 1.1a. Still the same proplem. I just sent in another file. Hope you can fix it.
JBL
Posts: 170
Joined: 2003-04-25 14:33:59

Post by JBL »

Just check 1.1.1. Seems to have the same problem.
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