PENN PRINTOUT
The University of Pennsylvania's Online Computing Magazine

PENN PRINTOUT October 1992 - Volume 9:2

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Word 5.0: What's the word?

By El Smith

Microsoft Word is the leading word processor for the Macintosh. It's already a powerful, flexible program, but the latest version, 5.0, promises even more. Does it make sense for you to upgrade?


Now featuring...

What do you want in a word processor? Microsoft figures that in addition to the standard set of capabilities, you want a drawing module, a grammar checker, a thesaurus, an equation editor, and more. Whatever you want, it's probably there-Word 5.0 can do just about everything except write your paper. Despite the added features, 5.0 is easier to use than 4.0-the new features have been added unobtrusively. Although some menu items have diffused through the menu structure, 5.0 is close enough to 4.0 that the transition is gentle.

Some of the highlights are:

  • Drag and drop, an improvement on cut and paste

  • A ribbon bar for access to formatting commands

  • Greatly simplified print merge

  • Stationery (document templates), for opening a new document with your choice of text and formatting already included

The following options require System 7:

  • Publish and Subscribe, for incorporating other files on your own or on a networked hard drive into your document. Subsequent changes to these files are reflected in your document.

  • Voice annotation, for attaching sound files that can be played on any Macintosh.

  • Access to TrueType fonts without the need for additional software.


The price of power

All this power exacts a price: Word is big and it can be slow. The program alone requires 852 Kbytes, which means it can't squeeze onto a low-density floppy. And the program with all its support files takes up about 5.5 Mbytes of hard disk space. Fortunately, some of the add- ins, such as the grammar checker, thesaurus, and spell checker, do not have to be installed on disk. Word also expects a lot of memory (RAM): 2 Mbytes by default, but you can get by with "only" 1 Mbyte if you don't run the grammar checker. Although speed is always relative, on some of the less powerful, older Macs, such as the Plus, SE, and Classic, you'll find 5.0 noticeably slower than 4.0. For many, to run Word well will require adding memory. Memory is more affordable all the time, however, and comes in handy for other software, such as System 7.

Here are some factors to consider in making your decision:

  • Compatibility with your work group. Find out what those you work with are planning to do.

  • Support from the CRC will be best for Word 5.0, but support for the previous version, 4.0, will continue.

  • If you're thinking of moving from a different word processor, Word's wealth of capabilities make it an intelligent choice. When you need to do something new, you won't need to buy and learn yet another package; the capability is likely to be there.

Word 5.0 offers some attractive new features and substantial improvements in ease of use. At $62 from the Computer Connection, Word 5.0 is a worthwhile investment.

EL SMITH is a Consultant for the Computing Resource Center.