WordPerfect 11 Review

Overall Rating

Intuitive. Powerful. Better than Word. Inexpensive.

None, except occasional efforts to make WordPerfect document conversions difficult by companies invested in Word trying to push WordPerfect out of the market.

I've used Word Perfect for 18 years. Newer users may not know that Word Perfect was far and away the preferred word processor over Word for many years.

Nothing has changed with Word Perfect since it was the world's best word processor except that it is much cheaper (than it used to be and than Word is).

WordPerfect started out in the mid-80's with version 4.xx as I recall--there may have been a 3.xx. I bought 4.1 or 4.2. That was strictly DOS, meaning no graphical interface. Those early versions came on 5 1/4 inch disks, which I haven't kept. Referring to my library of old WP versions in the small diskettes, I start with WP 5.1 in 1993, followed quickly by 5.1+ the same year, which I see I've date stamped purchase date of July 2, 1995. 5.1 is the classic DOS version of WP. It has the classic "blue screen of death," actually quite soothing I think.

The white characters stand out very nicely against the blue, especially in Courier. The only gripe with the classic version in DOS was that to use the advanced features you probably needed to have the manual in one hand. That of course was true of all DOS software.

I find my next version (I almost always bought the next version as soon as it came out) is 5.2 and manufacturer dated 1992.

The main update of 5.2 was drop-down menus designed to deal with the manual-in-hand problem. Now you could find information on using features by activating the menu at the top of the page and clicking for a drop down list under various topic areas.

Next in my library I see version 6.0, with 6.0B written in, also manufacturer dated 1993 and date stamped by me June 24, 1994. This is a DOS version, but it has three screen choices, the blue screen, a white screen, and third GIF (graphical interface) emulation (Windows look alike). This unusual version actually did a close imitation in the GIF screen of Windows , which by this time had come out in its early versions.

6.0 was very fast in its native DOS screen and unexpectedly fast in the GIF emulation.

Next I find a set of small diskettes with the red Novell logo dated 1994 designated version 6.1. Novell bought WordPerfect at this time, and the Novell product was a true Windows version. The full name was Novell PerfectOffice for Windows.

Later Corel bought WP from Novell, and the series of Corel versions began, which are at about version 13 today.

The basic program has not changed much over the years as far as its basic usability is concerned. Tweaking has continued as conversions have changed and I'm sure for compatibility with internet features, as is the case with all programs.

What makes WP better than Word? The main advantage is intuitiveness. Ask any WP user why he prefers the program and you will hear that. There are usually several ways to do the same thing. For example, if you want to work with a footnote, you can go to the menu and approach it from that direction, or you can simply click in the footnote text and change it there, bypassing the menu.

A major superior feature of WP which is simply not available in Word is the "reveal codes" feature. In reveal codes you see all text coding on the screen in a sub-screen at the bottom. These codes can be edited directly.

Say you find yourself jammed up, unable to undo an indent. Rather than study the help menu or the manual for a solution, you can simply activate reveal codes, find the coding that is causing the indent, and delete coding until the problem is solved.

New key strokes will be reflected in new coding as you go, which can also be undone if necessary in the transparent reveal code window function.

There is a feature in Word which reveals codes, but they are not directly editable. You will likely find yourself poring over the help menu trying to deal with problems caused by the coding.

WP is much less intrusive regarding security. There is one security code that you note and then use with each install or re-install. You can forget the tiresome, harassing, and time-consuming Microsoft security features.

Finally, the price of WP is fraction of Word. You can buy the WP suite for less than the cost of the standalone Word.

Microsoft with its sharp business practices has managed to grind WP down in the competitive marketplace of the past 15 years or so. This is not because Word was a better word processor than WP--to the contrary. I suspect it has more to do with deals MS makes, with vendors or direct purchasers, using its enormous marketing power, which have the effect of disadvantaging WP in the marketplace.

One sign I have actually encountered in this regard is when I found a vendor making conversion of files from WP more difficult than from MS.

One market that has remained loyal to WP is the legal business. I would suspect it has to do with the fact that law firms are relatively quite small and not subject to manipulation the way large corporate entities are. If the lawyer or his assistants want the easy usability of WP there is no corporate MBA to dictate otherwise.

I think it is an indication of the value of WP when it is the program itself, and not corporate influence and manipulation, that is the basis for the decision to choose WordPerfect.