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WordPerfect has long been the leader in PC word processing, while its Macintosh counterpart has struggled to win the hearts of Mac users. WordPerfect's long-awaited Version 2.0 for the Macintosh attempts to bring more capabilities of the text-based PC version to a graphical platform. This update sports a more Mac-like interface in comparison to the previous version (1.04), and it includes simpler menus and improved dialog boxes. Although the program still doesn't compete neck-and-neck with Microsoft Word, it is a solid work processor that will hold its own against competitors.
We last reviewed Version 1.04 in our graphical word processor product comparison (August 13, 1990, Page 55). This review is based on criteria established in that comparison.
FEATURES: WordPerfect 2.0 includes several new features, as well as improvements to existing ones. Formatting is now paragraph-based; when you make formatting changes, you can place the insertion point anywhere within the paragraph to effect the change. Version 2.0 also includes new drawing capabilities, and the program's graphics handling has improved. Other new features include style sheets; text boxes; a sort capability; and improvements to macros, search-and-replace operations, and index and table-of-contents generation.
PERFORMANCE: Basic editing: With this version, WordPerfect offers more of the editing features you wold expect in an office/professional word processor (that category was last reviewed January 7, Page 51). Version 2.0 contains a ruler, which gives the user paragraph formatting options that earlier versions lacked. However, WordPerfect's ruler does not have all of its features readily available, as does Word. In Word there are no pop-up menus, wheras WordPerfect has four menus for tabs, alignment, zooming, and line spacing. The program is also capable of merging files directly and of merging multiple tables of contents. A new sort capability lets you sort highlighted text within a document, numerically or alphabetically. An improved find/change capability lets you search for and replace text forward or backward through a document and is attribute sensitive. We rate basic editing very good.
Spelling checking/thesaurus: WordPerfect 2.0 offers a spelling checker that can suit a variety of needs. It offers both phonetic and typographic suggestions. WordPerfect also displays a list of alternatives automatically, so you don't need to prompt the program to suggest words as you do in Microsoft...