bit-tech Shopping: Corel WordPerfect Office X3 - Student & Teacher Edition

• Microsoft Windows 2000
• Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional
• Microsoft Windows 98 SE
• Microsoft Windows XP
• Microsoft Windows XP Professional

Rating: 10

Time with product: 2 Weeks

Strengths: Intuitive format. Reveal Codes. Watermark features. Conversion to/from other popular programs.

Weaknesses: Quattro Pro X3 install had Registry Update Failure message problem that required Tech Support via emails, phone and then a fix by WordPerfect Universe. Program worked OK, but got message on opening.

Summary: I have used WordPerfect since the earliest versions, rating it better than the many other word-processing programs I have used, including Microsoft Word. The ?can't do without? Reveal Codes feature makes it easy to troubleshoot any problems with your document. The Watermark feature is great for filling out forms: copy/scan form and paste into your document as a Watermark, set the text shading set at 100%, return to the main document and fill in the form, which shows through the background and maintains its format as you type. With WordPerfect X3 you can communicate and collaborate with others who use Microsoft Office, with the ability to open, edit and create Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files. Also, this new version can open most PDF files to edit and reuse the content - and can turn WordPerfect, QuattroPro and Presentations files into PDF files for sharing. WordPerfect X3 Office Suite, Student & Teacher Edition (for academic users), also includes Quattro Pro X3 (spreadsheet), Presentations X3 (multimedia slide shows & drawing tools), Paradox (database), OfficeReady (template browser), and the neat Address Book (contact manager). Quattro Pro is an excellent spreadsheet program I use frequently. You can set it up to use as Excel. I have not used Paradox database yet, but it is the main reason I purchased this version. This version also has Legal Tools, MetaData Removal, and Document Compare! I highly recommend WordPerfect X3. (I would have given 4 stars because of the Quattro Pro install problem, but Corel Tech Support did promptly go all out in attempting to fix.)

Rating: 8

Time with product: 3 Months

Strengths: Reveal codes & compatibility with Microsoft Office

Weaknesses: Not available for Mac

Summary: WordPerfect will always be my favorite program for producing documents because of the Reveal Codes feature. I'd be a fan of Microsoft Word if it had this feature but it doesn't. I can publish intricate documents because I can work behind the scenes in the coding.It's also easy to type a document in WP and then save it in Word format or PDF. I no longer have to worry whether someone else can open my document.I can't comment on the other programs in the Suite because I've never used them.

Rating: 10

Time with product: 12 Months

Strengths: This program remedies most of the problems with prior versions. Handles word documents easily. It is easy to use. I rate it as excellent.

Weaknesses: None.

Summary: I recommend this program to anyone working with documents. Word is a nightmare in creating table of contents and pagination. This version as earlier versions allow toc to be created without a page number or a different page number. Word although possible does not do this well particularly when the format is changed. Wordperfect carries the format to the toc with no problem. I have used it for years but word had blocked out wordperfect translation. x3 solves this problem has the ability to handle large documents in word format. You can even copy out pdf files.