Re: tlug: To Applix E/J from MS Office

[Jonathan Byrne <jq@example.com>]

On Thu, 10 Sep 1998, Thomas Joseph Haslam wrote:

> But the reason for my post is as follows: I have some friends who are
> considering a move from Windows NT J/ MS Office J to Linux J/Applix J.  As
> far as the end-users go, the commitment is not so much to NT as MS Office.

> eniviroment, compatabilty and co-existence are major issues.  Applix E has
> filters to and fro MS Office: no  major problem there

Have you ever tried them?  Rumor has it that better ones *may* be coming
around the end of the year or so, but I don't know. 

> graphics and video editing, e-mail, and web-browsing)?  It seems to me that
> Applix replaces not only MS Office but also MS Frontpage and Outlook among

Doesn't replace Outlook.  Applix Mail is so bad they should have just left
it out of the package :-(

> 3.  Joe Marchak mentioned that he wrote a PERL script that more speedily
> and easily renders Word documents useable by Applix.  Does anyone else have

It basically turns them into plain text files, which ain't exactly my idea
of document conversion :-)

> or know of similar tools?  I could get converts to Linux in Singapore, USA
> and JP, if I could assure them that the transition from Win 9?--NT/MS
> Office to Linux/Applix (or an equivalent Office suite) is or can be
> relatively brainless and seamless.  

Neither Applix nor WordPerfect currently has filters for anything newer
than Office 6.0 (pre-Windows 95 stuff).  The conversion wouldn't be at all
seamless.  I'm not dissing Applix, it's a decent product, but it's weak
points are its abominable mail client and poor ability to import files.

On my computer at work, I normally use Linux for just about everything.
But when I have to deal with an MS Office file, I boot into Windows 95 and
deal with it in MS Office. 

Applix is good enough that if I were starting up an office from scratch,
I'd be taking a really hard look at running all Linux machines with
Applix.  The only thing that might disuade me is the file import/export
issue if we had to exchange files with other businesses.  Like it or not,
MS Office is the industry standard, which dictates having to be able to
deal with its files.

Oh, there is one other thing: the Wnn6 and Canna both really suck compared
to the Japanese systems on MacOS and Windows (and I can imagine OS/2 is
as good as those two, also), so a lot of office staff people might balk at
using them, if they are used to a Japanese OS on another platform.  I hate
them, and the only reason I put up with them is that they run on Linux.
I'd love to say ATOK come out with a Linux version, though.  Wnn6 would
have to either adapt or die in very short order. Canna might hang around
because it's free.

Cheers,

Jonathan

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