KOffice 1.1 Beta 3 Review: Part 3
KWord 1.1 continues:
While visiting the offices of our local newspaper, The Stockton Record,
as a
child, I saw a few Unix machines and one Mac. I'm not sure what
software
they used on the Unix machines, but I think it was Framemaker or
something.
On the Mac it was Adobe Pagemaker. I thought it would be cool to have
the
capabilities they have.
I didn't have to go far to know that KWord has these capabilities.
In newspaper publishing they have what is called a layout, which is
simply
the way the dimension of the paper is set. I set my layout at 14" in
width
and 23" in height by creating a new document and using the option
"Start with
an empty document".
The default page dimensions and units are 8.5" x 11" and in
millimeters. To
change the default page unit, I put the cursor over the ruler bar,
right
clicked and chose "inches." To change the dimension of the page
layout, I
went to "Format"->"Page .." and chose "Custom". From there I could
enter the
specific width and height I wanted to use - 14" x 23."
Page...
This was where I found that frame based word-processing makes desktop
publishing a real cinch. I was able to create all sort of frames in my
new
14" x 23" layout.
Click to enlarge:
To preview it without the frame border, click "View"->"Frame
Border".
Click to enlarge:
Last screenshots with filled words.
Click to enlarge:
As you can see, the power of a frame-based word processor allowed me
the
flexibility to create desktop publishing quality work. This really
gives
KWord an advantage over Microsoft Word.
The only two competitors in the market that can measure up to KWord
frame-based technology are Framemaker and Pagemaker, both of which are
Adobe
products. Adobe wants to be the de facto of desktop publishing. In my
opinion, if KWord makes inroads in the desktop publishing market, Adobe
may
want to acquire KWord - but as we all know, KWord is GPL and cannot be
bought. Because of this, I think within the next 5 years Adobe will
lose
most its desktop publishing market share to KWord.
KWord is not only frame-based but component-based. The component
technology
that ties all KOffice applications together is called KParts. Within a
KWord
application, you can have a KSpread, a Kivio, and a KPresenter
document. You
can scale, zoom, and do pratically anything to these embedded KParts.
In Part 4 of this KOffice review series, I will tell you about this exciting
technology.
Part 4
market share to KWord.
KWord is not only frame-based but component-based. The component
technology
that ties all KOffice applications together is called KParts. Within a
KWord
application, you can have a KSpread, a Kivio, and a KPresenter
document. You
can scale, zoom, and do pratically anything to these embedded KParts.
In Part 4 of this KOffice review series, I will tell you about this exciting
technology.
