Microsoft Word
Description
Industry-standard word-processing package.
Strengths
- Tidy and workable user interface
- Relatively easy to learn and use
- Excellent WYSIWYG capabilities (printer output is almost always identical to screen display)
- Ability to save files to HTML and numerous other formats
- Styles can be created and applied easily to give consistent formatting
- Hides many of the complexities of document formatting from the user
- Excellent integration and consistency with other Microsoft products
- Integrated line-drawing tools
- Text manipulation capability for "enhanced" presentation (WordArt)
- Powerful macro language (VBA) and automation features
- Simple to import, position and scale graphics in a range of formats.
Weaknesses
- Style over-rides can be applied easily, causing potential formatting and consistency issues for beginner-level users
- Combination of headers/footers/section breaks sometimes results in page numbering and/or formatting problems
- Does not cater well for side-heads (labels in the left-hand margin)
- Automatic document heading numbering may not always operate as intended
- Not well suited to large or complex documents
- Automatic page shifts are not stable because they are printer- and "normal.dot" template dependent
- Internal HTML handling is of limited use
- No colour separation features.