Newsgroups: bit.listserv.win3-l
Date:         Mon, 7 Sep 1992 16:20:21 EST
From:         Leandre_Racicot@CMR001.BITNET
Subject:      Choosing AMI Pro or Word for Windows

Hi,
   I have been using Ami Pro 2.0 for about 6 months now. Let me tell
you that this program is great! Among the things I like the most
(which means that some other word processors may also do it) are:

   -SmartIcons: you click on little icons that represent the things
you access the most often. Of course, you can select the ones you
want. Better yet, you can assign anything you want to them, like
custom macros... You can even design your own icons in BMP format.
The SmartIcons can be set below the menu bar, on the left or at the
bottom of the window. They can also float around anywhere in their
own independent window.

   -The frame-oriented approach. Ami Pro is powerful enough to build
rather complicated newsletters without any exterior help. These
frames can be fixed, following text, be wrapped around with text (or
not)... Each frame is like a page within the actual page.

   -The drawing package: It does not have its own editing window: you
actually act directly on the page, which helps a lot to figure out
how to layout drawings as you make them. The drawing is
object-oriented (as opposed to the bitmap-orientation of PaintBrush).
This means that once an object (line, circle, etc.) is drawn, you can
still move it, resize it and even delete it. Drawing frames can even
be "transparent", i.e. text and/or graphics can be seen _under_ them.
An example would be to import a scanned image of someone you do (not)
like, put a drawing frame over it, and add any cosmetics enhancements
you like... :-)

   -The "Image Enhancement" tool: When you import B&W TIFF pictures,
you can alter their contrast and brightness. They can also be
resized.

   -The equation editor reads and writes TEX files.

   All "accesories" in a document, such as graphics, equations,
imported files, can be part of the document or "linked". The latter
option reduces the size of the text file and allows multiple text
files to share graphics and formulas that can be edited once for all
their occurences in the documents.

  There is a document management feature called "master document". If
you wite a multi-chaptered book, you can define a group of documents
in order to split a big project over small manageable parts. Page
numbering and footnote numbering can be across all the master
document or be restricted to one particular part or document. Table
of Contents and Index generation are totally automatic. Tables and
charts numbering can also be made automatic.

  Finally, the PowerFields. They are like embedded macros inside the
document. You can actually write a very complicated macro directly in
a power field. With macro commands like DLLCall, you can access
anything in the system. You can even start, suthdown and hide other
applications.

  Ami Pro 3.0 adds little bonuses, like a kind of text brush with
which you can "paint" text attributes repeatedly. OLE support is also
easier to use.

  Hope this helps. I do not wish to compare with other word
processors, for I do not know them...

"Sharp enough to split a hare in half!" - Hazel Witch
Benoit Racicot
BPRO02@CMR001.BITNET
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU