A choice must be made, though attorneys postpone the decision as long as possible. The former uses codes to format documents, and the latter uses graphics. Microsoft Word does not. But Microsoft's Office Suite, which integrates spreadsheet and calendar programs with Word, is considered stronger as a package, says Brett C. Don, senior consultant at Newtown Square, Pa.'s Altman Weil Inc., a legal consulting firm that switched from WordPerfect to Word a few years ago. Mr. Don says he hears an increasing number of inquiries from firms using WordPerfect about whether they should upgrade to WordPerfect 8 or switch now to Microsoft Word.
Some firms use both.
Those are lawyers working for banks, who receive documents via e-mail on a consistent basis, says Eric Goldreich, the firm's director of information systems. Many firms have. It's a tribute to the quality of the program. Sometimes, says Colleen Scheines, Cleary's manager of user support, it is a multistep process. Ottawa-based Corel Corp. says it knows what is needed.