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Subject:Which software to use? From:Benjamin Keevil <bkeevil -at- SYMPATICO -dot- CA> Date:Sat, 7 Jun 1997 13:43:47 -0500
Carol Waggener wrote:
>
> We are currently in the process of evaluating software for creation of
> large documents. Any suggestions?
>
> The three we are considering are:
>
> 1. PageMaker
> 2. FrameMaker
> 3. Interleaf
>
> Any pros/cons or preferences would be appreciated.
>
> Carol Waggener
> Motorola Corporation
Carol, before you choose a documentation system for large (100-page) documents, you might
want to consider some additional requirements, for example:
* What authoring software do your users use?
* What authoring software do your reviewers use?
* What platforms do your users use (UNIX, Macintosh, or DOS/Windows) or the Web?
* Will the documents be distributed in printed, CD-ROM, Web (HTML) format or all formats?
* How many languages (English, French, German, and Spanish)?
* What are the Motorola standards for text and pictures?
* How large is your documentation system budget?
* How many users do you have?
For a large company like Motolola with thousands of users, I guess that you would be
developing multi-langage documents for multi-platforms (UNIX, Mac, DOS/Windows, and the
Web) and distributing the docs in printed and Web-based (HTML) format.
Although I have used Interleaf on a UNIX workstation for 8 years and believe it is the
most efficient documentation system, there is no longer a Mac version available and I know
that you have lots of Mac-based workstations at Motorola (running Microsoft Word). For 2
years I used FrameMaker for large documents. I personally would not use PageMaker or
Microsoft Word for long documents.
With your requirements in mind, I suggest FrameMaker.
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