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Why Microsoft Word must Die, by Charles Stross
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Posted by Dr Andus
Oct 13, 2013 at 11:21 AM
An interesting article in light of the recent discussions here about WYSIWYG vs. Markdown vs. LaTex.
http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2013/10/why-microsoft-word-must-die.html
The comments are also an interesting read.
Here’s the gist:
“The reason I want Word to die is that until it does, it is unavoidable. I do not write novels using Microsoft Word. I use a variety of other tools, from Scrivener (a program designed for managing the structure and editing of large compound documents, which works in a manner analogous to a programmer’s integrated development environment if Word were a basic text editor) to classic text editors such as Vim. But somehow, the major publishers have been browbeaten into believing that Word is the sine qua non of document production systems. They have warped and corrupted their production workflow into using Microsoft Word .doc files as their raw substrate, even though this is a file format ill-suited for editorial or typesetting chores. And they expect me to integrate myself into a Word-centric workflow, even though it’s an inappropriate, damaging, and laborious tool for the job. It is, quite simply, unavoidable. And worse, by its very prominence, we become blind to the possibility that our tools for document creation could be improved. It has held us back for nearly 25 years already; I hope we will find something better to take its place soon.”
Posted by shatteredmindofbob
Oct 13, 2013 at 05:17 PM
I read that post yesterday and I’m not sure I got it.
First off, the number of factual errors contained within really took away from the larger point for me (word processor apps were adding in features like spell check and grammar check long before Word took hold of the market and I seriously doubt Word alone killed outliners—though, Outlook is frequently blamed for killing Ecco Pro.)
Second, the reason Word is so important to the publishing industry is Track Changes. I’ve yet to see anything else do a decent implementation. LibreOffice can do it, but their implementation is pretty painful to look at. CriticMarkup is an ugly, bolted-on solution that can only appeal to Mac power users collaborating on documents with other Mac power users.
So, it’s hardly the fault of those in the publishing industry that Word is so prevalent.
And that’s really the only reason Word has such a strong hold. Formatting is either handled by Adobe InDesign for print or some web CMS for online content.
The only other solution that has come close to catching on has been Google Docs (or, well, now Google Drive) which I’m not sure is really that much better than Word.
Some web apps like Draft (driftin.com) and Editorially have started cropping up, but whether any of them will catch on is another matter entirely.
Posted by Hugh
Oct 13, 2013 at 05:57 PM
Not to disagree with shattered’s overall point - but Nisus Writer Pro also does Track Changes if you’re on a Mac.
However, love it or loathe it, MS Word has an installed base and is a professional standard such that as a professional writer you can’t really avoid using it. Utilising alternatives such as Libre Office or NWP is inevitably a brave move; you always have to worry what your work will look like when opened in Word at the ‘other end’.
Posted by Dr Andus
Oct 14, 2013 at 10:14 AM
The key learning points for me were that
- there are benefits to NOT doing your actual writing in Word or using your Word file as your main archival file;
- Word is fine for those for whom it works. If it doesn’t work for you, decompose it into the separate tasks that matter to you (outlining, writing, referencing, collaboration, typesetting etc.), use other specialist software for those, but with an output/conversion option to Word (or RTF), if necessary. This may or may not be worth your time, depending on your needs.
As for myself, I’ll continue writing in Markdown for now (in Gingko + WriteMonkey), in order not to get bogged down in formatting and typesetting decisions. I’m also learning LaTeX slowly, to get more control over typesetting. Lyx sounds promising for taming LaTeX.
Posted by Stephen Zeoli
Oct 14, 2013 at 11:39 AM
I’m no fan of Word, avoiding it whenever I can. But I don’t really see the problem. Write your work in whatever tool(s) you find best for you, then paste it or convert it to Word when it is time to submit it. And, though I hate to admit it, it is handy having a format that has such universal acceptance and application, because most people are not technically savvy enough to know the difference between RTF, Plain Text, Markdown, etc… But they all know Word. Seriously, have you tried getting people to send you written documents in something other than Word…
Steve Z.