Well worth it
Rating:
5 / 5
Linux has always had one nagging criticism: the lack of decent office software. That changed when Corel kicked WordPerfect (and later an entire office suite) into the Linux mainstream. It is a great product you get for free, and a book that tells you how to use it effectively, from multi-part documents to mathematical equations to mail merges. Highly recommended for hardcore Linux users and for those like me, who jump back and forth, alike.
The best reference book for WPLINUX 8,x
Rating:
5 / 5
Steve and Erwin's book is arguably the best reference book for newbie and intermediate Penguinistas who want to learn all they can about WPLINUX 8,x This book, like Steve and Erwin's other titles for the Windows versions of 8 & 9, is well written, the explanations are clear, concise and jargon free. Better yet, you can tell that both authours had a lot of fun learning about WPLINUX 8. I've learnt so much that when I installed COLOS 1,1, I was able to configure WPLINUX 8,1 to my needs and begin writing within a half hour follwing Steve and Erwin's book. If there's one minor quibble it,s the the book doesn't cover printing and printer configuration- a perennial headache for all Penguinistas. But that absence is complemented by Roderick Smith's book on WPLINUX 8. I wouldn't be surprised if some users refer both to Steve and Erwin's WPWIN 9 bible book for the specific feature of WPLINUX 9 and the WPLINUX 8 bible for the specifically LINUX aspect of 9. What I greatly appreciate about the WPLINUX 8 bible is that it offers the commercial version of WPLINUX 8, 150 fonts and the KDE desktop for Redhat 5,1/2. So for some 30$ you get a program that normally costs 74,00$ plus some free goodies. I highly recommend the WPLINUX 8 bible as simply the best reference/rescource on WPLINUX 8,x
WordPerfect 8 for Linux, a brief history
Rating:
5 / 5
WordPerfect 8 for Linux itself has a very interesting history. It is actually a repackaged "WordPerfect 8 for Unix", which is still being sold for around $800 per copy. When Corel's CEO Mike Cowpland decided to move his company into the Linux world, he essentially donated this used-to-be-unreachable product to the public.Because the downloaded version does not come with a manual, the overwhelming majority of its users probably failed to appreciate the beauty and the power of this classic product. For example, it has more than 100 mathmatical/financial/logical/string functions (plse see Chap. 21 of "WP8 for Linux Bible"), and its speed-table-format feature (pp. 83-84) will make even Microsoft Word (for Windows) users salivating. It also comes with a very powerful database engine for table sorting. Its text search feature, including the ability to build a quick search data base, is also unparallelled (pp. 127-131). I often found it very difficult as to where to begin when I was asked about what WordPerfect can do but not Star Office. These two products are in two totally different leagues. Unfortunately, Corel seems to be only interested in giving it away, and has failed miserably to educate the public about its merits. I bet even Corel's sales don't know what a gem they have. I was a technical editor of this book, and have read every word and tested every example in at least half of its chapters. Let me tell you, this is an excellent book of a great productivity program. Mr. Steve Harris is also the author for the Windows versions of WordPerfect 7, 8, and 9. For about $40, you get a product which used to cost $800, plus an excellent manual/guide book. I will not hesitate to recommend it to anyone who is serious about using Linux for productive work. Mahalo.
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