Novell PerfectOffice,
version 3.0, is an office suite that provides high dollar softwares in
one complete package.
There are different versions - standard, professional (containing the Paradox database software) and select, on CD-ROM. All contain the WordPerfect 6.1 word processing software, Quattro Pro 6.0 spreadsheet software, Presentations 3.0 graphics software, and InfoCentral, a personal information manager. The standard version that I reviewed contained Groupwise Quicklook which is an introduction to the Groupwise electronic message and scheduling software, and Envoy 1.0a, a publishing tool that lets you electronically view and distribute documents across the network.
PerfectOffice is integrated software. That means there are menus, toolbars and icons that are common to each of the softwares included in the package. You don’t have to memorize different cut & paste icons as you switch from software to software because the same pictures represent these tasks. There’s also a Desktop Application Director (DAD) that lets you switch among all the suite applications. Support for OLE 2.0 (Object Linking and Embedding) is included.
QuickTasks were created to automate your work. They let you perform complete tasks right from the DAD without first opening the PerfectOffice programs. QuickTask will also move oeprations from application to application. Some of the predefined Quicktasks are creating a letter, adding a person to the InfoCentral database, creating faxes, newsletters, business cards, press releases, Paradox reports, network operations, Quattro Pro charts, scheduling appointments, etc. You can initiate a task by creating a Quicktask icon and placing it in the Windows Startup group.
Since I’m familiar with Microsoft Office and Lotus SmartSuite, I was curious about PerfectOffice. I daily use WordPerfect 6.0 for Windows in a Windows 3.1 and Windows 95 operating environment, and have always been disappointed by its buggy performance. After I switched to Windows 95, if I didn’t have to reboot my system at least twice a day because of WordPerfect 6.0a problems, I considered it a good day.
Well, I’m pleased to say that the Windows WordPerfect 6.1 product
is a more stable product than its predecessor. Not only have I eliminated
many of the freezes and fatal errors that occurred daily, the new product
contains enhancements that make it on par with Word 6.0.
You can conduct a standard, network or custom installation, or minimum for laptop installation. I chose the custom installation because I prefer to direct certain files to specific directories and drives. The installation searches for previous versions of the software that may be installed on the hard drives and offers to install the software to those directories. After you answer the few questions about registration and file location, its simply a matter of inserting diskettes until the installation is complete. As with any Windows software, the installation program automatically creates program groups and icons. PerfectOffice also places the DAD icon in a startup group.
If you’re installing this package on a Windows 95 machine, make sure you install it using the Add/Remove Programs tool found in the Control Panel folder. Although an installation technician claimed he had installed the program using Run a:\setup, I encountered fatal error problems when I used Start, Run, a:\setup. The group information, registry, and icons was not properly installed and I wasn’t able to open any of the applications, even through the Windows Explorer. Reinstalling the program with the Add/Remove Programs tool solved the problems. There is also a revised setup disk included in newer releases of the suite and a file that lets you resume setup in case of failure. It’s available from the Novell home page (http://www.novell.com) or technical support.
If you do run into installation difficulties, contact technical support. First, you will need to register your software, so have your software serial number handy. When you register, you’ll be assigned a PIN number which you will need to provide in future support calls. Free support is available for registered users for 180 days - the clock begins running with your first support call (not the registration call). After that, you can suscribe to support contracts, pay a $25.00 per incident fee each time you call the toll-free number, or pay $2.00 per minute on a 900 number.
Technical support is available from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. mountain
standard time. If you do call toll-free support, try to do so from a speakerphone
that has a re-dial feature, because you’ll spend a lot of time on hold
or redialing because of busy signals. The PerfectOffice installation help
number is 1-800-861-2729. (Webmaster's note: e-mail support is also available
for registered users.)
WordPerfect 6.1 received an Editor’s Choice award from PC Magazine. They considered one of its strengths the management of legal documents, with support for paragraph and outline numbering. You can also customize the paragraph numbering.
File management is built into the WordPerfect dialog boxes. You can customize the file listings, and conduct any management (such as copy, move, rename, create directory) within the dialog box. QuickList lets you give descriptive names to directories and QuickFinder indexes and searches for files.
WordPerfect supports typographic, iconic, and more sets of special characters. These characters can also be created using strikeover keys. For example, call up special characters with the shortcut key CTRL+W and type in /2, and the program inserts ½ into the text.
WordPerfect’s Reveal Codes features allows you precise control over formatting. Graphics can also be elaborately customized. You can define boxes, lines, fills, and tables, plus wrap text around irregularly shaped images with a few menu choices from context-sensitive menus. The drawing and charting tools are the same as the ones used in Presentations.
TextArt is a module that lets you twist words text into shapes. Its easy-to-understand dialog box allows you to customize the text with different fonts, color, patterns, shadows and outlines.
The QuickCorrect tools automatically corrects your typing errors as you type them and converts quotation marks and apostrophes to “curly” quotes. If you consistently type “teh” when you mean “the,” enter the two spellings into the QuickCorrect database, and never correct the word again as you type.
Find and Replace has a new feature called PerfectSense technology (similar to Microsoft’s Intellisense), which understands the meaning of words. If you want to find and replace the word “purchase” with “buy”, the program will also replace the word “purchased” with “bought.”
The Coaches and Experts feature provides hands-on help and instruction for common tasks.
The Make It Fit Expert can shrink or expand your document to fit on the number of pages you dictate. Have you ever created a document that spilled over to a second page with only one or two lines? Now you can “make it fit” by allowing the software to adjust font size, line spacing or other parameters.
You can now easily add drop caps to your document by choosing that option from the Format menu. You can choose from twelve pre-defined styles or customize the style to your specifications.
If you’re moving from a competitor’s product to WordPerfect 6.1
the Upgrade Expert in the online help compares feature names or terms in
previous versions or other products. Choose the version of software from
a drop down list and the feature you want to check out. You can choose
a Show Me command button to see the feature displayed or the Do It command
button to see the feature used in your document.
Quattro Pro does offer fifteen customizable business templates available through the File Menu option. An example is the Mortgage Analysis Template which lets you plug values into different fields to see if you qualify for a mortgage on that new house you’re dreaming about.
The Formula Composer eases the composition of complex formulas. Three new experts help you create budgets, what-if scenarios and slide shows.
Autobackup is a new feature that lets you save the current file to a backup file in case of power failure. You can also wrap text in cells and control vertical alignment of the text within the cell. Dates can now be entered and recognized when typed as an international date: 1/1/96 is recognized as a date and not a formula.
Formulas must now start with plus (+) sign. Formulas that are started with a number will be entered into the cell as a label and not a value. Lines can now be entered as colored lines.
You can set properties for a page within a workbook by double-clicking
on the page tab. Group mode editing can be accomplished by turning on the
group mode, but first you must define the pages that are included in the
group.
The opening dialog box prompts you to select the type of document you want to create - a drawing, slide, or slide via the Slide Show Expert. You then choose the background from a Gallery and the layout. I thought the view of the Gallery was muddy and distorted compared to the gallery or master template views in similar softwares.
After you choose the layout, you simply click on the boxes shown on the template and type in the text. You can import clipart from a provided figure gallery that contains 1,000 images.
You can choose to view or create the slide show from the slide show view or outline view, which looks like notes on a sheet of notebook paper.
Special transition effects can be applied to your slide show, sound clips from a provided gallery can be imported, and a self-running slide show (using the menu command Slide, Make Runtime) can be created.
While Presentations has an impressive array of graphics features
that can be called on, I found that as a slide creater, the software was
very weak when compared to Powerpoint, Freelance Graphics, or Persuasion.
The default slide selection buttons didn’t include one for displaying speaker’s
notes; you had to access that feature from the Slide menu option. A minimal
amount of layout templates and transition effects were provided. There
are no scroll buttons to let you move from slide to slide: you must choose
a slide from the drop down list.
Templates are provided for automobile records, CD collection, contact manager, gardening, real estate, wedding planning, family records, and more.
InfoCentral contains unique icons and operations which require
a learning curve for finding and managing information, but is a powerful
tool once you’ve become accustomed to its tools. You can import information
from other databases if you use the ASCII comma delimited file.
The minimum hardware requirements for PerfectOffice is a 386 25 MHz microprocessor with DOS 3.3 and Windows 3.1, 8 megabytes of RAM, and a VGA monitor. If you install the entire package, you will need about 100 megabytes of storage space. I reviewed the software on a 486 DX/2 66 MHz machine with 8 MB RAM, running Windows 95. I’ve encountered no problems other than initial installation errors.
PerfectOffice Standard lists for about $450; at retail stores you’ll pay about $430 for the suite. A competitive or standard upgrade (if you own a previous version of any of the components, a Novell NetWare product, or competive suite or suite-component software) is available for a less expensive price. The competitive upgrade is approximately $210 and the standard upgrade about $180.
The software is available directly from WordPerfect at 1-800-451-5151
or at computer hardware and software retailers.