Consider this your own holiday Easter Egg hunt, OK?  With our readership hitting 6000 unique visitors in March [well, 5999 actually], an increase of over 700 since January 1, I thought it would be appropriate to bring all of you up-to-date with our best reviews of word processing software for Windows over the past two-plus years.

This list, when taken altogether, is intended also to give some idea of the variety of software that’s available.  Many of them sport features that go well beyond what office-oriented word processors offer.  Some of them are built to save its documents in the Rich Text Format, which is almost universally readable by any word processor, even across operating platforms.  [Read my endorsement of RTF as the format of choice, up to the point for final formatting for publication.]  Some provide unique writing environments that take away all distractions, on the one hand; while others provide storyboard and character notes windows  for handy reference, on the other.  Others are heavy-hitters that can handle graphics and data with ease.

So, look around.  See if you can find that surprise word processor that you’ve always been looking for.

*****

Atlantis: Our guest columnist JR does an excellent job of explaining the ingredients in this mid-level word processor.  It has formatting power beyond most RTF word processors, but still lacks many of the features of the ‘big boys.”  It’s important to understand just what’s there and what’s not.  Many writers will find that this package provides all that they need.   $35.00  OUR REVIEW.

Dark Room: Taking its cue from the Mac’s WhiteRoom, Dark Room provides a minimalistic writing environment on the PC.  Virtually all distractions are gone:  the writer seems only colored words against a black screen.  With control over default font selection [I prefer white Ariel Bold], a writer can work in a very comfortable environment that’s easy on the eyes.  It’s FREE.  OUR REVIEW.

IdeaMason:  Personally, I find this word processor one of the most intriguing out there.  However, it is also difficult to master.  Our review just scratches the surface, but its homepage has lots of tutorials.  This program will appeal especially to writers who have to keep track of their sources.  Someday I’d like to write a “How To Use IdeaMason” manual to thoroughly explain the software’s internal logic and how best to harness it.   Currently discounted at $69 for single user license; discounted to $99 for installation at office, home and on USB stick.  OUR REVIEW, a somewhat brief one promoted by a one-day discount offer at Bits du Jour.

Liquid Story Binder: This software is not only a word processor; it is a total writing environment.  There’s nothing else like it on the market, as far as I know.  It will appeal more to creative writers than to the business types.   And added bonus is its active Yahoo Group, where you can get answers about the software and brainstorm about ways to use it.  $45.95  OUR REVIEW.

Lotus Symphony: Long ago, I used Lotus SmartSuite as an alternative to Microsoft Office.  It served well, before simply disappearing from the internet.  Not too long ago, I blogged about its reappearance as Lotus Symphony, now a bundle of word processor, spreadsheet and presentation application.  This application apparently continues, albeit rather silently, under development.  Its website offers some interesting “add ons,” such as SideNote, which sits beside the word processor.   FREE.  OUR NOTICE about a CNET review.

NewNovelist: While I’m not a novelist myself, I always take note of software specialized for novelists.  In this case, I point readers to a review by someone else that I found useful.  $54.99

PageFour:  Another word processor crafted especially for creative writers, with lots of additional tools and capabilities that novelists, essayists and feature writers will appreciate.  Business writers and academicians will be disappointed by the absence of tables, footnoting and lack of handling of photos and graphics.  Files are saved in Rich Test Format.  The latest version 1.70 was released just last month.   $34.95:  single license allows either multiple users on a single PC or a single user with installation on multiple PC’s.  More reviews are available at the PageFour website.  OUR REVIEW.

RoughDraft:  This software has not been updated since 2005, but it is still one of my favories.  It’s a great alternative for a free-lance writer or journalist.  FREE.   OUR REVIEW.

SoftMaker Office & Text Maker: Personally, I really like this little-known office suite.  It is fully compatible with Microsoft Word, but costs much less [$79.95].  A somewhat stripped-down version, marketed as Ashampoo OfficeMaker,  is sometimes available at deep discounts to those on its mailing list [currently $59.95, but I first saw it on sale there at $17.95].  Read OUR REVIEW, which focuses on the suite’s word processor,  plus our follow up post with additional information direct from the developer.  For those of you with very serious concerns about data security, SoftMaker Office is pre-installed on the new, highly secure Mobiu USB stick, which we briefly reviewed a few weeks ago.  Oh, and you can view a brief demo video at our VIDEO FOR WRITERS site.

StarOffice 9: This is the office suite developed by Sun, which eventually released it into the open source community where it became the widely-known and free OpenOffice.  Many people do not realize that Sun continues to develop its  own StarOffice version, now up to v. 9.0.  We reviewed it briefly while it was available for free as part of the Google Pack, but that option is no longer available.  I myself was able to get StarOffice 8 free via Google, and I found the enhancements there over OpenOffice were worth paying attention to.  While I do not have a current review of my own of this software, I still want to bring it to your attention.  There’s a good video demo of StarOffice 9 — sadly not available for my video collection — but you have to look around to find it.  The website also offers an illuminating comparison chart between StarOffice and Miscrosoft Office 2007 that leaves me wondering why anyone would chose the Microsoft product.  StarOffice is available in versions for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux.   $34.95 for license for up to five computers.  You can also download the free OpenOffice from the Sun website as well.

If you are at all interested in either StarOffice or OpenOffice, you should certainly consider purchasing Writer for Writers and Advanced Users from Lulu Press, currently in an up-to-date 7th edition  [2009 -- oh, the beauty of POD and e-Books for fast-changing subject matter!], $16.99 for paperback or $11.99 for e-book.

Also download Writer’s Tools for OpenOffice, with a rich array of plug-ins — FREE.

The Journal: It might seem odd to include this software among a presentation of word processors.  Remarkably, however, it can serve quite well for more simple projects, and one gets some additional benefits as well.   Some writers may like the “notebook” metaphor of its interface.   I view it mostly as an incubator for writing projects in development.   $39.95   OUR REVIEW.

yWriter: This is a very popular, free software developed by novelist Simon Haynes, who continues to upgrade the product [it's up to version 5 now].  One of the major attractions of this software is its very active Yahoo Group, where writers can get a lot of help from a growing community of users.  The developer also has a number of other useful software at his website — I particularly like yBook, which allows me to proof-read my writing in a format that mimics a real paperback.   Sonar3 will track your manuscript submissions.  He’s even giving away an e-book version of one of his four novels — writers should read his rationale for this decision for his insight into marketing and promoting.  All are FREE.   OUR REVIEW.

WriteItNow: I defer to novelist Debra Broughton for a review of this software, even though it’s from 3 years ago.  Among its features are a hierarchical tree view of material within the program, a storyboard feature, a character relationships chart, and a motivational writing targets feature [hours and words a day].  And I take this moment to remind myself that I need to review this software myself sometime soon.  $59.95  DEBRA’S REVIEW

*****

Part of my reason for compiling this post was to take stock of what I’ve reviewed and what I haven’t.  I was startled to find that I have not covered several of my favorites:

• Chapter by Chapter: a essential add-on for Microsoft Word for anyone working on a major book project
• Jarte: a light-weight but handsome text editor
• AbiWord: a free alternative to Microsoft Word

I’m sure there are more that I must report on during the upcoming year.  If you think of one, leave a comment below.  Or better yet, volunteer to write a review of your own for posting on this blog — consider that an official invitation.

Nor have I covered Writing Online, programs for the Macintosh, or programs geared specifically for academics, like Nota Bene., though I’ve already done a lot of research on those.

So, I guess you’ll just have to keep coming back here to read what’s new.

*****

If you liked the information above, you may also like to read:

• my review of another list of word processor reviews, even though it is somewhat out-of-date.

• my long post from August 2007 Office Suites:  More Reivews and More Thoughts

• my take on PC Magazine’s Appraisal of Alternative Office Suites

*****

PLEASE LEAVE YOUR COMMENTS — what word processor do YOU use, and why?

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