Now, my $.02 in hopes it will serve as market research. Most of
my remarks should be understood in the context of my trying to
sever the dependence on M$ for me and my clients.
1. The close compatibility of the user interface w/ M$ Word is
_exactly_ what is needed. Word is not that bad a product, and
it's good to minimize retraining.
2. Please do not go down the StarOffice route of putting six or
seven apps in one program. Small is beautiful. I only load SO
when I desperate because it's so big and all-consuming.
3. Using XML as the file output is a stroke of brilliance.
4. The ability to translate M$ Word format(s) to/from AbiWord is
(as I know you've recognized) critical to undermining the
stranglehold on the desktop. If I were capable of it, I'd pitch
in on this aspect. As you do solve it (and I speak from ignorance
because I haven't looked at your source), I would suggest keeping
it extremely modular, even to the point of having it as a
separate exec (like ispell?). That code will have legs -- and it
had better. M$ will keep Word a moving target.
Again, my thanks for this project.
-- Lan Barnes lanbarnes@earthlink.net Icon Consulting, Inc 619-273-6677Bill Gates would not be alive today if the Unibomber had tried to install Windows 95. - Anonymous