Leaving WordPerfect

WordPerfect has been the firm's primary word processor since before most folks even had computers. Over the years, WordPerfect's market share has dwindled to the point where it is almost an afterthought in the current market.  Even in the legal field, where WordPerfect dominated for longer than most others, it has become a small minority.

One reason the firm has remained with WordPerfect for so long is that as a word processor, it still beats the industry leader, MS Word by virtually any measure.  I still consider WordPerfect superior to Word as a stand alone product.

The problem is we don't live in a world of stand alone products anymore.  People expect their software to integrate better with other things, including online services, document management systems, and other programs.  Further, people want seamless compatibility with other companies, such as other firms or clients, almost all of whom now use MS Word.

As a result, the firm is planning to make the move from WordPerfect to MS Word.  There will be no immediate conversion, however.  For the last couple of years, we have been making MS Word available on request while installing WordPerfect for all by default.

Rather, the firm soon will install MS Word by default and make WordPerfect available on request.  By "MS Word" I actually mean the full standard version of MS Office, which includes Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook. We will be using Office 365, which not only provides the Office software, but also provides a range of online services as well.

For now, if you still wish to use WordPerfect, we will continue to install it, if requested.  However, over the next few years, the firm may be moving to other systems that will make WordPerfect more difficult to use and more cumbersome for saving and retrieving documents.

I appreciate the fact that MS Word can be complicated, does not have all the features of WordPerfect.  We will transition to Word over a long time, giving everyone plenty of time to get up to speed with MS Office.  Bode has held several classes on basic MS Office use, and will continue to hold more in the future.  If you need the help, I strongly recommend you participate.

MS Word is capable of opening WordPerfect files, just as WordPerfect can open MS Word files.  However, going back and forth can cause formatting problems, and often leads to document corruption.  If you are working with a group that shares the same documents, or an attorney and secretary both work on the same documents, I strongly recommend that you decide among yourselves whether to use Word or WordPerfect. Going back and forth between both will cause problems.

We are just beginning to embark on this significant change.  We have only recently completed a test group using Office 365.  So far the feedback is that is has been a great change.  I am, of course, always open to constructive feedback about any change or policies as my goal is to have the technology available to make your jobs easier.

Thanks.