The WordPerfect Book, 3rd Edition Copyright 1991 David Batterson I first used WordPerfect in 1990, when I was on a temporary tech writing assignment. It wasn't by choice that I used WordPerfect 5.1, either. The company wanted their people to use it, but there weren't any manuals. Although I had heard horror stories about how difficult it was to learn WordPerfect, it wasn't as bad as I thought. I learned it quickly. The program is awkward, though, and I don't recommend it. I tell people to buy Professional Write instead. I used to wonder why there were so many books on WordPerfect published every year. The answer is twofold. In the first place, users have told me that the WordPerfect manual isn't very good. A second reason is that there are so many pirated copies of WordPerfect in use, because WordPerfect is the office standard. It's much cheaper to copy the disks illegally, and then buy a book. With all this said, let's look at The WordPerfect Book, Third Edition, by Leo J. Scanlon. The author is a programmer at IBM, and has written more than 20 computer books. Scanlon shows his bias for IBM computers right away. He writes that "to use WordPerfect, you need an IBM Personal Computer or Personal System 2, or equivalent . . ." Come on; why not just say an "IBM clone?" That's what most users buy today. We also see an illustration of the IBM PC (not AT) keyboard. What are these writers thinking about? That keyboard is atrocious. It has the <|\> key between and , undersized and keys, and an inferior numeric keypad. Does the author think most users are still banging away on old IBM PCs with bad keyboards? I'll stick with Northgate keyboards, thanks, and I don't buy IBM products. The WordPerfect Book covers WordPerfect versions 4.1, 4.2, 5.0 and 5.1. The "intended audience" is the person with "no prior word processing or computer experience beyond the simple ability to start up your computer." I'm glad I read that sentence, because the book seems very superficial in some sections. Do users really ask questions like: "Why does everything I type appear as capital letters?" and "How can I make something appear on a line all by itself?" Maybe they do. Much of the early part of the book doesn't seem to go beyond what the manual describes. I've never seen a WordPerfect manual, though. Appendix A contains DOS-command filler. Appendixes B through D contain 41 pages that are simply a list of features found in the four WordPerfect versions. This seems aimed at the software pirates. If you already had the manual, would you need that information? The WordPerfect Book does contain useful information and more complex subjects, such as macros, form letters, graphics, equation boxes, and more. So some users will find the $17.95 list price acceptable. I think $7.95 would be a more suitable price. The publisher is Windcrest Books, an imprint of TAB BOOKS, Blue Ridge Summit, PA 17294-0850. To order, call 1-800-822-8158. TAB offers a money back guarantee on its books, if you return them within 15 days. # The reviewer used Professional Write 2.2 to write this review. Send any comments via MCI Mail: 273-7218. Addendum: ~~~~~~~~~ WordPerfect 5.1 Macros WordPerfect 5.1 Macros is another Windcrest Book. The authors are Donna M. Mosich, Robert Bixby and Pamela Adams-Regan, all computer professionals and tech writers. Since I don't use WordPerfect, I was unable to try out any of the macro techniques, nor use the ready-to-use macros on disk (over 225). I did want to mention the book, though. Priced at $26.95, WordPerfect 5.1 Macros seems more of a bargain than The WordPerfect Book. I can recommend it to experienced WordPerfect users, after browsing though it. ---