own way ond many users find that ey get lots of commu- nication from people who cannot open their attachments, 0 1m pul U te rr etc.. The other question with WordPerfect these days is how long Corel will remain solvent. I already know of several companies that will no longer support WordPerfect. I hope od that Corel will overcome it's difficulties, but for now I 1 N would recommend only purchasing WordPerfect if you have to. And now for the free stuff. Yes folks that's right June is finally here. For free!! Step right up Step right up. Why spend so much many weeks it looked like it would not arrive, but here itis money on expensive programs when you can have every- and it is so nice to be working with doors open and sun thing for free!! Indeed there are free office suites available. shining into the office. This month I thought we would Companies like Sun have offered free word processors in touch upon word processing and the ongoing battle between the past. And if you go to a downloading site like Tucows, free software and pricey software. type in Word Processing and you will find a bevy of free Many people use word processors each day, but programs. But be forewarned pilgrim, nothing is ever free. I have no idea which program they are using or know the pro- haven't used one of these programs that haven't proved to gram very well and will never touch another. I have seen be cumbersome, incompatible, and a general pain in the people show the utmost of loyalty to one particular program tush. Still if you feel the need to brag to all of your friends and shun all others, declaring that the program they use is ~~ who have forked over at least $100 for the latest office simply the best and all others should be burned. To some suite, which you can do anything they can and yours was this may sound right, but before you become so rigid you free, go ahead. Just don't try and match them in productiv- should look at some of the features of the other programs to ity, because you will spend most of your time trying to Had make sure you are getting everything you need. Let's start out why a particular function will not work. off by naming the most familiar. There are two fairly simple processors built into the Word is Microsoft's formidable word processor. It modern windows systems, which certainly are functional, is usually the one that all others are measured by. It comes just not frilly. These are notepad and WordPad. If you need either with their office suite or alone or in a stripped down to quickly type a small letter with no pictures, these pro- version, bundled with Microsoft Works. It has many powers grams are great. Some people find that they can exist with and when used in conjunction with other programs in the these programs alone, but most users will find that their lim- Office Suite, can even be used to produce Web Sites. The ited functionality will hamper them. Still for simple letters current versions support such things as auto correct on the that can be sent quickly they are tough to beat. fly. (If you get sick and tired of little typo's this feature is Have a great month and enjoy the warmth. Happy great, Trust me; my computer can spend more time auto computing and see you next month. correcting then typing.) It can check your Grammar, there is even a thesaurus built in to many. The downside can be the Pat Larkin, Steve Hungerford and Judson Levere, price; Word alone is over $100 for the full version. How- Debug Computers. ever, if you are looking for a full program that will allow you to do almost anything in in the desktop publishing world, ties Debuy Computer There has been an ongoing battle between Corel and Microsoft. As much as I support Canadian companies, " the American side is winning this one. Corel WordPerfect Services for many years kept up with Microsoft Word and for a few years was a better product. Due to financial difficulties at Corel, WordPerfect is no longer what it was and has had to (6 1 3) 476-8 73 1 let Word have its throne uncontested. It is still a widely used program, however, and many users find it to be friendlier n 9- n-Fri then Word. It only comes bundled with the WordPerfect of- Ope 3-5 Mon-Fri fice suite and you will find this fully featured suite to have Ask for Pat or Steve all the bells and whistles of Microsoft's Office. The down- side is compatibility. WordPerfect tends to do things it's debugcompute rs@hotmail.com "