Pocket Word Replacement

[MarcFou]

Can anyone recommend a good word processor to replace Pocket Word? It needs to be WM5 compatible and I am looking for the following features...

- Insert\Embed Image
- Justify Text

I tried TextMaker and it will install on WM5, but with the new soft keys some toolbar and menus are hard to access.

TIA

[Nurhisham Hussein]

I thought the latest build of Textmaker was WM5.0 compatible? Which version did you try?

[MarcFou]

Revision 405... If you scroll down to system req. http://www.softmaker.de/tmpdetail_en.htm it doesnt mention WM5.

If you look at the WM2003 Screenshot you can see where the problem is as far as not being WM5 compatible. The soft keys inhibit the primary toolbar & input icon. :cry:

http://www.softmaker.de/images/ppc_obj,en.gif

[Nurhisham Hussein]

R405 is not WM5.0 compatible, but there's been a new revision which is - I got an email from them about it. Since I don't use WM5.0 (and don't plan to) I never bothered downloading it, so I don't remember the build number (it was a couple of months back). If you're a registered user, you should have gotten the same e-mail. They might not have updated the demo, though.

[MarcFou]

I havent purchased it yet. I was trying the demo. I browsed thier forum and as of service pack 406 issued in Nov 2005 there was still no WM5 support.

See this thread... http://www.softmaker.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1597
Its almost comical when you read the posts.

[dlangton]

I havent purchased it yet. I was trying the demo. I browsed thier forum and as of service pack 406 issued in Nov 2005 there was still no WM5 support.

See this thread... http://www.softmaker.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1597
Its almost comical when you read the posts.


About the only comical comment I see is your statement that TextMaker isn't compatible with WM5. From Softmaker's front page,

A new service pack is available for TextMaker (rev 406) and PlanMaker (rev 282) for Pocket PCs. These new updates make TextMaker and PlanMaker fully compatible to Windows Mobile 2005.

[MarcFou]

About the only comical comment I see is your statement that TextMaker isn't compatible with WM5. From Softmaker's front pageIf you dont see the humor in the forum post I mentioned and you take everything people say with such offense then why reply in the first place?

- -

hishamh, as soon as I can download 406 I'll try it and see what happens. Thanks!

[Sven Johannsen]

See this thread... http://www.softmaker.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1597
Its almost comical when you read the posts.

I'm not exactly sure what you see as humorous about that either. Seems sad to me. For what is otherwise and excellent company, their total disregard of the new WM5 UI is disconcerting. Rather than making their app compliant with the WM5 concept, they express interest in ignoring it and restructuring it. Whether you like or dislike the new concept, I'd hate to go back to DOS when every program you launched had its own unique interface.

While Softmaker apps may be compatible, they run, they need to work on conformance in taking advantage of the soft key structure of WM5.

Incidentally, I have numerous apps that are not "WM5 compliant", using the old menu bar structure. None of them have a problem with the new button bar and SIP location. They just seem to hide or over-ride it. Would be nice for all those vendors to do some work so that my 'built for WM5 device' can be used as intended.

[Janak Parekh]

I'm not exactly sure what you see as humorous about that either. Seems sad to me. For what is otherwise and excellent company, their total disregard of the new WM5 UI is disconcerting. Rather than making their app compliant with the WM5 concept, they express interest in ignoring it and restructuring it. Whether you like or dislike the new concept, I'd hate to go back to DOS when every program you launched had its own unique interface.
They're complaining about the bottom menubar, right? They're not the only ones - a lot of developers who have developed advanced software don't like the softkeys menu structure.

Incidentally, I have numerous apps that are not "WM5 compliant", using the old menu bar structure. None of them have a problem with the new button bar and SIP location. They just seem to hide or over-ride it.
Right, I don't understand why the SoftMaker folks have to do anything special. In fact, the softkeys work very simply: if you have more than two menus, they don't appear as softkeys, but rather appear in the legacy fashion. Otherwise, they automatically become softkeys. I'm guessing TextMaker has some special menu structures. It's a sufficiently advanced program that a two-menu approach would really clutter the screen. What I'd like to see is additions to the WM5 design that allow softkeys and additional menus/buttons, but I don't think the OS currently supports that.

--janak

[Sven Johannsen]

What I'd like to see is additions to the WM5 design that allow softkeys and additional menus/buttons, but I don't think the OS currently supports that.

--janak

At the same time? I can't imagine how that would work without taking extra real estate. I would have liked the soft buttons to have been narrowed to about a quater of the screen each. That would leave the center half for the SIP and other icons like the wireless and battery that now take up Today screen space. Could have had some nice status displayed there, or maybe even some alternate soft keys.

Maybe what we need is a dual display PPC so that the menus can be displayed on one screen and the work on the other for things like Textmaker and super graphics programs, that try to have as many options as their desktop counterparts. Imagine a Jasjar, but with a second screen where the current keyboard is ;)

[Janak Parekh]

At the same time? I can't imagine how that would work without taking extra real estate. I would have liked the soft buttons to have been narrowed to about a quater of the screen each. That would leave the center half for the SIP and other icons like the wireless and battery that now take up Today screen space.
Well, there you go. ;) Instead of the Today icons, you could allow an API to put others. I guess I'd like to see some flexibility while maintaining soft key support.

(And why can't WM5 legacy-support soft-keys by choosing the first two menus? Very often the first menu is File, so if the left key was mapped to it, I could easily quit. Oh well. :()

Imagine a Jasjar, but with a second screen where the current keyboard is ;)
Windows Mobile DS (http://www.nintendo.com/systemsds), eh? :P

--janak

[MarcFou]

I'm not exactly sure what you see as humorous about that either. Seems sad to me. For what is otherwise and excellent company, their total disregard of the new WM5 UI is disconcerting. Rather than making their app compliant with the WM5 concept, they express interest in ignoring it and restructuring it.Exactly! I suppose I can afford to laugh it off as I haven't invested into the software.

I agree with you. Its sad and frustrating. When I inquired with the people over at Resco regarding Explorer WM5 compliance I didn't hear such nonsense of "forcing the keyboard display into the right corner as in WM2003". The problem with Resco Explorer was the keyboard icon overlapped onto a toollbar icon. Which is\was the problem with TextMaker.

A good example of compliance is FlexWallet. I remember when here on this forum the new release was announced and a few people didn't like the new toolbar\menu layout. But none the less, it is compliant and follows the guidelines of the WM5 UI.

When I see someone trying to disguise their ignorance or unwillingness to follow through in doing a job correctly - I only have a few options. I chose to see the lighter side of things. Why get frustrated or upset over an application I haven't paid for?

If the people at TextMaker want to try and convince less knowledgeable customers into thinking their design and model should remain that of WM2003 - and actually pull it off... Then more power to them!

Needless to say I am still in search of a Word replacement and some how I managed to make a complete mockery of the entire thread.

[Sven Johannsen]

Needless to say I am still in search of a Word replacement and some how I managed to make a complete mockery of the entire thread.

Unfortunately Textmaker is about it when it comes to full featured word processors with Word compatibility (or not for that matter). I can't imagine it will take them long to fix whatever is causing the SIP to be where it shouldn't be. Doesn't seem like other SVs needed to do anything. It just looks like the old menu bar even on a WM5 device. Making it work with just two buttons will certainly take some time. I don't suspect the coding would be that hard, but the design and planning will likely gender some heated meetings.

[MarcFou]

Unfortunately Textmaker is about it when it comes to full featured word processors with Word compatibility (or not for that matter).I think your right. Inserting images isn't the end of the world. But I really need to be able to justify text in Word documents. Prior to WM5 release I was hoping that feature\functionality would be implemented. Maybe next time around.

There are plain text editors that can Justify text. But they wont retain Word formatting, so I dont think its an option really.

[SoftMaker]

Just came back to Pocket PC Thoughts, only to see a lengthy discussion about an issue that has already been solved: TextMaker 2002 and PlanMaker 2004 have been compatible with Windows Mobile 2005 since November 24, 2005, and all customers have received a free upgrade.

The only change in this upgrade was specifically support for Windows Mobile 2005, and the only modification we had to make was to push the keyboard button to the right.

If you check out our service pack page at http://softmaker.com/english/servpack_en.htm you can see the release date of this service pack.

If you check out our home page, you can see our support for Windows Mobile 2005 as a news announcement dated November 24.

If you check out the system requirements either on http://www.softmaker.com/english/tmpdetail_en.htm (TextMaker) or on http://www.softmaker.com/english/pmpdetail_en.htm (PlanMaker), you can see Windows Mobile 2005 mentioned.

If you have specific problems with Windows Mobile 2005, either with the full version 406 or with the just-as-up-to-date trial version, we'd like to hear about them. The trial versions are also available on our web site.

Martin Kotulla
SoftMaker Software GmbH

[MarcFou]

At the time of posting, the system requirements page did not reflect support for WM5. Someone else pointed out to me it was stated on the home page. I originally did a google search for "Textmaker pocket pc" and went directly to the product page.

I was able to download 406 as a trial and had no problems. I did notice the service pack release. But on that page there are no links or mention of what was updated and most importantly - dosent state that 406 brings WM5 support. Which at the time was my issue.

At this point the only problem I have with rev406 is the absent support for WM5 soft keys. Yes I agree it may be trivial to some people. But unfortunately its important to me.

Thanks for responding :wink: