Two For Tuesday: Doug Goldring Reviews Both Softmaker Office 2006 and CodeWallet Pro 2006

[Paul Martin]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://justanothermobilemonday.com/Wordpress/2006/11/24/review-softmaker-office-2006-the-all-inclusive-word-processing-suite-that-is-big-enough-to-handle-any-job-but-small-enough-to-fit-in-your-pocket/' target='_blank'>http://justanothermobilemonday.com/...in-your-pocket/</a><br /><br /></div><i>"One of the features many people love about MS Word is the ability to track changes. ...[S]uch complex features would be instantly removed when the document was transferred to your Pocket PC. ...TextMaker has solved that problem, and even allows you to accept or reject proposed changes, just like you were using the desktop version of MS Word."</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/justanothermobilemonday_software_trio.gif" /><br /><br />Doug Goldring, writing for Just Another Mobile Monday, reviews both <a href="http://justanothermobilemonday.com/Wordpress/2006/11/24/review-softmaker-office-2006-the-all-inclusive-word-processing-suite-that-is-big-enough-to-handle-any-job-but-small-enough-to-fit-in-your-pocket/">SoftMaker Office 2006</a> and <a href="http://justanothermobilemonday.com/Wordpress/2006/11/17/review-codewallet-pro-2006/">CodeWallet Pro 2006</a>. He picked up on some interesting features, including the discovery that BOTH SoftMaker Office and CodeWallet desktop companions can run off of a USB drive. As I have to move between 3 and 4 computers each day with home and office machines, this would be incredibly helpful for me. Check out both reviews for a well-written look at two powerful programs.

[dgoldring]

Paul,

Thanks for posting the links to these reviews. These are both excellent programs. I was particularly impressed with how well SoftMaker Office was able to maintain the formatting of documents moved between my PDA and desktop.

I also appreciate your pointing out the fact that the desktop versions of both programs can be installed on USB thumb drives. I think as we become more mobile, and do not rely on a signle home base or work station, this will become an increasingly important feature.

Doug Goldring
www.justanothermobilemonday.com

[Paul Martin]

Thanks for writing them, Doug. They were very clear, especially for an attorney. :lol: Seriously, I was really surprised about the USB feature. I have a small USB drive I run an IM app (http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/gaim_portable) off of, but didn't think about something more intensive. I noticed that Portable Firefox (http://portableapps.com/apps/internet/firefox_portable) seemed a little slow. How well do these apps work, performance-wise, from a USB device, especially Softmaker Office?

Keep up the good reviews and thanks for letting us know about them.

[dgoldring]

Thanks Paul for the compliment and the attorney dig. :)

Actually, before I was an attorney, I was a journalist in college and so this is really an outlet for me to use my journalism roots for a change. :)

Both programs worked great from the USB thumb drive. I installed SoftMaker on both the hard drive of my laptop and my thumb drive, and I did not find any noticable difference between running them in either place. CodeWallet, I installed only on the thumb drive because, at the time I reviewed it, I was in the middle of switching between two computers. I had no problems with it. I did not notice any lag and it worked great going back and forth between computers.

I really think this is a feature that more programs should be moving toward. It is incredibly convenient, especially if you are moving between multiple computers ona regular basis which a lot of people seem to do.

Doug

[Paul Martin]

Thanks for the reply, Doug. I read the bio and couldn't resist! Good to know SoftMaker on USB works well. Personally, I have Textmaker and it's a great program. I just don't use a spreadsheet enough to pursue the advanced features of Textmaker. I may have to get a larger USB drive to try out these great apps. :)

[dgoldring]

Yeah, I know what you mean, Paul. I just bought a 2GB drive not too long ago and it is already starting to get full. :) The main reason I recommend buying the suite even if you only need one or the other is cost.

Doug