Proprietary: MS Word is to Open Source: ABI Word

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Proprietary MS Word is to Open Source ABI Word

• A comparative study of a
• proprietary software to its
• open source counterpart.

2
A word processor is a computer application used
for the production including composition,
editing, formatting, and possibly printing of
any sort of printable material.

• Before only proprietary software prevailed in the
  cyber world but in todays generation,
  alternatives had gained popularity almost equal
  to the latter. We are not confined to only one
  type of word processor to consider for our needs.
  Open source software stands as an alternative for
  proprietary software.

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Abi Word

• AbiWord is a free and open source software word
  processor. AbiWord was adopted by some Open
  source developers and AbiWord continued to be
  developed. AbiWord is part of GNOME Office, a
  collection of office applications with some
  degree of integration.
• AbiWord is GNU Free Software software, which
  means that you will always have the freedom to
  use it, make copies of it, and improve it.
• AbiWord has been created by a worldwide group of
  volunteers and currently supports many languages
  and operating systems.
• AbiWord is a free word processing program similar
  to Microsoft Word.

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Features and Functionalities

• AbiWord supports both basic word processing
  features such as lists, indents and character
  formats, and more sophisticated features
  including tables, styles, page headers and
  footers, footnotes, templates, multiple views,
  page columns, spell checking, and grammar
  checking.

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• Interface
• Currently, while many interface similarities
  remain, cloning the Word interface is not a top
  priority.
• File formats
• AbiWord is packaged with several import/export
  filters, including HTML, Microsoft Word (DOC),
  Office Open XML (DOCX), OpenDocument (ODT), Rich
  Text Format (RTF) and Text documents (TXT).
• Grammar Check
• The AbiWord project includes a grammar checking
  plugin using Link Grammar.

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• Multi Platform
• Enjoy your favorite Word Processor on the
  operating system you like to use - be it Windows,
  Linux, QNX, FreeBSD or Solaris. AbiWord has been
  designed to integrate perfectly with the
  operating system it runs on.
• Interoperability
• AbiWord is able to read and write all industry
  standard document types, such as OpenOffice.org
  documents, Microsoft Word documents, WordPerfect
  documents, Rich Text Format documents, HTML web
  pages and many more.

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• Advanced Document Layout
• Give your document that professional, scientific
  or fun-to-read look using AbiWord's advanced
  document layout options.
• Internationalization
• Dictionaries exist for over 30 languages.
• AbiWord supports right-to-left, left-to-right,
  and mixed-mode text. This means that in addition
  to supporting European languages, AbiWord
  supports languages like Hebrew and Arabic as well.

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• Mail Merge
• With AbiWord's Mail Merge capabilities, you can
  let AbiWord automate that job for you. This
  allows you to generate form letters, print
  documents or convert documents to any file format
  AbiWord supports - all from the command line!
• Extensible Plugin Architecture
• Our plugin system was designed to give AbiWord
  all the functionality you might expect from a
  modern Word Processor. A variety of plugins can
  be used to extend AbiWord's functionality,
  ranging from Document Importers to a Thesaurus,
  Image Importers and a Text Summarizer.

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Microsoft Word

• Microsoft Word is Microsoft's word processing
  software.
• Beginning with the 2003 version, the branding was
  revised to emphasize Word's identity as a
  component within the Office suite Microsoft
  began calling it Microsoft Office Word instead of
  merely Microsoft Word.
• The latest releases are Word 2007 for Windows and
  Word 2008 for Mac OS X, while Word 2007 can also
  be run emulated on Linux.
• There are commercially available add-ins that
  expand the functionality of Microsoft Word.

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Features and Functionalities

• The 2007 release includes numerous changes,
  including a new XML-based file format, a
  redesigned interface, an integrated equation
  editor and bibliographic management.
• Additionally, an XML data bag was introduced,
  accessible via the object model and file format,
  called Custom XML - this can be used in
  conjunction with a new feature called Content
  Controls implement structured documents.
• Word 2007 uses a new file format called docx.
• Word 2000-2003 users on Windows systems can
  install a free add-on called the "Microsoft
  Office Compatibility Pack" to be able to open,
  edit, and save the new Word 2007 files.
• Alternatively, Word 2007 can save to the old doc
  format of Word 97-2003.

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• Create professional documents effortlessly
• Office Word 2007 provides editing and reviewing
  tools that help you create professional documents
  more easily than ever before.
• Spend more time writing, less time formatting.
  Live visual previews, predefined style galleries,
  table formats, and other content help you get
  more out of Office Word 2007 capabilities.
• Office Word 2007 introduces Building Blocks for
  adding frequently used content to your documents.
  
• Communicate more effectively with high-impact
  graphics. Using Quick Styles and Document Themes
  you can change the appearance of text, tables,
  and graphics throughout your entire document to
  match your preferred style or color scheme.

• Use Quick Styles in a Word document to easily
  choose and apply a new style.

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• Share your documents and content confidently
• With Office Word 2007, you can share documents
  with colleagues to gather feedback efficiently.
• Initiate an Office SharePoint Server 2007 review
  and approval workflow process directly from
  Office Word 2007. The Document Inspector feature
  helps you detect and remove unwanted comments,
  personally identifiable information, hidden text,
  or other information from the document so that
  private information stays that way.
• A new signature line can be added to prompt other
  Word users for their signature, or to provide a
  visible digital signature within your documents.

• Add Building Blocks to an Office Word 2007
  document to increase efficiency and reduce
  errors.

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• Reading Mode offers you an immersive, full-screen
  reading experience that makes online reading
  easier, reducing the need to print the document.
• Remove unwanted information from your documents.
  The new Document Inspector feature can remove
  comments, tracked changes, metadata, or other
  information from your documents.
• Help protect your documents with a digital
  signature. You can digitally sign your documents
  so the people who read them know they havent
  changed since they left your hands.
• Convert your Word documents to PDF or XPS. With
  Office Word 2007, you can share documents in
  Portable Document Format file (PDF) and XML Paper
  Specification (XPS) format without using
  third-party tools.

• The Office Fluent user interface of Office Word
  2007 enables you to create documents more quickly
  than ever because it presents the right tools
  when you need them.

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• You can use the Document Inspector to remove
  comments.

• Office Word 2007 enables you to digitally sign
  your documents, so readers know they havent
  changed since they left your hands.

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Word has a built-in spell checker, thesaurus,
dictionary, Office Assistant and utilities for
transferring, copy, pasting and editing text.
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Ease of Use MS Word
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Ease of Use- Abi Word
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Over- all Power Ability to Perform Expected
Tasks(Comparison of word processors MS Word and
Abi Word)

• This table provides general information about
  selected word processors.

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• This table gives characteristics of each word
  processor.

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• This table gives a comparison of what operating
  systems are compatible with each word processor
  in their last version.

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• This table gives a comparison of the file formats
  each word processor can import or open.

22

• This table gives a comparison of the file formats
  each word processor can export or save.

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Is the Open Source comparable to the Proprietary
Software?

• YES.

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References

• Abi Word http//www.abiword.com/
• Abi Word http//www.abiword.com/tour/
• Abi Word http//www.abiword.com/screenshots/
• Abi Word http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abi_word
• Abi Word official website www.AbiSource.com
• Microsoft Word http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ms_wo
  rd
• Microsoft Office Word- Home page
  http//office.microsoft.com/en-us/word/default.asp
  x
• Microsoft Office Word http//office.microsoft.com
  /en-us/word/HA101656411033.aspx
• Comparison of Word Processors http//en.wikipedia
  .org/wiki/Comparison_of_word_processors