Word For Word 6.1  - review by Kevin Jaques 951110 (© Kevin Jaques 1995)

It has two aspects: a conversion program, and a set of conversion files. Only the latter is useful.

The program may be used with System 7, but is intended for use on preSystem 7 machines which don¹t offer ³MacIntosh Easy Open² (³MEO²).

The files work with MEO which comes with System 7. When you open a file from the finder for which there is no corresponding application, then MEO brings up a list of what programs are available combined with a list of available translaters.

A translater is recognizable because it is in the format ³[application] with [translater name] translater². You have probably seen ³SimpleText with QuickTime Translater². I had some vague notion that I had two SimpleTexts, one with QuickTime (movie) capability, and another without. No. Choosing ³SimpleText² will tell SimpleText to tackle the mystery file, but choosing ³SimpleText with QuickTime Translater² will first use the QuickTime Translater, then send the result to SimpleText.

MEO is useful without any translaters, because many applications can do their own translating, to a degree, anyway.

Further, MEO stores your favorite choices and does some screening to eliminate translaters and applications that certainly won¹t work.

However, the Word For Word files offer many translaters which work with MEO.

Word For Word comes with a 5k generic applet called ³Document Converter². It is just a template for an MEO desktop object. You doubleclick it (working with a duplicate, of course), and the MEO choice list comes up. You pick one, and the object is renamed suitably (e.g. ³to MS Excel 4.0 spreadsheet ²). It is not a DragNDrop Applet. You drag the mystery file to that object, and rather than being given the MEO choices (rather slowly, typically), it uses the translater which was prechosen.

Such applets are a bit slow to prepare, but I created one for each Mac format I might be likely to use.

This Review was delivered by:


Kevin Jaques, B.A. LL.B.
of the
Jaques Law Office

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