WordPerfect Office X5 Pro Top Quality

I'm a long-time WordPerfect user -- from way back in the WP4.2 version for DOS in the late '80s. I even taught WordPerfect classes at the local University back then -- including versions 5.0 and 5.1. WordPerfect has been -- and continues to be -- a superior product than the one offered by MicroSoft.

So why the so-so review (only 3 stars)?

Because it tries to be too much, appealing to MS-Office users and offering everything to everyone ... and no product can ever deliver on such promises.

Too many features. In trying to cover every potential office need, far too many choices are offered. One would wonder how business was conducted before the advent of office computers, let alone the 'Windows' desktops. It suffers from the same problem as the 'other' office suite from MicroSoft -- what they call 'feature bloat'.

Aside from the occasional 'Mail merge' and such necessities as PDF creation or importing dynamic spreadsheet fields into an automated memo, how many of the 'integrated' features do we really need? Nine-times out of ten, documents and presentations are simple things, printed or displayed for the end-reader. The rare time database or spreadsheet data is presented in a memo or slideshow -- nine-times out of ten, again, it's cut-and-pasted from the spreadsheet or database.

Is the integration of 'linked' data fields in the documents really necessary? Do you use it? Do you need it? If that's the case, then your office needs a better 'power' system than an off-the-shelf office suite from WordPerfect, MicroSoft, or even Oracle.

This office suite is overkill. The developers have lost sight of what end-users really need; instead, they offer what they 'think' people need based on what the marketing team at MS-Windows says.

It's like buying an oversized luxury off-road pickup truck for your daily commute: complete overkill for the highway, and an unused prop in the office parking structure. Nice to look at, and the *dream* of it's potential is wonderful -- but a waste unless it's used to its fullest.

I like the WP products; I really do. The 'reveal codes' feature isn't as prominent as it once was, but it's the most important feature I've ever used. But do I really need so many fonts? Do I really need so much clip art? Do I need a second database interface when the corporate IT group links us to the secure servers?

I'd like to see the product stripped-down to its core functionality, and presented in a no-nonsense way to the end-user. There's too much, and it is both confusing and a waste.Get more detail about WordPerfect Office X5 Pro.