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BETA: TextMaker 2008 for Linux. Fast.
Powerful. Compatible.
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Word processing ... hasn't
everything about it been invented already?
Definitely not! TextMaker 2008 offers several
new features that are not available in other word processors. On top
of this, it is very easy to use and provides seamless compatibility
with Microsoft Word.
The Compulsory Exercise: Compatible, Fast, Reliable.
This is what we expect from a word processor: it
should be compatible, fast, and reliable.
TextMaker 2008 masters this duty with ease. It starts
and works lightning fast and handles even large-scale documents with
aplomb – check out this review.
TextMaker offers superior compatibility with
Microsoft Word. In fact, you won't find any other word processor
that is as capable of handling intricately formatted Microsoft Word
files as TextMaker.
Many of the new features in TextMaker 2008 have been
designed with the goal of allowing TextMaker users to work seamlessly
in Microsoft Word-dominated environments:
Track changes.
As soon as you switch on the Track Changes feature, TextMaker
records all changes made to a document. If you let a colleague or
superior review this document, he or she can accept or reject your
changes one by one, no matter whether they work with TextMaker or
with Word.
Comments.
TextMaker's comments feature is just as compatible: Comments
and annotations appear as balloons in the right page margin
– just like in Word 2003.
AutoShapes and TextArt.
TextMaker offers a complete set of drawing functions that let you
create arbitrary geometric shapes or freehand drawings, and insert
symbols from its vast symbols library into your documents. You can
customize drawings with a huge selection of filling options and you
can rotate, mirror, flip, and otherwise reshape them.
TextMaker also supports text effects that let you put together
stunning headlines and attractive logos, like with Microsoft WordArt.
Of course, AutoShapes and TextArt are compatible with their Microsoft
Word counterparts.
By the way, TextMaker doesn't restrict itself to just
providing excellent document exchange with Word, but also reads and
writes OpenDocument
files and numerous other formats. |
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SoftMaker Office 2008 for Linux
Customers in the U.S. and Canada: US$ 79.95
Upgrade from an older version of SoftMaker
Office, TextMaker, or PlanMaker:
only € 39.95 | $49.95
Bundle offer:
SoftMaker Office 2008
for Linux and Windows
Customers in the U.S. and Canada: US$ 99.95
Upgrade from an older version of SoftMaker
Office, TextMaker, or PlanMaker:
only € 49.95 | $59.95 |
Some outstanding TextMaker features
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Desktop publishing capabilities
such as master pages, flexible frames, object mode, contour wrap, and kerning |
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Create PDF files directly from the application |
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Track changes and add comments
like in Word 2003 |
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AutoShapes and
WordArt-compatible font effects ("TextArt") like in
Word 2003 |
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Five-language translation dictionary |
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Spell-checking in 17 languages |
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Easy-to-use built-in address database:
builds letters and mail merges in seconds. |
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Envelope creator |
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Menus and dialogs in 14 languages (switchable on-the-fly) |
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Can be installed to USB flash drives |
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The Voluntary Exercise: Where TextMaker cuts a better figure.
 Layout
capabilities like in desktop publishing programs. If you
want not only correct but also attractive documents, you'll find a
competent partner in TextMaker. It offers layout capabilities that
can usually be found only in desktop publishing programs. Among its
capabilities are kerning, master pages, sophisticated
typographic functions, contour wrap, flexible handling of frames,
powerful tools for creating forms, and most importantly: predictable
text formatting. With TextMaker, pictures don't jump from one
page to another, "just because", or disappear
entirely.
Better proofing tools. TextMaker
comes with advanced proofing tools – the German government's
commission on the German language preferred TextMaker's spell-checker
over all other word processors!
Of course, TextMaker doesn't limit itself to the German language: it
comes with spelling dictionaries in 17 languages, synonym
dictionaries in 10, and reliable automatic hyphenation in 33
different languages. It even includes a translation dictionary for
instant translations between English, German, Spanish, French, and Italian.
Address letters and envelopes faster than
ever before. Mail merging doesn't have to be complicated.
With TextMaker, creating serial letters is child's play! The built-in
database not only stores addresses for mail merges but also lets you
insert single addresses into single letters with a few
mouse clicks.
Now, with TextMaker 2008, you can even create envelopes with
sender and recipient automatically filled out – envelopes that
print right even on the first try!
You don't need to speak English to use TextMaker.
The menus and dialogs of TextMaker are available in 14 languages.
Moreover, TextMaker provides a full set of ready-made document
templates in many different languages.
New Functions in TextMaker 2008
NEW: Create PDF files at the touch of a button
 TextMaker
can export any document to the PDF format. These files can
then be read and printed with Adobe Reader and any other PDF viewer.
Hyperlinks and tables of contents are also exported, and you keep
full control of the graphics quality and the type of font embedding.
You can even create PDF forms to be filled out by the recipient.
NEW: Improved master pages
With new TextMaker 2008, you can create a separate master page for
the first page of a chapter. This can save you a lot of work; for
example, when writing letters, the first page often contains a
letterhead which should be omitted on the following pages.
Furthermore, you can now create borders and shadows for whole pages
as well as set up the vertical alignment of complete chapters.
NEW: Manage styles with ease
 Paragraph
and character styles are a popular aid to set up recurring
formatting and apply it anytime thereafter.
The new style manager in TextMaker allows you to copy
paragraph and character styles as well as numbered lists from one
document to another. This way, you can synchronize the styles of your
documents and apply new formatting to documents retroactively,
letting you match the layout of other documents.
NEW: Envelopes
 TextMaker
2008 contains a new envelope generator to create and print
envelopes. This new tool saves you the trouble of measuring and
positioning the address fields.
Just enter the sender's address or insert it with a few mouse clicks.
Then choose the recipient fields from the address database –
ready! You can now print the new envelope, save it together with a
document, or create a new document from it. It's as easy as that!
Free beta software download
You can download the beta version of SoftMaker Office 2008 for Linux
free of charge here. |
Features
Easy data exchange
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Direct document exchange with TextMaker 2008 and 2006
for Windows, Pocket PCs, and Windows CE |
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Seamless document exchange with Microsoft Word 6.0,
95, 97, 2000, Word XP, Word 2003, and Word for Macintosh |
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Opens password-protected Microsoft Word files |
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Reads and NEW:
writes OpenDocument
and OpenOffice.org documents |
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Reads and writes numerous additional file formats
– HTML, RTF, Pocket Word, ASCII, Unicode |
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NEW: Create PDF files
(even PDF forms) directly from TextMaker |
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NEW:
Print preview |
Editing text
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Nearly unlimited undo/redo |
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Insert fields like date, time, page number, author, auto-numbers,
etc. |
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Bookmarks |
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"SmartText" feature: just type e.g.
"asap" and "as soon as possible" will appear
(fully customizable) |
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Calculations in text and tables |
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NEW: Shift+F3
lets you switch between uppercase and lowercase: word, Word, WORD |
Formatting text
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All of the character and paragraph formatting
capabilities you expect from a high-end word processor |
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Extended character formats like small caps,
font color, hidden text, adjustable character spacing and character width |
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Extended paragraph formats like automatic
numbering, bullets, borders, shading, fill patterns, widow/orphan control |
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Character and paragraph style sheets |
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NEW:
The stylesheet manager
lets you manage your styles and copy them between different documents |
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NEW: Kerning |
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Transfer formatting with the format brush |
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Line, paragraph, and headline numbering |
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Headers and footers, master pages (e.g. for watermarks) |
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NEW: Borders
and shades for whole pages |
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Complex documents
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Outliner that lets you easily promote, demote,
and rearrange passages of text |
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NEW: Numerous new
keyboard shortcuts for the outliner |
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"Track Changes" tracks all
changes made to documents and lets you accept/reject them later |
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Comments – add annotations to any part of
your documents |
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Cross references, footnotes, endnotes, tables
of contents, indices, bibliographies |
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Easy creation of forms with input fields,
checkboxes, drop-down lists etc. |
Drawing and Designing
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Comprehensive drawing and image functions:
Draw and design directly in your documents |
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Insert images in all common formats |
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Object frames can be anchored
to paragraphs and NEW: tables or
positioned freely. |
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Change brightness, contrast, and gamma of images
directly inside TextMaker |
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Drawings can be filled with colors, patterns,
bitmaps, and gradients |
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Contour wrap –
correct wrapping of text, even around drawings, NEW:
even respecting transparent areas (alpha channel) |
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"Sticky" connector lines between objects |
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Large symbols library
for flowcharts and org charts |
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TextArt gallery for easy pick-and-choose
selection of pre-built type effects |
Tables
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True nested tables, tables spanning more than
one page |
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Merge, split, and rotate cells |
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Repeating header rows (rows with headlines
automatically repeat on every new page) |
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Sorting of text and tables |
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Unicode support
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TextMaker is Unicode-enabled. It
can be used for writing documents in all Western, Central European
and Baltic languages, Russian, Greek, Chinese, Japanese and Korean. |
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Extended support for Asian scripts |
Proofing tools
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Multi-language spell-checking, thesaurus, and hyphenation |
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Automatic spell-checking: typos will be
underlined in red. |
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Built-in five-language translation
dictionary: English, German, French,
Italian, and Spanish |
Extras
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Comprehensive built-in address book and database
(dBASE format) |
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Sorting, searching, selecting, filtering by condition |
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Creates, at the touch of a key, entire letterheads,
with recipient's address, salutation, etc. already filled in |
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NEW: Envelope wizard:
Create envelopes that print right even on the first try. |
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NEW:
Full-screen mode hides all menus and toolbars |
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NEW:
Toolbar with integrated word counter |
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Creates lists and labels |
System requirements
Any Linux for PCs with glibc 2.2.5 or higher, X Window
system with any Window Manager. 64 MBytes of RAM. |
Multi-language support
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User interface: |
English UK, English US, German, Spanish, NEW:
Italian, Portuguese, French, NEW:
Dutch, Hungarian, Turkish, Russian, NEW:
Bulgarian, Simplified Chinese, and Japanese
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Spell-checking: |
English US, English UK, German, German (reformed),
Swiss-German, Swiss-German (reformed), French, French (Canada),
Italian, Spanish, Spanish (Latin America), Portuguese, Portuguese
(Brazil), Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian
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Thesauri (synonyms): |
English UK, English US, German, German (reformed),
Swiss-German, Swiss-German (reformed), French, French (Canada),
Italian, Spanish, Spanish (Latin America), Dutch
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Automated hyphenation: |
English (UK), English (USA), German, German
(reformed), Swiss German, Swiss German (reformed), French, French
(Canada), Italian, Spanish, Spanish (Latin America), Portuguese,
Portuguese (Brazil), Dutch, Danish, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish,
Turkish, Greek, Czech, Polish, Slovak, Slovenian, Croatian, Serbian,
Romanian, Bulgarian, Russian, Ukrainian, Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian
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Translation dictionary: |
English, German, French, Italian, and Spanish |
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