On 11/08/2011 10:04 PM, [email protected] wrote:
My manager has finally gotten frustrated enough with Word to check into buying FrameMaker.
What took so long? ;-) She asked me what version would be best for us, and
I'm not sure what to tell her. I have used FM 5 and FM 7 a lot, FM 8 a bit, and have no experience with FM 10. At this point we are building basic documents, but we would like to have better control over the formatting, and be able to use conditional text. I don't foresee us using the structured version, or any of the "fancy" additions to the later versions. But I don't want to saddle us with a dinosaur, either. What are the general thoughts from this "community?" What are the PROs and CONs? What should I recommend? We are a small startup business (check out www.agilyx.com <http://www.agilyx.com>), and have to keep an eye on the budget, but we want to create professional results in everything we do. We are using Windows 7 and Office 2010, on a variety of Dell laptops.
I'd recommend the latest version, as anything else is already 'a dinosaur' in relation to the latest operating systems, drivers, etc.
So definitely FM10, but you should also look into TCS 3.0. In that single bundle you get FM, Robohelp, Captivate, Photoshop, Bridge, Acrobat, LiveCycle (maybe; I got it in TCS 2, but is not mentioned in TCS 3 blurbs) for much less than the cost of the individual programs. You will need not just FM but Acrobat and a graphics editor like Photoshop at a minimum anyway; if you will be doing online Help or animated demos, then RoboHelp and Captivate are proven tools for those purposes.
If Adobe offers a maintenance plan that includes product updates, it would be worth investigating that, too.
HTH, Stuart Rogers Technical Communicator Phoenix Geophysics Ltd. Toronto _______________________________________________ You are currently subscribed to framers as [email protected]. Send list messages to [email protected]. To unsubscribe send a blank email to [email protected] or visit http://lists.frameusers.com/mailman/options/framers/archive%40mail-archive.com Send administrative questions to [email protected]. Visit http://www.frameusers.com/ for more resources and info.
