As some of you know, I bought my first computer in 1985. It had a DOS operating system and the word processing program was WordPerfect 1.1. Microsoft wasn’t. Windows wasn’t. That used IBM that I purchased for $3,000 had a tiny memory, and I don’t recall having reliable external methods of saving computer-generated data. It got me through law school, however, and through the first couple of years as a lawyer. As time passed, I upgraded my WordPerfect program (and bought many newer, faster, computers with greater memory). I installed Microsoft Office Suite (which includes Word) only because other people were using Word, and the internet happened, documents were being passed around, and I wanted to be able to open and read or edit those documents. WordPerfect was always the program with which I was the most comfortable. If you look at any of the comments on word processing programs, the one thing that sets WP apart is the command “Reveal Codes”. If you reveal codes, you can see where the “Hard Center” command actually appears so it might be deleted, etc. WP also has a built-in conversion to .pdf — “publish to .pdf” which we must do to file in Federal Court.
Anyway, last March I upgraded to WP Office X4. When I called Corel to buy the upgrade, the sales person failed to tell me that WP X5 had been released in February, and it was compatible with Windows 7, which XP4 was not. Bad sales person! So, I installed WP X4 on the desktop, on which I run XP Pro and tried to install it on the laptop that I take to Court and use to work at home. X4 would not install. As always, I assumed it was just me — though I’ve had a computer for some time (24 years), I’m really a techno-weinie. There is so much I do not know how to do. So, I fiddled with installing X-4 for several months. Finally, I went to the Corel chat room and found that X4 does not work with Windows 7 — so, well, crud!
This week, in an effort to spend money (sigh), I contacted Corel to purchase the X5 upgrade. Done. I receive an email to which is attached a copy of a license that I cannot print, and there is no download button. How strange is that. I called Customer Service, heard that there was no one ahead of me, and I would be talking to a person in three seconds. NOT! I spent a total of nearly two hours on hold over a two-day period. So, I visited the on-line chat with a tech support person. After much checking, she determined that Sales had failed to attach the downloader to my confirmation, AND that only Customer Service could help me. After thirty minutes on hold, I called Sales directly. The Sales person looked at my record (which shows a long and faithful relationship with Corel) and said she would send an email to the customer service person with whom she deals directly. She said that person would call me. NO! Send me an email with the downloader link — please.
This morning it arrived. Corel gave me the full X5 standard version rather than just the upgrade, apologized for the screw-ups, and asked me to contact them if there is anything else I need. So, WP X5 is downloaded on the laptop. I am now one step closer to working from home because I will be able to open and edit documents from here, and file them electronically on the Federal Court website. My internet speed at the house is outrageously fast (Comcast fiber optic beats the heck out of Qwest DSL).
Meanwhile, my high school helper Haley is more than half way through scanning my active files. The little Fujitsu SnapScan is a gem — can handle up to 1000 documents a day. Haley should finish the active files before she goes back to school Wednesday. Then I’m going to have her start on the closed files so that I might truly be paperless. Whoo Hoo!
In summary: Sorry this was so boring — you’ve no idea how exciting it is for me. My work-from-home plan nears reality, and once again Corel has proven that it makes good on its products. I could have awakened one or more of you with a phone call early this morning, but decided that would be cruel — and a waste of time — when I could bore all of you at one time with a post.
