Customer Reviews

WordPerfect Office X5 Standard Upgrade

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I have a real soft spot in my heart for WordPerfect since I used WP10 to write my dissertation. I've used WP12 and WPX4, and I have to say that there is not much here for WPX4 users to merit an upgrade. Most of the improvements in X5 are geared towards government and business users, and there are few noticeable differences between X4 and X5. The biggest ones I can see are: Thunderbird for mail (which, of course, you can get for free online), being able to save in the .docx format (which is significant), Nuance PaperPort SE (haven't used yet, so can't comment). A lot of the demands of longtime WP devotees (like unicode support, improved interface for document review/track changes, etc.) have not been addressed. To me, it seems that Corel sometimes pushes out new versions that could very well have been service packs instead.

That said, I'm glad I purchased it, as I greatly prefer WP to Microsoft Word and to OpenOffice Writer. Unfortunately, I have never gotten the hang of Presentations, and I think that PowerPoint is vastly superior. I don't use spreadsheets enough to compare Quattro Pro to Excel, as my spreadsheet needs are simple enough to be met by either program. I could have stuck with X4, but I also like supporting the ongoing development of WP by purchasing the product. I purchased this upgrade straight from Corel, but the pricing is similar here as it is there.

I hope that Corel devotes more resources to keep WP going and maybe even tries to bring Presentations up to speed. This release is not a "game-changer", but it does seem solid, stable, and retains so much of what makes WP a great word processor.

WordPerfect has been a superior product for decades. I've seen reviews where people tut-tut that WP doesn't have such-and-such a feature or that Word does something easier/better, but my experience (and I've been doing this for over 35 years) is that WP simply works better. If a document isn't doing what you want it to, you can see where the problem is and correct it. Instead of having to rely on styles for document formats, you can create what you need, easily, without having to go through screen after screen. Auto-numbering is a snap in WP--in Word, unless you choose to use what MS has selected for you, it can be a problem. Page numbers, headers, and footers--easier in WP. No need to worry about putting in section breaks to get what you want where you want it. And labels--piece o' cake in WP. I work in a high-powered law firm, where I don't have time to waste on getting a document perfect. WP gets me there. Word takes longer. And, yes, I've been using Word for nearly as long as I've been using WP. I use both and am expert in both. WP just gives me superior results. The OCR capabilities in WP X5 are particularly useful. I have to work with PDFs from clients a lot, and being able to turn those PDFs into WP docs quickly, easily, and accurately is great!

We have had WordPerfect since it was first available many years ago. Feel it is still the best on the market. This upgrade was easy (we had ver 12). Couldn't be more pleased.

I have used WorkPerfect since version 4.3 from the MS DOS days and have been a devoted user, rejecting all competitors over the years. I recently decided to upgrade to version X5 since I was making a move to Windows 7 (Professional, 32 bit) and version X5 is the only version Corel supports for use on a Windows 7 machine. Since I ordered the boxed version of the product from Amazon, I downloaded the trial version and installed it to get going with the software. I did not realize at the time that the trial version would have to be removed before the boxed, disc version could be installed--that the trial version could not be registered and activated with the serial number from the boxed, disc-based version--not documented on the trial download site. Then, I encountered difficulties removing the trial version from my system--No documentation was available to inform me that one needed to use the WordPerfect installer removal tool from the downloaded software package rather than the Windows uninstall found in Programs and Features. So, I ended up using the manual uninstall found on the Corel support web site, but this method only did half the job, and remnants were still left which the disc installer found and refused to install the disc version of the software. And, so on! After three weeks of phone calls to Corel installation support and discussions with numerous support techs and after being "escalated" to tier 2 support on three different occasions, I finally got a tech that knew what he was doing, was familiar with all the difficuties he would encounter on my system and, after more than two hours of working with me and my system, was able to get the new software installed, registered and activated on my new Windows 7 system.

This is the worst experience over more than 25 years I can ever recall installing a software package on a PC, DOS or Windows based--I almost never have any problem with software installation. Now that the software is finally properly installed, it appears to be working as it should. But, I have not yet had the opportunity to give it full use.

My advice: If you choose to upgrade to or make a 1st time purchase of Corel WP Office X5, DO NOT download and install the trial version. Just have the patience to wait for your puchased product or buy the download version and make a backup CD of the installation package. If you have a fully functional earlier version installed on your Windows XP or Vista system, don't upgrade. It's not necessary. I have yet to discover any additional functional value that is useful to me.

I've been using WordPerfect since I was in high school (version 5.1 for DOS) and have owned almost every version since 6.1 and the software keeps getting more and more refined and runs smoother. For complicated documents (formatting) you cant beta Reveal Codes (M$'s "reveal formatting" is not even close) and with the PDF functionality is awesome (NOTE: the PDF functionality is stripped out of the Home and Student edition, I made the mistake of buying that one with version X4). Note that I don't use anything else in this suite other than WordPerfect the word word processor itself.

I have been using Wordperfect for over 20 years. I have also used Word but WP seems to meet my needs better. I have had X4 since it first came out. I purchased the standard upgrade version of X5 for its new features. I also believe X5 is somewhat more stable than X4 and the current version of Word. X5 loaded very easily on Vista and I was able to customize the program with no problem. I now have both X4 and X5 on my computer. Excellent wordprocessor.

Nice product, used to use Wordperfect years ago, always liked the environment - will enjoy using again, especially now I can access all those documents I created then. Seem to be a lot of new, useful, features.

I've used WP since DOS days. Perfect for my law practice. Got x5 so I can try Perfect Assistant. Perfect Assistant works as advertised but I think it is way too expensive at $200 for what it does.

I have used WP X5 now for nearly a year and am very happy with it. I have always bought the boxed version of WP with the disk over the years, never the download version. I have upgraded my computer several times since the DOS days and have always been able to use the current version of the WP disk to download WP on the new computer including WP X5. I am very happy with the many features of WP which Word does not have. With WP X5 I have never had a problem using Word documents: the conversion is seamless. I will remain with Wordperfect.

Just passing along a word of caution. I have been a Corel Word Perfect user for years. After gleaning what I could from web reviews, I figured it was time to upgrade from Word Perfect 11 after many years. I did so to improve productivity with tables of authority and tables of contents, etc.

Word Perfect X5 will not properly install on a Vista Home Basic 64 machine. I have a good grasp on tech issues. The problem is the absence of the CTL3D32.DLL file. While it is possible to copy the CTL3D32.DLL from the SysWOW64 directory to the system 32 directory, it does not abate the problem. You can get past the problem if you copy the installation to the hard drive, but you will still get the error message that the file is missing. Even under Vista super admin privileges, I was not able to get rid of the CTL3D32.DLL file in the SysWOW64 directory (which is presumably the reason for the continued problem with installation).

While Word Perfect will launch, features of it crash on use. Specifically, the table of authorities will cycle once, then crash.

This problem is well documented on user boards and it's shocking to me that Corel neither offers a fix and continues to sell the product. While this is a part-Windows, part-Corel problem, Corel should take ownership of the known issue; after all, you're spending a lot of money for something that simply will not work in certain computing environments.

A whole day wasted before giving up. I've blown today's writing deadline dealing with a poor software product that I bought to increase productivity.