WordSmith 2.126 November 2001 Okay, I finally got around to reviewing the announced but as-yet-unreleased WordSmith 2.1. The last time I reviewed WordSmith, I said it was the best word processor for any palmtop platform, and that hasn't changed. In fact, it's gotten even better. For the sake of brevity, I'll just cover the differences/improvements here. Most of the application is the same. The same easy conversion to and from desktop Word/RTF formats, the same Memo support, the same rich formatting on the Palm. There are only a few real changes, but they're each big changes, and they make a big difference. FineType The first new feature is FineType, Blue Nomad's term for their own TrueType font support with sub-pixel anti-aliasing. FineType allows you to convert TrueType fonts on the desktop (Windows only) for display on the Palm. You can pick three font sizes to display, and you can decide to render them in high-resolution for the Clié if you want. Then you can hotsync the fonts to your device and view your documents with the fonts you're supposed to see. On lower resolution monochrome Palms, it supports anti-aliasing, though that gets kind of muddy on a 160x160 screen. On color devices like the Palm m505, it anti-aliases down to sub-pixel level, like ClearType on Windows XP and Pocket PC devices. This is a lot better for readability, the best you can get on a Palm device. But on a color Clié, with fonts rendered for the Clié's 320x320 screen, it looks fantastic. It's the most readable text you'll find on the Palm platform, hands-down. It also fixes a shortcoming many people have with the hi-res Cliés. A lot of people find that the default hi-res font on the Clié is too thin, the letters too spidery and fine. With FineType, you can render fonts as big and beefy as you like, and it makes them much more readable on the Clié. I can't stress enough what a difference FineType makes. Reading and writing etext is a joy on my Clié 710, so much so that before I moved back to the Pocket PC as my primary device, I used WordSmith on the Clié for almost everything. I literally spent about 80-90% of my time using the device in WordSmith. I converted all my ebooks to RTF format so I could use WordSmith as my default book reader, and I used SiteScooper to convert all my "AvantGo" web content to Doc files that I could read in WordSmith as well. My favorite fonts are Tahoma and Georgia, both designed for on-screen readability. VFS support Another huge feature that makes a big difference is WordSmith's complete VFS support. If you have a PalmOS device that supports card expansion, you can make full use of the card from within WordSmith itself. Unlike the afterthought VFS support in the PalmOS 4 launcher -- where all programs on the card are segregated into their own category -- VFS support in WordSmith is really well thought out. It reminds me of the seamless way card storage support is implemented in the Pocket PC. When you tap on the Category dropdown in the upper right corner, you'll see it divided into two sections: Handheld and Card. Each section has its own independent categories, and you can freely move files back and forth between them, either through categories, document properties or the Save As... dialog. You can edit files directly on the card, and you can read files (for example, long ebooks that you don't want taking up precious system RAM) directly from the card. The only caveat about card storage in WordSmith is the same one as on the Pocket PC: anything stored on a card will not be synchronized with the PC when you HotSync. Spell checking The last biggie that Blue Nomad has added to their already superlative product is full support for spell checking and a thesaurus. You can spell check the entire document, or you can just select one word, tap-and-hold on it, and then select "Check spelling" or "Thesaurus" from the pop up menu that appears. It works well, although it tends to trip up on contractions and it's pretty slow (it took over a half hour to spell check this 1,140 word column). Downsides? With all that going for it, are there any downsides to WordSmith 2.1?
To Sum Up... WordSmith 2.1 is a complete word processing solution for PalmOS. It offers unmatched capability for writers on the go, and best-of-breed font rendering for maximum ebook readability and comfort. The additions of spell checking and well-thought-out VFS support make this word processing powerhouse even better, and if you're a mobile writer with a PalmOS device, WordSmith is all the word processor you need. |