Bottom line: Provides sage advice for the professional writer; but not as user-friendly as other editing software
Review: Editor, which predates StyleWriter, may be even more comprehensive than StyleWriter. Like StyleWriter, Editor checks spelling, usage, punctuation, and style. Editor's makers say:
- "Editor is an electronic descendant of that wonderful 'little book,' Strunk and White's Elements of Style [available here], with its emphasis on omitting unnecessary words, its careful description of selected rules of punctuation, and its chapter 'Words and Expressions Commonly Misused.' Until computers can understand meanings, much of Strunk and White's excellent advice cannot be incorporated into analytical software, but Editor includes most of what can."
The makers rightly claim that Editor is "compact and fast". The software is also much cheaper than StyleWriter at only $50, which includes postage and handling.
But Editor's main strength may also be its main weakness to the lay writer: designed and programmed by 2 professors of English, Editor is scholarly and sophisticated and may be the superior product for professional writers; but aspects of the program may make it less user-friendly than StyleWriter for the general writer.
For example, Editor does not allow immediate onscreen corrections; rather, the makers of the software encourage you to "use printed copies of your texts for markup and revision before preparing final drafts". The software's makers cite evidence that a computer screen is not the best environment for thoughtful revision. We wonder whether this still holds true for a generation brought up with computers and who nowadays read more onscreen material than printed material. Also, the instructions that come with Editor are precise and comprehensive. But will Generation Y have the patience to read through all this material? Will Generation Y be prepared to wait for the program to come in the mail?