AbiWord Beats OpenOffice to Grammar Checker

Submitted by platypus matt on October 15, 2005 - 13:06.

An interesting headline on Slashdot today. Apparently, Abiword now has beat Sun the punch to develop the first free software word processor with integrated grammar checker. We all know how big of a step this is--one more reason why students still using Microsoft Works, WordPad, or Notepad need to download Abiword.

I haven't gotten a chance to check it out yet, but I'm wondering if they've managed to do anything with Word's powerful track changes and comment feature. I've grown to love the functionality I get out of Word for grading papers--autotext + comments + tablet PC = RAPID RESPONSE GRADING PROCEDURE. I'm able to offer students 40+ comments (some custom, some canned) on their papers in less than 15 minutes each. The last version of Abiword didn't have any support for Word comments, and OpenOffice Writer BETA had only a very primitive comment feature.

If I had some money to pump into a free software project, I'd pump it into some sort of "plugin module" that would provide better comment and autotext migration.

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cel4145's picture

you have been assimilated

Submitted by cel4145 on October 15, 2005 - 14:50.
Still assimilated by MS Office because of the commenting function? What would free software advocates say? ;-)
platypus matt's picture

FSF

Submitted by platypus matt on October 15, 2005 - 17:18.

They'd say all sorts of nasty things, but not using the comment feature of their word processors. :-P

cel4145's picture

give acrobat professional a try

Submitted by cel4145 on October 15, 2005 - 19:22.

Adobe Acrobat Professional will let you do some word-style commenting. See if you can get an evaluation version and try it out. While it's not free software, at least its not Microsoft, and Adobe is more agreeable to open standards.