If you don't have the money for an entire office suite, and you don't even need all the applications usually included in such suites, purchasing individual applications is a good idea. For example, most technical writers I know use Word, but they ended up buying the entire Microsoft Office suite for that. Anyway, since there are plenty of choices available, I'll tell you about a very interesting alternative to the notorious word processors available at this time, and my choice is called Atlantis Word Processor.


Setup

The last version of Atlantis Word Processor is 1.6.1.7, and the best part about the shareware version is that you can use it for an entire month without any limitation. The setup package is really small in size, considering the features of this program, but we'll talk about them a bit later. Now, all that's left for you to find out is the size of the setup package - 3.7MB, and that installing this program is very easy, and the setup procedure is very flexible, allowing you to choose what you need and what you don't, as you can see in the second screenshot below.


Interface

Do you remember Word 97's interface? I don't want to be mean, but that's exactly what comes into my mind when I look at Atlantis 1.6. The good part is that Atlantis interacts with the user using sounds too, and if you're not using this program for long periods, the sounds included for almost every event are an inspired addition and, even better, you can also download additional sound schemes. At last, despite the outdated graphics, everyone should find this program easy to use, even if this is the first word processor they ever got their hands on...


Features

Atlantis Word Processor has almost all the features I expect from a word processor, but it would have been nice to be able to work with HTML pages too. Well, there's time for everything, so I can't say I miss this feature, since I got a lot to play with...

For example, advanced users can take full advantage of the support for using document templates, style sheets of the Clippy Bank. While using text clips can speed up you work a lot, I don't think that the sounds associated to such events are really a good idea. After all, this is a word processor, and not Zoo Tycoon!

The Save Special command is very useful, allowing you to save the current document as ZIP archive, template or HTML page. Even better, you can save all documents that are open in a single archive, and the best part about the multi document interface is that every document gets a nice tab at the bottom of the main window, allowing you quick access to it.

Other than the above, you get a lot of text formatting features, auto correct or a typing assist that creates a smart database of the words that you use most, and their context, so when you start typing one of your favorite phrases again, a warning sound can be heard and you get a popup with a list of words to quickly insert into the text.

I could probably keep writing about this program for 30 days, until my shareware version will ask me to buy it or remove it from my computer, but I guess that's not needed. If you got the idea, I am sure you'll try this program for yourselves and share your experience with the rest of use, aren't you?


The Good

Atlantis Word Processor is an excellent alternative to Microsoft Word, has a good price and an impressive amount of features. While working with it, I got no errors, and the amount of system resources used didn't jump sky high. There are a lot of additional components ready for download on the official site.

The Bad

The default sound scheme has some strange noises, and after a couple of hours of intensive work, the sounds can become annoying. The interface needs a serious "face lift" to help this program keep up with the competition.

Conclusion

Atlantis Word Processor is a really pleasant surprise, from almost every point of view, so all I can do now is advise you to give it a try, since this program offers one of those few opportunities to use a commercial product for 30 days without any limitations.

Developer: Rising Sun Solutions, Inc.
Price: $35
Trial Link: Download