I wrote the following information before I was able to try out the current version of the relatively new Nisus Writer Pro. In fact, I like the application and now own a licence, though I have not yet done extensive work in it.

Word Processors: Nisus Writer Express

[I first posted the information on this page to my computer blog, On My Mac, on 10/2/2007.]

I began writing my dissertation on Word, but I grew to hate that application. Although it had all the bells and whistles that an academic writer could possibly want, it acquired the annoying habit of crashing once or twice a day. My Word documents also became corrupt once every several weeks. There had to be a better way.

Unfortunately, I encountered these problems shortly after Apple had switched to OS X, so there were not any robust alternatives out there. Word Perfect had abandoned the Mac, and the great Nisus Writer had been recreated as a pale shadow of its former self, Nisus Writer Express (NWE). This program was attractive, easy to use, and received good reviews; however, it also suffered from stability issues: one or more crashes a day.

Nor was NWE built for a dissertation-length project. For starters, it could not create a table of contents or display the hierarchy of chapters and sections as an outline. It also offered no other way to navigate than scrolling. It was good for short papers and correspondence, but that was about all as far as I was concerned.

In fact, I still use it for such purposes, because formatting with it is easy. I also like how its native format is Rich Text Format (RTF), which most other word processors can read. This compatibility means I can send people NWE documents via email, no matter what their operating system and word processor are. Moreover, the application is much more stable these days. I cannot remember the last time it crashed. (Word, on the other hand, was still crashing when I had to use it this fall.)

On the negative side of the balance sheet, however, is its long start-up time on my G4 iBook, although I imagine this will not be an issue on the speedy new Intel Macs.

Though a good program, I needed to look further for an application suitable for my dissertation.

Since writing my dissertation, though, Nisus has issued a new product called Nisus Writer Pro (NWP), which I have not yet got around to playing with.

Recently Nisus also issued NWE 3.0; however, I am still using NWE 2.7, because I have not found NWE to be compelling enough to sink more money into it. If I ever did spend more money, it would be on the academic version of NWP, which costs $39.00.

If you are not an academic user, NWE costs $45.00 new and NWP costs $39.00 new.

You can download each and try them for free for 30 days. I definitely recommend doing so, because users' needs and experiences often differ. The learning curve is not steep for NWE, so you will know pretty soon whether it is the right tool for you. I expect NWP will be similarly easy to use.