Microsoft Word may be the dominant player in the word processing market, but it's not the only game in town. There are at least a few alternatives that are not only far less expensive, but provide many of the core features that home and business users require.

Mariner Write offers a standard collection of word processing tools in an easy-to-use package that won't break your budget. It has one major flaw that may be a deal breaker for some individuals: It doesn't include a live word count tool. If you want to know the word, character, or line count in the current document or a selected section of text, you must choose Count from the File menu, and then click either Document or Selected Text to see the total. You must then click the Done button to dismiss the dialog box and return to the document. For writers and others who need to track word counts, this major inconvenience may offset Mariner Write's bargain price.

In most other respects, Mariner Write is a very satisfactory word processor. The interface is so clean that if you're used to Word or WordPerfect, you may almost feel disoriented. It features a standard collection of dropdown menus, and a single, simple toolbar. The toolbar provides easy access to the most commonly used features, including Print, Page Setup, and Save, as well as basic formatting tools. Each document window has its own ruler and its own formatting toolbar.

Toolbars are easy to customize. You can add, move, or delete tools to suit your working style. You can also switch the main toolbar from horizontal to vertical.

Mariner Write can open and save standard formats, including standard RTF, Microsoft Word RTF, text (.TXT), and PDF, as well as its own proprietary format. It can't save files in Microsoft .doc format. It supports most common graphics file formats, including TIFF, JPG, EPS, PICT, and GIF.

Other features include support for tables, footnotes, endnotes, page numbering, headers, footers, bullet lists, and some typographic formatting controls, including kerning, subscripts, and superscripts.


Pros: Bargain price. Offers a wide variety of basic word processing features, without a lot of unnecessary bells and whistles. Compatible with Microsoft Word.
Cons: Lacks a live word count tool. Also lacks some other advanced features found in Microsoft Word.