TextMaker

TextMaker is a word processor developed by the Nuremberg (Germany) based software company SoftMaker and available as part of the SoftMaker office suite. Earlier versions were also sold separately.

Current versions are:
*"TextMaker 2008" for Microsoft Windows
*"TextMaker 2006" for Linux, FreeBSD, Pocket PCs, and Handheld PCs running Windows CE.NET
*"TextMaker 2002" for the Sharp Zaurus.

It is the only word processor worldwide to support all these systems. Furthermore, the user interface is as similar as possible across all supported platforms; the PDA versions are full-fledged versions rather than scaled-down versions lacking much of the functionality of the desktop version.

TextMaker 2008 for Linux/Free BSD and Pocket PC/Handheld PC is currently under development. The Zaurus system is no longer supported by newer versions of the software.

Development of TextMaker started in 1989 under MS-DOS. The program aims at utmost compatibility with Microsoft Word (adding some proprietary features like an object mode for working with frames or a simple built-in database functionality) with more ease of use at a much lower price. It reads and writes its own document format (.tmd), Microsoft Word (.doc), OpenDocument (.odt), Pocket Word (.psw, .pwd), Rich Text Format (.rtf), HTML 4.0 (.htm), and plain text files (.txt). The standard document format can be .tmd, .doc, or .odt.

Multilingual features include a five language translation dictionary, a thesaurus in six languages, spell checking in 10, hyphenation in 26, and user interface in 13 languages.

VBA-compatible scripting is supported through SoftMaker's scripting language, called BasicMaker, which is part of its "SoftMaker Office" suite.

For mobile use, TextMaker can be run from a USB stick without changing any registry or system files of the host PC.

External links

* [http://www.softmaker.com/english/ofwtm_en.htm TextMaker product page]
* [http://www.softmaker.com/english/ SoftMaker English home page]

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