![]() Give it a few days’ use before you pronounce judgement, and I expect you’ll be a fan as well. While for me the new interface is a great experience, I imagine there will be plenty of folks who will yearn for the old look. Now, I have a tough time going back to the old interface with its static buttons and dated icons. Even with the improved navigation, though, I still don’t think I’d be a fan of the new UI without adoption of the font-awesome-ish icons in this version. It incorporates modern icons and the ribbon interface that you’ve likely grown accustomed to since Word 2007 and PowerPoint 2007. RoboHelp 2015 is different features are better organized and more logically labeled. The interface update in RoboHelp 11 was a nice start, but it still had 20-year-old icons, and didn’t really change the functionality of the application. Most notably, RoboHelp no longer looks like Word 2003. RoboHelp 2015 features an interface overhaul that’s been overdue for, well, about 12 years! Being able to publish content directly to the world’s most popular web content platform would be very cool. This is a great feature for engineers and other SMEs, but I’d love to see Adobe create a WordPress output to go with it. FrameMaker 2015 now has a simplified XML authoring mode that reminds me of authoring a WordPress post. There are also improvements on the structured side of the house. Things like drag and drop in tables, resizable dialog boxes, mini TOCs (chapter-level TOC), and dialogs that effectively use type-ahead to ease navigation. There are other productivity improvements that we’ve been clamoring for in the new FrameMaker as well. While it can’t help teach SMEs to use a proper stylesheet, the new Word import function for FrameMaker 2015 mirrors RoboHelp’s Word import function, making mapping of consistent content a breeze. There’s still stuff here for you, too! Everyone dreads migrating content from one application to another, and Word is often the common thread in those experiences. So maybe your company is still producing single language documentation, delivering only print and PDF, and you expect to do so forevermore. In fact, licensing costs remain unchanged over the previous release–here’s a chart of the pricing available at time of writing. But along with easier, more intuitive editing, Adobe Technical Communication Suite (2015 Release) addresses emerging technology and reduces expense in a way that makes it a mistake to walk on by. The mandatory stuff was covered long ago and you don’t need the latest “anything” to do your job adequately. ![]() Your stuff will be just as “good” as it has been, but no better. You’ll rest easily, content in the fact that you’ve saved your company a thousand or maybe two thousand dollars. Using previous versions of Technical Communications Suite, you can create the same content you’ve been creating for years. Are there “I can’t live without this version” features in these applications? No, not really. With New Software, It’s Always the Bright and Shinyĭo you need to upgrade just because Adobe came out with a new version? No. As with any software upgrade there are new features that make your day-to-day work more pleasant and efficient. And there’s more to the overhaul than just a new name. Technical Communication Suite (2015 Release) brings with it updates to its two anchor applications, now known as FrameMaker 2015 and RoboHelp 2015. If software will save you more money than its initial cost, more than the monthly maintenance, or more than the cost of the upgrade, then you should buy it. The expensive part of the equation is us! So do I have your attention yet? Simple because at the end of the day, even if we like to gripe about it, the acquisition cost of software isn’t the expensive part of the documentation equation. Sometimes I’ve passed on a version, but mostly it’s been a simple decision. That means that roughly every 18 months, I’ve had to decide for myself or my employer whether I should pony up for the new version of my favorite software tools. I’ve spent better than 20 years working with Adobe software. But before I cover those big ticket features, I want to discuss some broader issues, things like cost, day-to-day feature enhancements, and the spiffy new RoboHelp user interface. If these items already loom large on your tech comm wish list, feel free to skip down to those sections. It’s here! A new version of Adobe Technical Communication Suite that takes aim at a huge current need (support for RTL languages, critical to localization), and reaches forward to address a rapidly emerging need, producing iOS (iPhone, iPad) and Android applications as well. ![]() Adobe Technical Communication Suite (2015 Release) Editor’s note: Want to learn more on Adobe Technical Communication Suite (2015 Release)? Check out our reviews by Willam Van Weelden covers RoboHelp (2015 Release), and Jacquie Samuels on FrameMaker (2015 Release).
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