Efficient and... free!

WordFast is the brainchild of Frenchman Yves Champollion. He didn't have to stretch his imagination too far. The overall concept of WordFast is very similar to that of Trados Workbench. Actually, it looks like a Workbench copycat, with all the Trados macros less Workbench or any executable. It is entirely made of MS Word macros, running on no executable file except Word itself. It is still early to say whether that is an advantage or disadvantage. Trados's Workbench handles certain operations faster and better, but the mere idea of getting rid of the executable and keeping just the macros is a welcome relief. The use of screen space is maximized and, with one less executable file, there is a much smaller chance that the computer will crash. WordFast is the most recently created tool among all the ones I describe in this site, and it still has time to improve and match Workbench. Actually, it was an unfinished product until a few months ago. For a long time I assumed it was distributed freely because it was not finished, but now I am prone to believing that this is not the case. Wordfast evolved and works well enough to be sold, but Yves insists on distributing it for free. The pressure of the need for more efficiency pushed me away from it, so I don't know how much more it has been improved ever since. The mere fact that it is free is a remarkable quality already, as the software market is full of unfinished products being sold at very high prices as if they were actually finished. WordFast is not ashamed of being "beta", and assumes its condition open-heartedly. Many glitches still have to be fixed, but it is ready to be used without great hassle. Notwithstanding its transient drawbacks, WordFast brought a most welcome surprise: the ability to handle Excel spreadsheets and PowerPoint presentations. Big-league and sophisticated programs, like Déjàvu and SDLX, could not do that until not so long ago. The Trados suite has an application for handling PowerPoint presentations, but it is awfully slow. WordFast steps in already doing it all, using nothing but Word macros and with great performance. The funny thing is that it is achieved by means of an integration method that is native to the MS Office suite itself, that Trados Workbench could have used but never did, I don't know why. WordFast can import translation memories from all versions of Trados until version 5 and memories exported into the TMX format. It stores its own memories in plain text format, which can be exported to the TMX format. It is also perfectly capable of mimicking Trados Workbench's segmentation codes, hence its great capacity to handle memories exported by Workbench and pre-segmented projects that require use of Trados. A rumor has been spread that WordFast is one of the strongest reasons why Trados decided to encrypt memories created with Workbench from version 5 up, so as to stop translators from choosing to work with WordFast and force them to purchase Trados products. That may not be true, but makes sense. Free distribution, reasonably good performance and great capacity to handle Excel and PowerPoint is enough to make it a virtually mandatory item to any translator, even those who already use other tools. A lot of people is already getting used to it, and could forsake Trados's programs sometime, while others considering buying Trados could realize that WordFast delivers and therefore abandon the idea of buying Trados. I don't know how much these assumptions are accurate, but I have no doubts about the fact that WordFast is serious competition to Trados's programs.

How it works: WordFast is a group of macros that interact directly from inside MS Word. It sports a small tool bar with buttons, but it makes more sense using the shortcut keys, which can be modified by the user. An empty memory file must be created or an existing memory must be imported, along with a glossary if so is desired, both in non-formatted text (*.TXT). Beyond that point, the user spends most of their time just pressing the ALT and arrow down keys to close each translated segment and open the next one. All that it takes to translate a spreadsheet is open the spreadsheet in Excel and create a new blank document in Word. The content of each cell in the spreadsheet is displayed as a segment in the Word document. When the segment is translated and closed, the translation is automatically sent to the cell in Excel. Excel can remain minimized or even hidden almost all the time. The same method is used with PowerPoint presentations. WordFast also lets you find any word or phrase in the glossary that is currently active and, if it is found, a combination of keys makes the word or phrase be replaced with its respective translation. When the job is done, one single command cleans the document, removing all segmentation marks.

Strong points:

• So far, it is free;
  
• those who enjoy working directly on MS Word will feel at home with WordFast. Typing in it feels very good, especially with the use of AutoText, macros and other nice Word features.
  
• it does not require any preparation process, unlike some of the other tools. You can just open the document in Word, Excel or PowerPoint and start translating.
  
• extremely small and light (but not always fast);
  
• if Word crashes the whole outfit crashes, but WordFast itself cannot crash because it doesn't have any executable files;
  
• if Word crashes, it's easy to recover the document, with practically all the work that has been done so far;
  
• it's a simple and somewhat limited tool, but easier to use than any other one;
  
• it works with Excel and PowerPoint, and works just fine. I've never been able to make it work with PowerPoint, but many people swear that it works;
  
• checks the correct application of existing terms in a glossary, and stops incorrect translations already anticipated by the translator or by a project manager from being used in the project;
  
• doesn't get in the way of the clipboard;
  
• very easy creation and maintenance of glossaries;
  
• the user manual is simple, clear and easy to understand;
  

Weak points:

• WordFast is not ready. So far, what is available for download is a beta version, with several small glitches that need to be fixed;
  
• for those who hate working in Word, Word itself could be the worst drawback. All work is done directly in Word, with all the formatting visible all the time.
  
• some people have many problems trying to use Word, and WordFast will always be affected by these problems.
  
• it can preserve the formatting of the segments as they are translated, but it's not fail-safe. Problems with formatting are always bound to occur, and when that happens the translator has to correct the formatting manually. Whoever's had to tackle this kind of problem knows that it is usually easier said than done.
  
• it cannot handle DTP files, unless some filter or another program capable of performing a conversion or temporary import operation is applied on the file before it is translated;
  
• the pre-translation process is very slow;
  
• the pre-segmentation process is slow, and doesn't work very well;
  
• the "fuzzy match" identification color system doesn't work well;
  
• some way of closing a segment without adding it to the memory is missed;
  
• its glossary is good for lookups, but not for pre-translation. In pre-translation, it translates the whole segments as they are recognized, but does not apply replacement of singled out terms contained in the segments;
  
• it might have some incompatibility issue with WordFisher. Apparently, all problems have been fixed, but life is full of surprises;
  
• when opening a non-recognized segment, it may fail to copy the original text automatically;
  
• use of a confusing and superfluous feature that changes the user's viewing preferences in Word.
  

Supported formats on August 09, 2001:

• Microsoft Word (including Word 2000);
  
• Microsoft Excel;
  
• Microsoft PowerPoint;
  
• Microsoft Access;
  
• Trados pre-segmented files.
  

*Price: FREE