MS Word is evil! Is there a good alternative? [closed]

Question

As a developer I really don't like writing documentation but when I have to I'd like to make the process as painless as possible.

The problem with Word is that it constantly gets in my way. I worry more about the layout than about the actual content ... that's why I'd like to get rid of Word.

Ideally I'd like to write my content and then 'compile' it into a document.

I've heard of LaTeX but I don't have any experience with it whatsoever. Would this be the right technology for the job? What editor (Windows) should I use? Is it a good idea to start with LyX?

EDIT: I'm not asking about documenting code (I use Sandcastle for that).

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Update 2014:

We have now switched to GFM (GitHub Flavored Markdown).

• It's really easy to work with.
• Write code & documentation in the same IDE!
• Everything can be versioned!
• Get great output either as raw txt, html or pdf!

Answer 1

My solution to this was to invest some time in creating a decent Word Template for myself.

The important thing to do is make sure you have a Style defined for everything you can put in the document.

Once you have all the Styles defined and all of the document content tagged with the correct Style instead of formatted in an ad hoc fashion, you'll be surprised how easy it is to produce good looking Word documents quickly every time.

The wider problem here is that everyone spends hours in Word and yet it is very rare for companies to invest in Word training. At some point you have to bite the bullet and take the time to teach yourself how to use it properly, just like you would with any other tool.

Answer 2

Anything you can do with LyX you can do with LaTeX. LaTeX is suitable for all sorts of things; it has been used for everything from manuals to lecture slides to novels.

I think LaTeX is probably worth looking into as an option; if you've ever wanted to "code" for your word processor, LaTeX is for you. At the simplest level you can define new commands to do things for you, but there's a lot of power there. And the output looks really neat.

In my opinion, LyX is fantastic in certain circumstances, handy in others, and occasionally just gets in your way. I think it should be seen as a productivity booster for LaTeX. In other words, learn to use LaTeX before trying LyX. Both are of course free and available for Windows, though the learning curve is quite steep compared with MS Word. For long documents, or plenty of similar documents, LaTeX/LyX is probably a worthwhile investment.