Word vs. LaTeX

Writing longer scientific documents requires more from the text processing software than common writing tasks. For us scientists its worth thinking about which piece of software will give us the best results in the least amount of time. Speed usually comes with routine, in most cases that would be Microsoft Word. But in some cases it might actually save us time and produce better text documents if we use LaTeX, even if you still have to learn. The table below may help you to make a decision which piece of software is most appropriate for your task at hand.

Comparison of Word and Latex

	MS Word	LaTeX
area
speed small docs
speed big docs w graphics
ease of use
layout quality
scientific features
price + availability