Microsoft Word

There may be more suitable text editors to produce technical documentation, but the spelling and grammar checker of Microsoft Word is definitely among the best and even better than most standalone checkers. This is especially striking for the English language. As most authoring tools are able to export Word or RTF files, importing them to Word for a check might be a bit uncomfortable but a viable solution.

Note: In German, things are a bit different. Here, especially DUDEN Korrektor is more reliable.

http://www.microsoft.com

DUDEN Korrektor

For German text. Available versions for Microsoft Word, OpenOffice, FrameMaker and InDesign.

Price: approx. €20 (Microsoft Word / OpenOffice); approx. €100 (FrameMaker); approx. €200 (InDesign)

http://www.duden.de

http://shop.cognitas.de

CorrectEnglish

Easy to use. Provides excellent results but needs internet connection to work. May therefore not be suitable to process confidential data.

Price: approx. $199 for a one year subscription, $259 for a five year subscription

http://www.vantageonlinestore.com

StyleWriter

Price: approx. £110

http://www.editorsoftware.com

WhiteSmoke

Very easy to use with a nice and clear user interface. Needs internet connection to work. May therefore not be suitable to process confidential data. The "text enrichment" feature may be counterproductive when used for technical documentation, as it may suggest to use longer, more complex word and sentences, and to use different words for the same thing. Some reviews of this software report rather aggressive marketing such as windows popping up repeatedly in an annoying way when you do not upgrade the software – even after you have bought the full license.

Price: approx. $80 up to $250

http://www.whitesmoke.com

ClearEdits

Price: approx. $80

http://www.clearwriter.com

RightWriter

Price: approx. $30

http://www.right-writer.com

Serenity Editor

Puts an emphasis on omitting unnecessary words.

Price: approx. $75

http://www.serenity-software.com

Writer's Workbench

Rather complex with a vast scope of different analyses. Requires English versions of Microsoft Word and Windows.

Price: approx. $100

http://www.emo.com

PerfectIt

Price: approx. $90

http://www.intelligentediting.com

Simplus

Checker for Simplified English.

Price: approx. $295; plus optional $145 (XML plugin), $495 (FrameMaker Plugin)

http://www.linguatechnologies.com

CLAT Tools

Controlled Language Authoring Technology Utilities.

Price: upon request

http://www.iai-sb.de

cognitas TermControl für Adobe FrameMaker

Terminology checker (in German).

Price: approx. €70

http://shop.cognitas.de

cognitas Language Checker für Adobe FrameMaker

Generates word lists and checks for unallowed words. Can be used to enforce the use of simplified English, e.g. Software available in German.

Price: approx. €300

http://shop.cognitas.de

TippyTerm

Terminology database (web site and software in German). With a click of the mouse, displays translations and optional meta data, and inserts the correct expression into your document.

Price: approx. €179

http://syskon.com/index.php?tippyterm

SDL Author Assistant for Adobe FrameMaker

Checks text for writing style and terminology issues.

Price: free

http://www.adobe.com/downloads/

docuterm

Basic terminology checker, integrated into Microsoft Word.

Price: approx. €299

http://www.gds.eu

MAXit Checker

Monitors technical texts for compliance to Controlled English or ASD-STE100 Simplified Technical English. There are versions available for FrameMaker, Word, Arbortext, XMetal and UltraXML.

Price: upon request

http://www.smartny.com/maxit.htm

[i]-match

Terminology and consistency tools and checkers. For Word, FrameMaker and XML editors. In German.

Price: upon request

http://www.i-match.itl.info

Lingo

Terminology list creation utility.

Price: approx. €80

http://www.lexicool.com

evoTerm

Web-based terminology management.

Price: approx. €90 per year

http://www.evoterm.net

TermWeb

Web-based terminology management system.

Price: upon request

http://www.interverbumtech.com

HyperSTE

Quality assurance software for standardized documentation. Ensures compliance with corporate terminology and style guide rules.

Price: upon request

http://www.simplifiedenglish.net

Acronyms Master

Creates tables of all acronyms used within a Microsoft Word document.

Price: approx. $85 (Pro); approx. $49 (Lite)

http://www.acronyms-master.com

XMLglossary

MS-Excel-based glossary and terminology database with PDF and HTML export (in German).

Price: free

http://axitd.doc-x.org/product_main.html

LookUp

Terminology web platform.

Price: upon request

http://www.dog-gmbh.com

TermWiki

Collaborative terminology platform.

Price: free basic version (Open Source); professional version approx. $399 per user per year

http://www.csoftintl.com/termwiki.php

TextSTAT

Reads text files, Word files, OpenOffice files and HTML files (can spider a whole web site) and generates word frequency lists and concordances from these files.

Price: free (Open Source)

http://neon.niederlandistik.fu-berlin.de/en/textstat/