I tried out the Equation Editor because Bob Matthews suggested I try MathType, a third-party equation editor add-on for Microsoft Word. But I’m glad to know that Word can typeset equations well and that the process is easier than I thought. I’ve used LaTeX for many years and I can typeset equations very quickly using it. I still prefer using LaTeX for documents containing math symbols. Here are a few more examples of Equation Editor output. I haven’t used it much, but the Equation Editor seems to be more capable and easier to use than I thought. Also, I did not tell Word to format “sin” and “cos” one way and “x” another or tell it what font to use I simply typed sin^2 x + cos^2 x = 1 into the Equation Editor and it formatted the result as above. The prose in this example is set in Calibri font and the Equation Editor uses Cambria Math font. Note that the “x” in the third version is not the same as the italic “x” in the second version. In the following example, I set the same equation three times: using ordinary text, using ordinary italic for the “x”, and finally using the Equation Editor. Word documents usually do not, but only because folks usually do not use the Equation Editor.
Microsoft’s Equation Editor typesets math correctly. The conventions of math typography give clues that help readers distinguish, for example, the English indefinite article “a” from a variable named “a” and to distinguish the symbol for maximum from the product of variables “m”, “a”, and “x.” I imagine most people do not consciously notice these conventions - I never noticed until I learned to use LaTeX - but subconsciously notice when the conventions are violated. Also, word-like symbols such as “log” or “cos” are not set in italics. For example, mathematical symbols are set in an italic font that is not quite the same as the italic font used in prose.
LaTeX produces ugly math too when people do not use it correctly, though this happens less often. I realize now that the problem is that most people writing math in Word are not using the Equation Editor.
But the fault lies with users, like myself, not with Word. I’ve long said that math written in Word is ugly, and it usually is. I don’t remember what version I’d tried before. I tried it again recently and was pleasantly surprised. It was hard to use and produced ugly output. I tried to use the Equation Editor in Microsoft Word years ago and hated it.
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