Does anyone use Grammarly?

[woody649]

Grammarly is a writing style and grammar checker. I guess it is also supposed to check spelling. There is a basic version that's free, and a paid version that adds more functions. I have seen glowing recommendations for it on authors' forums. I have a friend in Europe for whom English is a second (or third) language. He's very fluent, but his English is British English -- he attended university in England -- and he currently writes for a magazine/blog site whose primary audience is the United States. He uses Grammarly, and he has mentioned that he gets fewer complaints about his grammar and syntax since he started using it.

So I decided to try it. Multiple references to Grammarrly indicated that there is a free-standing, desktop version available. That's what I wanted; I don't need or want something lurking in memory, peering over my shoulder whenever I fire up a browser or open Microsoft Word. What I got was just what I didn't want: a resident app that's always running in the background, peering over my shoulder whenever I fire up a browser or open Microsoft Word.

So I uninstalled Grammarly, and in the dialogue box where they asked why I uninstalled it -- I told them.

Today I received an e-mail from Grammarly customer support, kindly informing me that, yes, there is indeed a freestanding desktop app, and providing me a link from which to download it. So I downloaded it and installed it, and immediately found a Grammarly icon popping up in my browser window. I started Word, opened a manuscript file, and found Grammarly lurking there, too.

The customer service guy sent me three links. One was supposed to be for a "freestanding desktop" version, another was supposed to be for the version that runs as a browser and Word extension. Turns out both links lead to downloading the exact same file.

I am not a happy camper. I don't like being lied to. I have [again] uninstalled Grammarly. I'm looking for alternatives, if anyone knows of any.

[terrie]

Maybe he wasn't lying but, inadvertently sent you the wrong link? Did you email back? I think the fact that they contacted you based on your feedback is almost extraordinary (not quite but...'-}}) so I'd cut them a bit of slack and ask again...



Also...just had another thought. I wonder if there is something set to start for the software at boot and if you turn that off, you might get what you want?


For that sort of thing, I find AutoRuns very useful. It's a handy-dandy free-standing (no Registry entries, no phoning home to Microsoft) tool that will allow you to see and control what's loaded at startup (the "Logon" tab) and what's being put into Task Scheduler (the "Scheduled Tasks" tab) behind your back--these 2 are the pieces I've found most useful.

Every software developer seems to think thattheir software absolutelytutly ('-}}) must load at boot when there is also absolutelytutly NO reason for it to be running all the time. I just UNcheck any of those items on the "Logon" tab--I don't use the "Everything" tab (usually the first tab on the left) because you can easily mistake what/where you are making changes. It's also gotten to be very common for developers to have stuff kick off behind your back which is why taking a look at the "Scheduled Tasks" tab can be informative--I UNcheck stuff there also...



Anyway...install it again and take a look and see if there is stuff starting at boot (or kicking off later) and if so, stop that and see if the software then works as you'd prefer...



Another thought...did you check the options within the software to see if there were options to "load software at boot" (or something like that) and/or options to add an internal link to Word and any browser?




Terrie

[Steve Rindsberg]

Word will check your grammar for you.

Trusting it is kinda like letting your car mechanic check the nuclear reactor in your basement, though.

[woody649]

Originally Posted by Steve Rindsberg

Word will check your grammar for you.

Trusting it is kinda like letting your car mechanic check the nuclear reactor in your basement, though.

Word won't check grammar for me ... because I long ago concluded that the grammar checker is brain dead and the people who programmed it must speak some obscure language as their first tongue. I keep Word's grammar checker disabled, and that's why I was interested in giving Grammarly a try.

Terrie: Nope, not gonna install it a third time. "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me." I have been shamed -- I don't need to repeat the mistake a third time.

[Andrew B.]

In case you change your mind about Grammarly, Task Manager has an autorun manager tab. But what I would look at first is whether Word has a plugin manager just as browsers do.

[Steve Rindsberg]

>> Word won't check grammar for me ...

Or perhaps more accurately, it will (or will attempt to) but make such a botch of it that you've exercised sane and reasonable judgement. And killed it. ;-)

[terrie]

woody: Nope, not gonna install it a third time.

No sense of adventure at all...




Terrie

[Steve Rindsberg]

Originally Posted by terrie

No sense of adventure at all...




Terrie

Just sense.

[terrie]

steve: Just sense.

I dunno...I can't stand not knowing, not fully exploring software to see if I can finagle it to do what I want it to do. It takes a lot to get me so pissed off at a software developer that I don't explorer the software as well as I can...



The above stated...


I know I'm weird...'-}}




Terrie

[woody649]

Originally Posted by terrie

I dunno...I can't stand not knowing, not fully exploring software to see if I can finagle it to do what I want it to do. It takes a lot to get me so pissed off at a software developer that I don't explorer the software as well as I can...

The above stated...

I know I'm weird...'-}}

Terrie

I must be weird, too, because I'm a software junkie. I enjoy trying out new programs (although I enjoyed it a lot more before they all started mucking up the registry with entries that persist after you have uninstalled the program. That's why I LUV programs that offer a "portable" version.). I think I gave Grammarly a fair shot. Hell, I installed it, uninstalled it, then downloaded and installed it again That's far more chance than it deserves, frankly.

It takes a bit of work to get me as upset with a software company as I am with Grammarly. It's no big deal that the software doesn't deliver what it promises. What jerked my chain is the nonsense about the desktop version that's not really a desktop version.

There's another company that recently irked me in similar fashion. By profession, I'm an architect. AutoCAD has priced itself completely out of the reach if retired olde phartes like me, so I have been investigating less expensive alternates. Found on that looked potentially promising. It has a couple of different tiers, so I started looking for a feature comparison. There is a version named "___ Deluxe," and another that's named "___ Deluxe LTE." The Deluxe LTE version sells for 50 bucks more the deluxe version. I wanted to see what's different, but their version comparison chart doesn't include the Deluxe LTE version.

So I contacted the sales department, and promptly received an e-mail with a link to the comparison chart that doesn't list the two versions I had explicitly said I wanted to compare. So I wrote back and explained that. The response was (and I quote):

"Deluxe = Deluxe LTE"

AAARRRGGGHHH!!! When I was in graduate school I had a professor, a Cuban refugee, whose catch phrase was, "So all thee time eez thee bery same thing, essept eez deeferent." And now I get the same thing from this software company. Okay, I only have a masters, not a PhD, so maybe I'm not very smart, but ... if they are the same thing, why do they have different names, and why does one cost $50 more than the other?