| Pages in topic: [1 2] > | Kilgray MemoQ - a feasible alternative? Thread poster: Huub Stegeman
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Hi all,
After many years of using both SLDX and Trados, I feel the need to look for something else.
SDLX still isn't the best of CAT-tools, because it doesn't support unclean Word-files, nor is it likely it ever will.
Trados has considerable problems when used under Windows 7, and it looks like SDL isn't going to solve these, because they would like us to switch to SDLX anyway!
I have been looking at some alternatives: Heartsome, Across and K... See more Hi all,
After many years of using both SLDX and Trados, I feel the need to look for something else.
SDLX still isn't the best of CAT-tools, because it doesn't support unclean Word-files, nor is it likely it ever will.
Trados has considerable problems when used under Windows 7, and it looks like SDL isn't going to solve these, because they would like us to switch to SDLX anyway!
I have been looking at some alternatives: Heartsome, Across and Kilgray MemoQ.
At the moment I am most impressed by the features described for the latter. Have any of you worked with this programme? Is it really 100% compatible with the old and the new industry standards set by SDLX, Trados, Transit etc.?
Does it behave well under Windows 7?
Please share your experiences here!
Thnx
Huub Stegeman
Doggersbank Vertalingen
[Edited at 2010-08-18 13:00 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Susan Welsh 
United States
Local time: 17:21
Russian to English
+ ...
| second-hand reports | Aug 18, 2010 |
Quite a few well-qualified people seem to love MemoQ (e.g., search in the archive for Kevin Lossner's posts). I have been trying it out and find it hard to learn, but then I don't know Trados, so for a Trados-user it may be easier. My CAT tool of choice is the infinitely simpler OmegaT. I find MemoQ similar to Across, which I finally gave up on out of general dislike (slowness, memory hogging, complexity, problems with new install). Your best bet is to download a 45-day trial and try it yourself... See more Quite a few well-qualified people seem to love MemoQ (e.g., search in the archive for Kevin Lossner's posts). I have been trying it out and find it hard to learn, but then I don't know Trados, so for a Trados-user it may be easier. My CAT tool of choice is the infinitely simpler OmegaT. I find MemoQ similar to Across, which I finally gave up on out of general dislike (slowness, memory hogging, complexity, problems with new install). Your best bet is to download a 45-day trial and try it yourself. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Kevin Fulton
United States
Local time: 17:21
German to English
| Generally satisfied | Aug 18, 2010 |
I've been a DejaVu (later DVX) user since 1997, and a Trados user since 1999. I started using MemoQ about a year ago. I've used it on a few projects requiring Trados TagEditor and have not had any serious compatibility issues (however, I use K Lossner's "round trip" method of verifying the final output in TagEditor). MemoQ has a number of features that translating faster than with TagEditor, especially with respect to frequently recurring terminology (assemble feature). I wish they had a project... See more I've been a DejaVu (later DVX) user since 1997, and a Trados user since 1999. I started using MemoQ about a year ago. I've used it on a few projects requiring Trados TagEditor and have not had any serious compatibility issues (however, I use K Lossner's "round trip" method of verifying the final output in TagEditor). MemoQ has a number of features that translating faster than with TagEditor, especially with respect to frequently recurring terminology (assemble feature). I wish they had a project-specific lexicon like DVX (this feature allows you to insert project-specific terminology such as product/brand names, customer-specific terminology that you might not want to be part of your standard TM).
MemoQ support is first-class, and the developers are constantly improving the product. They seem to have learned from their competitors' missteps. They frequently offer webinars aimed at all levels of users.
On the negative side, I've found some of the file importing procedures to be counter-intuitive and confusing, and some of the items in the drop-down menus are not where I might expect them.
The 45-day trial period is generous, allowing you to try the program on a couple of projects. You should be aware of their upgrade policy -- you get free upgrades and support for a year, after which time you pay a fee to receive continued support/upgrades. ▲ Collapse
| | | | Gyula Erdesz
Hungary
Local time: 23:21
Member (2009)
English to Hungarian
+ ...
| MemoQ is a lovable and customizable all-rounder | Aug 18, 2010 |
Dear Huub,
I have been using CAT tools for eight years. I started with Transit XV and Trados 2006 and now I am using Transit NXT and Trados Studio 2009. Or rather used, because since I have found and bought memoQ, I use this sw almost exclusively.
General opinion:
MemoQ is a handy, extremely user friendly tool. I especially love its terminology management part and the customizable quality assurance tools. The program is quite small (its footprint is only 52 MB, co... See more Dear Huub,
I have been using CAT tools for eight years. I started with Transit XV and Trados 2006 and now I am using Transit NXT and Trados Studio 2009. Or rather used, because since I have found and bought memoQ, I use this sw almost exclusively.
General opinion:
MemoQ is a handy, extremely user friendly tool. I especially love its terminology management part and the customizable quality assurance tools. The program is quite small (its footprint is only 52 MB, comparing to footprint of Trados 2009 which is 980 MB), but its performance is at least equal to its rivals'. I regularly work with huge TMs and glossaries, but never had any problems with the procesing speed.
Compatibility:
100% compatibility with Transit XV and NXT, you can simply import the project package files, process them, and then provide your client with the needed output package.
As far as I know, you can not import Trados 2009 Studio package files into memoQ yet.
98% compatibility with Trados 2007. The sw can handle .ttx files, but before you import .ttx files, you need to pretranslate them in Trados, using an empty TM. This is quite a drawback, since you eventually need an active Trados 2006 or 2007 license to process .ttx files in memoQ. Bad news if one wants to get rid off SDL entirely. Another solution can be if you ask your client to do this trick for you.
Support:
I experienced some minor probems with the settings, and they helped me in an extremely fast and helpful manner. Google it! MemoQ's support is legendary among translators.
All in all, memoq definitely worths a try. Go ahead!
Cheers
Gyula
memoQ user / (hopefully) well qualitfied translator
[Módosítva: 2010-08-18 14:59 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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Huub Stegeman wrote:
Trados has considerable problems when used under Windows 7, and it looks like SDL isn't going to solve these, because they would like us to switch to SDLX anyway!
I don't have Win7 but soon I will, so this is of interest for me. What sort of problems are there in your opinion?
Also, I don't know what you mean by "they would like us to switch to SDLX". Perhaps you mean that Trados 7 and 2007 have issues on Win7 and SDL would like us to switch to Studio (which is not at all the same thing as SDLX)?
| | | | Huub Stegeman
Local time: 23:21
English to Dutch
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | Pretranslation | Aug 18, 2010 |
Thanks for your comments!
What do you mean by pre-translation, though?
[Edited at 2010-08-18 15:16 GMT]
| | | | Gyula Erdesz
Hungary
Local time: 23:21
Member (2009)
English to Hungarian
+ ...
| pretranslation | Aug 18, 2010 |
Dear Huub,
Pretranslation means in this case:
1, create an empty TM in Trados 2007 with the language codes of your .ttx files.
2, in Workbench/tools/translate option check Segment Unknown Sentences checkbox and then translate the fie with the newly created empty TM.
3, import the file into memoQ and translate it.
4, there is NO need for any postprocessing in Trados, you can send back the completed .ttx to your client.
... See more Dear Huub,
Pretranslation means in this case:
1, create an empty TM in Trados 2007 with the language codes of your .ttx files.
2, in Workbench/tools/translate option check Segment Unknown Sentences checkbox and then translate the fie with the newly created empty TM.
3, import the file into memoQ and translate it.
4, there is NO need for any postprocessing in Trados, you can send back the completed .ttx to your client.
If you leave the above process out and import the .ttx file directly into memoQ, it will not be able to read the file correctly and simply leaves some segments out and changes the tags of the file. The result is an unsatisfied client. Believe me
Kind regards,
Gyula
[Módosítva: 2010-08-18 15:17 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Huub Stegeman
Local time: 23:21
English to Dutch
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER
I see, nothing too dramatic, I guess.
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| Not dramatic | Aug 18, 2010 |
Huub Stegeman wrote:
I see, nothing too dramatic, I guess.
Not dramatic, but in a way it forces you to have a license (a freelance is enough) of Trados 2007 or Studio 2009. We in our team use MemoQ Server as our main tool and would love to open TTX files directly without pretranslation. Other than that, MemoQ is a lovely tool which has meant a big push to our productivity.
(Edited for a typo).
[Edited at 2010-08-18 19:36 GMT]
| | | | Huub Stegeman
Local time: 23:21
English to Dutch
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | What i meant | Aug 19, 2010 |
FarkasAndras wrote: Huub Stegeman wrote:
Trados has considerable problems when used under Windows 7, and it looks like SDL isn't going to solve these, because they would like us to switch to SDLX anyway!
I don't have Win7 but soon I will, so this is of interest for me. What sort of problems are there in your opinion? Also, I don't know what you mean by "they would like us to switch to SDLX". Perhaps you mean that Trados 7 and 2007 have issues on Win7 and SDL would like us to switch to Studio (which is not at all the same thing as SDLX)?
Hi,
What I meant was that both Workbench and TagEditor fail to 'see' the last letter of a word in front of a tag under Windows 7. This is a problem for spellchecking. In a situation like "problem", it will tell you that there is a spellling mistake because you've typed "proble". Same thing occurs when you want to select the word for concordance search or for deletion.
As for SDL wanting us to switch to SLDX rather than Trados: SDLX and Trados used to be competitors, until SDL bought Trados. Now they've brought out a new version of SDLX (2009) together with basically the same old version of Trados. Ergo: they're not updating Trados anymore. Moreover, their new SDLX doesn't produce 'unclean' word files, which in some parts of the translation market are the de facto standard, once set by Trados. To me that spells: SDL wants to get rid of Trados in favoru of their original product SDLX.
As for Windows 7 in general: DO switch to it. It is the first operating system by MS that actually does what it should do!
| | | | | Come yet again, will you? | Aug 19, 2010 |
Huub Stegeman wrote:
Hi,
What I meant was that both Workbench and TagEditor fail to 'see' the last letter of a word in front of a tag under Windows 7. This is a problem for spellchecking. In a situation like "problem", it will tell you that there is a spellling mistake because you've typed "proble". Same thing occurs when you want to select the word for concordance search or for deletion.
That error sounds really bad. I do have a friend with Win7 and an older version of Trados, I'll check how it works for her. (BTW I'd say Workbench can't possibly be the cause of the problem for the simple reason that it has nothing to do with spell checking at all... you're working in Word, the spell checking is done by Word. Workbench doesn't even need to be installed on the computer, unless I'm horribly mistaken.) Tageditor may be a different story.
Huub Stegeman wrote:
As for SDL wanting us to switch to SLDX rather than Trados: SDLX and Trados used to be competitors, until SDL bought Trados. Now they've brought out a new version of SDLX (2009) together with basically the same old version of Trados. Ergo: they're not updating Trados anymore. Moreover, their new SDLX doesn't produce 'unclean' word files, which in some parts of the translation market are the de facto standard, once set by Trados. To me that spells: SDL wants to get rid of Trados in favoru of their original product SDLX.
Well, that's just wrong. I don't know when SDL last updated SDLX, but their current flagship product is Trados Studio. It looks a bit like SDLX, but it's certainly not called SDLX. I'm reasonably sure it replaced SDLX in SDL's product lineup, but I don't think it carries on too much of the look and feel, use paradigm or code of SDLX - it's certainly more than a rebadged and slightly updated SDLX, and even if it was, it would be pretty misleading to call it SDLX.
Calling Studio (what you call SDLX) just a rebadged version of the old Trados is also quite odd, given that Studio is as big a departure from Workbench as translation software can make: from integration with Word, they moved to a two-panel side-by-side standalone interface; they moved from one main CAT category to the other. This big departure is the cause of your problem: because Studio is not a Word "extension" but a standalone program, it doesn't produce bilingual Word files.
[Edited at 2010-08-19 21:16 GMT]
| | | | Huub Stegeman
Local time: 23:21
English to Dutch
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | I'll explain | Aug 20, 2010 |
I'm talking about workign in TagEditor, not Word. The reason I also mention Workbench, is because I discovered the same behaviour there when I doubleclicked a word in front of a tag there to do a concordance search. That tells me the problem isn't just limited to spellchecking or TagEditor.
As for the question what Studio exactly is, SLDX or Trados, you're probably right. Still, why have they abandoned the 'unclean' format when so many agencies still want that from their translators... See more I'm talking about workign in TagEditor, not Word. The reason I also mention Workbench, is because I discovered the same behaviour there when I doubleclicked a word in front of a tag there to do a concordance search. That tells me the problem isn't just limited to spellchecking or TagEditor.
As for the question what Studio exactly is, SLDX or Trados, you're probably right. Still, why have they abandoned the 'unclean' format when so many agencies still want that from their translators. It's just impractical.
[Edited at 2010-08-20 09:48 GMT]
[Edited at 2010-08-20 09:50 GMT] ▲ Collapse
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| memoQ: a comfortable, safe "alternative" | Aug 20, 2010 |
Huub, no tool will offer you the perfect solution for every complicated project imaginable, and I see so much complex formatting that I often have no choice but to use some crazy combination of tools and methods. Nonetheless, at the present time, memoQ offers the best general functionality I've seen with any tool, and it is usually the most compatible with standards. When problems arise, the support team and developers deal with these in an exemplary manner. There's lots of information about all... See more Huub, no tool will offer you the perfect solution for every complicated project imaginable, and I see so much complex formatting that I often have no choice but to use some crazy combination of tools and methods. Nonetheless, at the present time, memoQ offers the best general functionality I've seen with any tool, and it is usually the most compatible with standards. When problems arise, the support team and developers deal with these in an exemplary manner. There's lots of information about all this in the ProZ forum archives, the "How To" tab of my profile (which I hope will still be there as I'll probably be re-subscribing late this year), the Yahoogroups memoQ forum and my blog just to mention a few sources.
I was very satisfied with the various combined workflows I had with Déjà Vu and Trados, and when I began looking at memoQ several years ago, it was more out of curiosity than need. What I saw at first was cute but not "ready for prime time". Since then I've see rapid improvement at an unmatched pace, so that for the full spectrum of its functions, the memoQ product line offers better value than any other commercial tool.
Yes, there are a few geeky, counter-intuitive bits that drive me crazy, and I would personally scrap their filtering system and re-do it from scratch. And I desperately want functions similar to the DVX Lexicon (under development I hear), only with major improvements. But the experience of nearly 3 years has shown me that I can trust the Kilgray team to do what is necessary or at least provide me with options to interface with other tools as required.
I wouldn't write off SDL Trados Studio 2009 entirely, as I have see many encouraging things, both technically and otherwise, in the past year. But although I am beginning to form a positive opinion of that software, compared to memoQ it's a resource hog, and the process compatibility with other tools is less. Important features like the RTF table exports of DVX and memoQ are also still missing; these are valuable for convenient commentary and review outside of the tool environment. Customers like that.
Oh, as far as the comparison with Across is concerned, I must disagree. I'm only experieced with Across v3 & v4, but the ergonomics of those versions are horrible compared to memoQ, and the basic philosophy of the two tools is radically different. memoQ is designed from the start for compatibility. Across is intended to be "closed off" to collaboration. This is a point I debated hotly with an Across rep at Localization World, who argued that customers "don't want" open standards and compatibility. That may be true of some, but I don't want those customers.
[Edited at 2010-08-20 10:36 GMT] ▲ Collapse
| | | | Huub Stegeman
Local time: 23:21
English to Dutch
+ ...
TOPIC STARTER | Thanks everyone | Aug 20, 2010 |
In the last 48 hours I've put my demo of MemoQ through all the different types of tasks I usually perform, and it did all of them wonderfully!
As a former interface developer/manual writer, I have a soft spot for software that is so intuitive that you don't really need the manual. MEmoQ is a good example of such a programme.
To top it all - it is almost as if they knew I was thinking about them - they're now offering 40% off.
I'm buying it!
Ch... See more In the last 48 hours I've put my demo of MemoQ through all the different types of tasks I usually perform, and it did all of them wonderfully!
As a former interface developer/manual writer, I have a soft spot for software that is so intuitive that you don't really need the manual. MEmoQ is a good example of such a programme.
To top it all - it is almost as if they knew I was thinking about them - they're now offering 40% off.
I'm buying it!
Cheers
Huub ▲ Collapse
| | | | | MemoQ Pro for USD 450 / EUR 362 until September 6 | Aug 21, 2010 |
Talking about whether MemoQ is a feasible alternative, one of the factors is price, I reckon. SDL Trados Studio 2009 SP2 (and I mean the freelance version) is priced at Eur 845 in their website.
Kilgray started an action yesterday meaning a discount of 40% off the list price. This discount will be the normal price for colleagues in the Latin American region. Quite impressive. This is the first company who does this I think.
Now, the special price (40% off) is available ... See more Talking about whether MemoQ is a feasible alternative, one of the factors is price, I reckon. SDL Trados Studio 2009 SP2 (and I mean the freelance version) is priced at Eur 845 in their website.
Kilgray started an action yesterday meaning a discount of 40% off the list price. This discount will be the normal price for colleagues in the Latin American region. Quite impressive. This is the first company who does this I think.
Now, the special price (40% off) is available to everyone until September 4th. It is a true deal, if you think that, after the purchase, you get 1 year of free updates (in the year I have been using MemoQ we have gone from 3.5 to 4.2.19, with remarkable improvements and new features).
It would be interesting to know whether the fee for updates (20% of the price every year) is based on the regular price or the discounted price. I have asked Kilgray here. ▲ Collapse
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