RASCAL - Word or Publisher

This depends upon the complexity of the newsletter. If you are just sending out textual information, or there are very few pictures, and the formatting is not complicated, then there is no problem with using Word. It is fast and easy to use. However, as the formatting requirements get more complicated, a publisher is more appropriate and will save you a lot of time in the long run.

There are some things that Publisher is just a lot better at than Word: organizing information in columns, placement of pictures in the flow of text and continuing articles on another page or other pages, are just a few. Though it takes a bit of learning on how to utilize the features of Publisher, you can pick up enough very quickly to put together first-class documents. Your Word familiarity is not wasted. You can always generate your articles and insert preliminary formatting in Word and then import the results into your Publisher template. This is especially helpful when you are bringing together articles from several different sources.

By the way, Word is not the only "word processor" available, and MS Publisher is not the only "document publisher" around. If you wish choose a different pair of products, be sure that they are compatible.