A fair question: Why not just use Microsoft Word with a Unicode Nastaleeq font?
| Feature | Urdu InPage 2007 | MS Word + Unicode (e.g., Jameel Noori) | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | Nastaleeq Quality | Professional, contextual shaping | Good, but often breaks on complex words | | Page Layout | DTP-level (columns, master pages) | Basic word processing | | Print Industry Standard | Yes (Used by newspapers) | No (Printer errors common) | | Compatibility | Proprietary (.INP) | Universal (.DOCX) | | Learning Curve | Medium (requires training) | Low (familiar interface) | | Tashkeel (Diacritics) | Excellent control | Poor display in many fonts |
The Verdict: For simple letters or school assignments, MS Word is fine. For professional publishing, Urdu InPage 2007 remains unbeaten as of 2025.
The writing is on the wall. Windows 11 is slowly dropping support for 32-bit legacy components. macOS users cannot run InPage 2007 at all without virtual machines (Parallels or VMware). The future lies in cross-platform, web-based solutions.
However, until a tool emerges that perfectly renders Noori Nastaleeq and offers professional DTP features, Urdu InPage 2007 will remain in use. Some innovative startups are working on WebAssembly (Wasm) versions of InPage, but it will take years to replicate the rendering engine.
Advice for New Users: If you are learning Urdu desktop publishing today, start with InPage 2007. Learn its quirks, master its keyboard shortcuts, and understand its layout logic. Even if you eventually move to another tool, the skills you gain from InPage 2007 are transferable to any RTL publishing environment.
Once you learn the CRULP phonetic keyboard (or standard InPage keyboard), you can type fast — without lifting fingers for weird key combos. Plus, it supports ligatures automatically (e.g., ‘لا’ as a single joined form).
| Feature | InPage 2007 | MS Word | Adobe InDesign |
| :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- |
| Nastaliq Support | ✅ Excellent | ❌ Poor (Naskh only) | 🟡 Good (requires plugins) |
| Ease of Use | ✅ Medium | ✅ Easy | ❌ Hard |
| Cost | Low / Freemium | Paid (Subscription) | Paid (Expensive) |
| File Format | .inp (Proprietary) | .docx | .indd |
| Best For | Newspapers, Books | Home letters | Magazines |
InPage 2007 introduced support for importing and exporting multiple formats:
The single biggest selling point of InPage 2007 is its font engine. Before widespread Unicode adoption, typing Urdu was a visual nightmare. InPage solved this by licensing the Noori Nastaliq font.