[texhax] latex vs. pdflatex

[Gerald Weber]

> The problem is, my users are using both latex and pdflatex, and I want
> to standardize on just one. In my experience, there are subtle
> differences and it is difficult to use the same .sty files for both

the main difference is that pdflatex loads the hyperref package by default. If 
you switch a lot between latex and pdflatex then you should load hyperref 
explicitly in your preamble. Then latex and pdflatex will behave exactly the 
same way. The additional advantage of doing that is that dvi viewers like 
kdvi (from KDE) will display the dvi with all hyperlinks enabled and 
browseable.

A word of advice: never take options away from your users unless you have some 
overwhelming reason to do so. Keep both: latex and pdflatex.

Gerald

-- 
Dr. Gerald Weber
Department of Physics and Astronomy
University of Southampton