FAQ

TODO: This FAQ needs to have a lot of things worked on. To avoid clutter from repeated TODO tags, just note missing answers with "...", and put notes about missing information in parentheses. (See: To-Do List)

Is ConTeXt free (open source) software?

Yes. See the Read Me page for details.

Does ConTeXt support Unicode?

Yes. It supports Unicode (utf-8) input, with the \enableregime[utf] command. See also Encodings and Regimes (This needs a bit of elaboration!)

Why does \startalignment[right] or \framed[align=right]{some text} align my text left instead of right and vice versa?

This is for backward compatibility with older versions; see Right and left. Hans was originally thinking of "ragged right" and "ragged left" alignment. Use flushleft and flushright instead.

What are the advantages of ConTeXt over LaTeX?

ConTeXt is a macro package that’s far more advanced than LaTeX. You can enhance LaTeX with third party packages, but not all macro packages work together with each other. ConTeXt is an integrated, powerful and flexible macro package for which you seldom need third party packages. ConTeXt also has been used to create large and complex on-screen documents, including hyperlinks, on screen buttons, forms, cross-document links, and so on.

Source: LaTeX in proper ConTeXt (by Berend de Boer)