moriarty@fluke.UUCP (Jeff Meyer) (10/07/85)
Some friends of mine who own an Apple ][ want to get a daisy-wheel printer
and a Word Processing program from their machine, and they asked my advice.
Having no experience in this area, any suggestions from you folks would be
greatly appreciated.
After discussing it with them, I believe they would like a WP program which
is fairly easy to use, but has capabilities for footnotes, etc. -- they have
two kids going into high school who want to use it for papers. Also, the
printer and WP program should be compatible :-).
Either mailing or postings are fine (the latter if you feel this might be of
general interest). Thank you very much in advance...
"But like the Good Book says... There's BIGGER DEALS to come!"
Moriarty, aka Jeff Meyer
UUCP:
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{cornell,decvax,ihnp4,sdcsvax,tektronix,utcsri}!uw-beaver -- !fluke!moriarty
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{microsoft,ssc-vax,telmatic,tikal,uw-vlsi} -/
ARPA:
fluke!moriarty@uw-beaver.ARPAmaciag@spar.UUCP (Chris Maciag) (10/09/85)
Wordstar is the best word processor for the Apple, but, you will have to get a Z80 card. Why is it better? 1) It is not protected: This means that it is possible to install for any type of printer, display etc. 2) There are many third party programs and tutorials for wordstar (like footnote, pair etc.). 3) Wordstar can be run on thousands of machines. With such a large market, Micropro could afford to put much more money into development than a maker of a "just apple" word processor. 4) Wordstar is not as hard as people claim. Sure, it is VERY powerful, and some of these powerful features are hard, but it is easy to learn enough for a school paper. (then again, I always thought unix was easy. 5) In this case, with high school students, wordstar would be the best to learn. Wordstar is a common program on college micros, so they will not have to learn another word processor. I hace no recomendations for daisy wheel printers, but, beware. Unless you want to spend a lot of money, you will get a very slow printer. Also, wordstar is easy, but the installation is not if you have bizzare equipment. I suggest a printer that emulates one that wordstar supports (like the diablo 1610). However, it is possible to install any printer. I have a Morrow (actaully a smith corona I think) that emulates a 1610. I also have an Epson, because the daisy wheel is so slow. -Chris
binder@dosadi.DEC (No matter where you go, there you are.) (10/10/85)
There still aren't a whole lot of WPs around for the Apple ][ and // machines
that are better than Applewriter. For a ][+, Applewriter ][, and for a //e or
//c, Applewriter 2.0 would be my recommendations. These programs are
reasonably easy to use in basic write-it-and-print-it modes of operation, yet
they have some quite sophisticatated features that allow for expansion of your
capabilities. The following comments reflect Applewriter ][, as I have a ][+
and too little cash to upgrade to a //e.
Applewriter works with 40 or 80 columns.
Applewriter doesn't care what kind of printer you have; if you want to send
special control characters to it, you insert them right into the text. This
insertion admittedly fouls up the fill-justification by counting your control
characters when building a line, but it does work, and the problem can be
worked around with a little creativity.
Applewriter allows page headers and footers, including incrementing page
numbers. You can set up yoor margins and paragraph layouts just about any way
you like.
Applewriter has footnoting capability, taking up to 256 characters per printed
page of footnotes. This isn't a huge amount of space, but it's adequate for
book-and-page references; if you want to write volumes of footnote material,
you're better off using end notes and not disrupting the flow of thought in
your paper.
Applewriter has an adjunct called WPL (Word Processing Language) that allows
you to build very powerful automation programs. I have one called Mailer,
which does mass mailings of form letters (like one of the WPL programs
included with Applewriter but more useful). Mailer will print as many copies
of each letter as you like; it generates and addresses an "envelope" in the
form of an extra page (you fold the pages all together and staple them
closed); and it allows you to personalise each individual letter by the
inclusion of an unlimited number of personalised strings of text which you
include in the mailing list.
I recommend Applewriter very highly; lesser programs don't do all the things I
need to do, and greater ones are too complex, or they require hardware that
you pay extra for, such as a Z80 card and an 80-column card.
Cheers,
Dick Binder (The Stainless Steel Rat)
UUCP: { most well-known nodes }!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-dosadi!binder
ARPA: binder%dosadi.DEC@decwrl.ARPAanthony@utcsstat.UUCP (Anthony Ayiomamitis) (10/13/85)
To: utcs!utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!ucbvax!decwrl!dec-rhea!dec-dosadi!binder
Subject: Re: Suggestions solicited for printer and WP software for Apple ][
References: <776@decwrl.UUCP>
dick, i would be interested in knowing how you "creatively" get around
the problem of control characters (for the printer) being counnted during line
fill-in.
many thanks. anthony.
--
{allegra,ihnp4,linus,decvax}!utzoo!utcsstat!anthony
{ihnp4|decvax|utzoo|utcsrgv}!utcs!utzoo!utcsstat!anthonygoldste@uthub.UUCP (Jack Goldstein) (10/14/85)
I've used both Apple Writer ][ and Wordstar quite a bit. I don't think either one compares to vi (as an editor) but, between the two of them, I definitely prefer WordStar. Apple Writer has a number of odd features which make it awkward to use. Jack Goldstein utcsri!uthub!goldste
ahby@meccts.UUCP (Shane P. McCarron) (10/15/85)
In article <776@decwrl.UUCP> binder@dosadi.DEC (No matter where you go, there you are.) writes: >There still aren't a whole lot of WPs around for the Apple ][ and // machines >that are better than Applewriter. For a ][+, Applewriter ][, and for a //e or >//c, Applewriter 2.0 would be my recommendations. Although Applewriter is a pretty powerful word processor, I find it much harder to use than AppleWorks. The word processor within AppleWorks has most of the features found in Applewriter, but is more friendly and easier to understand. The interface is very intuitive - you just sort of type and things happen. The printer interface is by far the best I have seen in any product for the Apple. It knows about all sorts of printers and cards, but if you have one which isn't there, you can define a custom printer and give it all the special codes it needs. Also, AppleWorks has a database and a spreadsheet built in. For my personal use, I find the spreadsheet to be useful - It would probably even be powerful enough for a small business. All in all, AppleWorks is an excellent package. It only functions on the //e, //e+, and //c - but that's what most Apple owners have anyway. -- Shane P. McCarron Minnesota Educational Computing Corporation - Technical Services UUCP ihnp4!dicomed!meccts!ahby
ben@moncol.UUCP (Bennett Broder) (10/16/85)
>All in all, AppleWorks is an excellent package. It only functions on >the //e, //e+, and //c - but that's what most Apple owners have >anyway. Not quite true. Videx sells a preboot disk that allows Appleworks to be used on an Apple II or Apple II Plus with a Videx 80 column card. Ben Broder
stoner@qumix.UUCP (Dave Stone) (10/16/85)
> All in all, AppleWorks is an excellent package. It only functions on > the //e, //e+, and //c - but that's what most Apple owners have > anyway. > > -- > > Shane P. McCarron > Minnesota Educational Computing Corporation - Technical Services Also I've seen several gizmos and gadgets available to use appleworks on a II+ +----------------+ / /| +----------------+ | | stoner@qumix | | | David A. Stone | | | Qume Corp. | + | San Jose, CA. |/ +----------------+