parker@cs.wvu.wvnet.edu (James Parker) (09/25/90)
I am in the market for a good word processor, but it needs to have certain
features that I have come to appreciate through work on other platforms.
1. The Amiga has a mouse, so I want to be able to select text with it
to perform font changes, cut/paste, and formatting options. (More
like that junky word processor Apple makes. Can't remember the name
right now...)
2. True WYSIWYG. (Whatever that stands for!) I need to see how the margin
changes affect the text. Also, a bold, italicized, underlined, centered
title should have all these attributes appear on screen as they occur.
3. It needs to have a spell-checker! I am a very bad speller!
4. Should be able to output PostScript to a file so as to be able to be
printed from other platforms which are connected to PostScript printers.
5. A Thesaurus (sp?) would be nice, but it is not a necessity. As is a
grammar checker. Both features I can live without.
If anyone has had experience with a word processor that meets these specs,
please drop me a line. Even if you know of one that only comes close, I
appreciate hearing from you. If enough responses are received, I will
summarize and post to this newsgroup.
Thanks well in advance,
Parker
adin@math.ufl.edu (Adin Burroughs) (09/26/90)
Excellence, albeit a few years out of date is a great word processor that meets all of the requirements that you spoke of...I have used it for a while and love it...it even has a grammar checker in it...(it's cute and picks up the obvious stuff...) Anyone have anything to say 'bout PenPal V??.?? or ProWrite (3.0?) ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | | .Sig 1.1 under construction..... | | adb@beach.cis.ufl.edu | | adin@math.ufl.edu | | Iceman@circa.ufl.edu | | 'Tis better to have loved and | | lost than to have never loved at all........ | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
joseph@valnet.UUCP (Joseph P. Hillenburg) (09/26/90)
parker@cs.wvu.wvnet.edu (James Parker) writes: > > I am in the market for a good word processor, but it needs to have certain > features that I have come to appreciate through work on other platforms. > > 1. The Amiga has a mouse, so I want to be able to select text with it > to perform font changes, cut/paste, and formatting options. (More > like that junky word processor Apple makes. Can't remember the name > right now...) > > 2. True WYSIWYG. (Whatever that stands for!) I need to see how the margin > changes affect the text. Also, a bold, italicized, underlined, centered > title should have all these attributes appear on screen as they occur. > > 3. It needs to have a spell-checker! I am a very bad speller! > > 4. Should be able to output PostScript to a file so as to be able to be > printed from other platforms which are connected to PostScript printers. > > 5. A Thesaurus (sp?) would be nice, but it is not a necessity. As is a > grammar checker. Both features I can live without. > > > If anyone has had experience with a word processor that meets these specs, > please drop me a line. Even if you know of one that only comes close, I > appreciate hearing from you. If enough responses are received, I will > summarize and post to this newsgroup. > > Thanks well in advance, > > Parker > Try PenPal from Brown-Wagh, ProWrite from New Horizons, or KindWords from (I don't know who..I jsut used it at a friends house) -Joseph Hillenburg UUCP: ...iuvax!valnet!joseph ARPA: valnet!joseph@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu INET: joseph@valnet.UUCP
ifarqhar@sunc.mqcc.mq.oz.au (Ian Farquhar) (09/26/90)
In article <895@h.cs.wvu.wvnet.edu> parker@cs.wvu.wvnet.edu (James Parker) writes: > 2. True WYSIWYG. (Whatever that stands for!) I need to see how the margin What You See Is What You Get. Which is usually not what you wanted anyway :-) > 4. Should be able to output PostScript to a file so as to be able to be > printed from other platforms which are connected to PostScript printers. You have to be careful here. Because the Amiga does not support properly device independent graphics (that great double edged sword), many programs handle postscript poorly. Of particular note (for it's stupidity) is Excellence!, which just dumps a bitmap to the Postscript printer. I suppose this is WYSIWYG, you get what you see on the screen, at the same resolution, in the same horrible fonts. MSS should have been shot for that. So ask for samples of PS output to see the quality before you purchase, and if you know a little Postscript (which is a good idea) you might also like to scan through the resultant code just to see how well it is written. I have been known to throw out packages (especially those from MicroSoft on other platforms) because their PS code generation is so poor. -- Ian Farquhar Phone : 61 2 805-9403 Office of Computing Services Fax : 61 2 805-7433 Macquarie University NSW 2109 Also : 61 2 805-7205 Australia EMail : ifarqhar@suna.mqcc.mq.oz.au
rosenber@ra.abo.fi (Robin Rosenberg INF) (09/26/90)
>many programs handle postscript poorly. Of particular note (for it's >stupidity) is Excellence!, which just dumps a bitmap to the Postscript >printer. I suppose this is WYSIWYG, you get what you see on the screen, >at the same resolution, in the same horrible fonts. MSS should have >been shot for that. Excellence! outputs postscript code with real postscript fonts if you select one of its postscript fonts. If you select a non-postscript fonts (that is one for which excellence doesn't have a .metric file) it will naturally output bitmaps since that's the best that can be done in that case. You can't seriously expect it to use a postscript font for Topaz, can you? ---- Robin Rosenberg
lhotka@incstar.uucp (Glamdring) (09/27/90)
In article <90268.153246UH2@psuvm.psu.edu>, UH2@psuvm.psu.edu (Lee Sailer) writes: > In article <895@h.cs.wvu.wvnet.edu>, parker@cs.wvu.wvnet.edu (James Parker) > says: > >> 4. Should be able to output PostScript to a file so as to be able to be >> printed from other platforms which are connected to PostScript printers. > > Few (any?) Amiga *word processors* have PostScript output, though the DTP > packages do. Commodore seems to be moving toward the lesser known but > similar Compugraphics outline font standard (about which you now know all > I know 8-). > > There are programs that will print PS files on any Amiga preferences > printer, but that is going the opposite way from what you ask for. ProWrite (using ProScript) does, and I believe that Excellence! does as well. Also, didn't someone post a notice that there was a Preferences printer driver for PostScript available recently? Rocky
liberato@dri.com (Jimmy Liberato) (09/28/90)
ifarqhar@sunc.mqcc.mq.oz.au (Ian Farquhar) writes: >In article <895@h.cs.wvu.wvnet.edu> parker@cs.wvu.wvnet.edu (James Parker) writes: >> 4. Should be able to output PostScript to a file so as to be able to be >> printed from other platforms which are connected to PostScript printers. >You have to be careful here. Because the Amiga does not support >properly device independent graphics (that great double edged sword), >many programs handle postscript poorly. Of particular note (for it's >stupidity) is Excellence!, which just dumps a bitmap to the Postscript >printer. I suppose this is WYSIWYG, you get what you see on the screen, >at the same resolution, in the same horrible fonts. MSS should have >been shot for that. This comment is very puzzling. MSS's excellence! has excellent PostScript capabilities. Of course you must use their provided PostScript fonts and associated metric files (you can even use the Adobe fonts from WorkBench 1.3). I normally use my own custom sanserif font for creating the document and then on final edit switch to one of the Postscript fonts (note: pitch should be 15). A perusal of a print to file reveals they are doing things correctly. I regularly print memos and reports with perfect results. The only time a bitmap is involved is when I import a logo that is an IFF. But the bitmap only involves the graphic. You are correct in mentioning that Preferences needs to be avoided when doing PostScript output. That is no problem. You simply print to a file (to be taken to another machine) or directly to the serial or parallel port from the application itself. What is particularly impressive is to go into 16 color mode to import a graphic and then print to an NEC Colorscript (or similar) color PostScript printer. I have no experience with other Amiga wordprocessors but I can say without equivocation that excellence! easily satisfies Mr. Parker's requirements. The only complaint I ever had was that I could out type the cursor. Even that failing is no longer true. I have used it for three years and never once crashed. The most recent version (August 7, '90) incorporates the Proximity/Merriam-Webster Linguibase (dictionary) and Thesaurus. -- Jimmy Liberato liberato@dri.com ...uunet!drivax!liberato
unhd (Nick C Fitanides) (09/28/90)
>You have to be careful here. Because the Amiga does not support >properly device independent graphics (that great double edged sword), ^^^^ 'cept of course, X Windows. >many programs handle postscript poorly. Of particular note (for it's ^^^^ 'cept of course, Pro Page, Pro Draw, and many other obvious desktop publishers... >stupidity) is Excellence!, which just dumps a bitmap to the Postscript >printer. I suppose this is WYSIWYG, you get what you see on the screen, >at the same resolution, in the same horrible fonts. MSS should have >been shot for that. ^^^^ You should be shot for not checking out all the features of the program. Excellence! has _direct_, _crystal clear_ PostScript support for Times-Roman, Helvetica, Courier and Symbol in 8, 12, 18 and 24 points. The newest version may have even more. These ARE NOT bit-mapped fonts; they are TRUE PostScript implementations. > >So ask for samples of PS output to see the quality before you purchase, >and if you know a little Postscript (which is a good idea) you might >also like to scan through the resultant code just to see how well it is >written. I have been known to throw out packages (especially those from >MicroSoft on other platforms) because their PS code generation is so >poor. ^^^^ Definately a good idea. Some app's are notoriously inefficient in producing code. Pro Page does not selectively print only the piece of a PostScript prolog which are used by the main program, but prints all the prolog, no matter how long the file. This leads to relatively large PostScript outputs for relatively small files. Overall, though, it is an _excellent_ product. Note: many other word processors now support PostScript. I believe Pro Write has a module called Pro Script which will output PostScript, but I'm not too sure about actual PostScript font selection. I use Excellence almost exclusively, though in some areas it's not perfect. All around it's a very good product, and the grammar analyzer is fun to use. > >-- >Ian Farquhar Phone : 61 2 805-9403 >Office of Computing Services Fax : 61 2 805-7433 >Macquarie University NSW 2109 Also : 61 2 805-7205 >Australia EMail : ifarqhar@suna.mqcc.mq.oz.au ^^^^ Maybe far away from newest software from the US? -- +----------------------+-------------------------+-----------------------------+ . / . Nick Fitanides . Internet: ncf@unhd.unh.edu | . \/ Amiga users unite!. . BITNET: N_FITANIDES@UNHH | +----------------------+-------------------------+-----------------------------+
jet@karazm.math.uh.edu (J. Eric Townsend) (09/29/90)
>In article <895@h.cs.wvu.wvnet.edu> parker@cs.wvu.wvnet.edu (James Parker) writes: > 4. Should be able to output PostScript to a file so as to be able to be > printed from other platforms which are connected to PostScript printers. If you're on a tight budget (as I am), I would suggest ProWrite and ProScript. ProWrite is a MacWrite clone with added feaures (like color, importing graphics, etc). ProScript is an add-on package that converts IFF Text files (which ProWrite uses) to PostScript. The manual for ProScript suggests that its suppots Color PostScript, but I haven't called to verify this yet. I haven't used it to death, but I've done a few things on it and they came out very nice. Plus, the company's in Austin, Tx. Gotta support the home team, ya know? -- J. Eric Townsend Internet: jet@uh.edu Bitnet: jet@UHOU Systems Manager - University of Houston Dept. of Mathematics - (713) 749-2120 "It's not the bullet that kills you, it's the hole." Skate UNIX(r) -- Laurie Anderson
adin@math.ufl.edu (Adin Burroughs) (10/03/90)
Check out the new version of Excellence! The 2.0 version seems very powerful and includes color postscript support supposedly straight from adobe.... 140,000 spell checker, 300,000 + thesaurus with defs... importation of iff stuff...(pics, etc..) and lots of other useful stuff... seen it for $159(mail order),$39 to upgrade (from company) -Adin ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | | .Sig 1.1 under construction..... | | adb@beach.cis.ufl.edu | | adin@math.ufl.edu | | Iceman@circa.ufl.edu | | 'Tis better to have loved and | | lost than to have never loved at all........ | -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
kengo@pawl.rpi.edu (Ken Goldenberg) (10/03/90)
In article <435@mathlab.math.ufl.EDU> adin@math.ufl.edu (Adin Burroughs) writes: >Check out the new version of Excellence! The 2.0 version seems very powerful >and includes color postscript support supposedly straight from adobe.... > Yes. It's a great word processor. I bought the upgrade, and I'm really happy. _HOWEVER_ I have a question, as long as the subject came up. I've been playing with postscript on Excellence, and it seems that you need to use metric fonts. This is fine, save that I want more fonts, and the only PD/shareware fonts seem to be postscript source, and I'd hate to shell out $$ to buy fonts commercially (assuming somone knows of a source) only to have the same results (cluelessness)If this is documented in the instructions (I don't seem to recall it being therewhen I skimmed them) I appologize, but my docs are at home, and any help on how to make/get these .metric files would be appreciated. >-Adin > > >----------------------------------------------------------------------------- >| | >| .Sig 1.1 under construction..... | >| adb@beach.cis.ufl.edu | >| adin@math.ufl.edu | >| Iceman@circa.ufl.edu | >| 'Tis better to have loved and | >| lost than to have never loved at all........ | >----------------------------------------------------------------------------- -Mitch -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\| Software Error Task Held |///////////////////// kengo@pawl.rpi.edu | "I see." said Arthur, who didn't |We're the same person -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
barrett@meridn.enet.dec.com (Keith Barrett) (10/04/90)
>>> 4. Should be able to output PostScript to a file so as to be able to be >>> printed from other platforms which are connected to PostScript printers. > I wonder how many people know that WordPerfect Amiga does postscript? Just select one of the postscript drivers and configure the output to go to a file instead of device. This seems to work fine for me. When I need to do DTP rather than word processing, I switch to Professional Page. If fact, it has an option for importing Word Perfect files and handles this fairly well. Since WP is faster, I usually compose the document and spell check it on WP, then import it to PP. Keith ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "It's a good day to buy an Amiga!" Keith G. Barrett - Software Specialist Internet: barrett@meridn.enet.dec.com Digital Equipment Corp. "DEC has it now" UUCP: decwrl!meridn.enet!barrett // "Wait'll they get a load of me" - Joker \X/ "The Amiga is really a picoVAX" "You won't get it!" - the Prisoner ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
pds@quintus.UUCP (Peter Schachte) (10/05/90)
In article <558@macuni.mqcc.mq.oz> ifarqhar@sunc.mqcc.mq.oz.au (Ian Farquhar) writes: >In article <895@h.cs.wvu.wvnet.edu> parker@cs.wvu.wvnet.edu (James Parker) writes: I've been using ProWrite 2.0 and ProScript. I've been pretty happy with them. >> 2. True WYSIWYG. (Whatever that stands for!) I need to see how the margin >What You See Is What You Get. Which is usually not what you wanted anyway :-) Yeah, but at least you know. Better than not knowing until you print the thing. >> 4. Should be able to output PostScript to a file so as to be able to be >> printed from other platforms which are connected to PostScript printers. >You have to be careful here.... Of particular note (for it's >stupidity) is Excellence!, which just dumps a bitmap to the Postscript >printer. ProScript generates reasonable postscript, and provides Helvetica, Times, Courier and Symbol fonts (the standard Laser Writer fonts) in a variety of sizes. I haven't tried anything with graphics, just straight text. This was for a 100 page document, which it handled well. Well, I did have one problem. Somehow ProWrite got some strange, invisible character in the document, which caused ProScript to loop forever trying to load the file, eventually consuming all my memory. I found the rascal by doing a binary split on the file, and finally noticing that I had to hit a forward arrow twice to move from one particular character to (what I thought was) the next. Deleting the mystery character fixed the problem. After this, ProScript was able to generate the .ps file for my 100 page document with no problem on my A100 with 1.5 Meg. ProWrite was able to edit it fine, too. -- -Peter Schachte pds@quintus.uucp ...!sun!quintus!pds