[comp.sys.amiga] WordPerfect questions

lachac@topaz.rutgers.edu.UUCP (08/31/87)

In article <1356@gryphon.CTS.COM> ler@pnet02.CTS.COM (Larry Rosenman) writes:
>Yes I have seen this, and reported it to their 800 Support number.  They are
>working on a fix for it.  MEANTIME I would not use that program.  (Did You
>notice the spelling errors on the Menu strips?)


Since WordPerfect is available to me at discount ($99), I am very seriously
considering it.  I have a few questions for current owners.

	1)  Are the bugs that have been mentioned, major enough to make me 
	    wait for a new release?

	2)  At school, we have AT&T PC's networked to Laserjets.  Can I 
	    transfer/translate my Amiga WP files to IBM compat. files so
	    I can use the laserprinters?

	3)  I have an Epson JX-80.  I am curious if it is posible to print
	    out text in different colors, for highlighting purposes.  Is this
	    supported with WordPerfect?


-- 
		"Truth is false and logic lost..."
					- Neil Peart
	(who at the time didn't realize he was talking about RU)
lachac@topaz.rutgers.edu <--------OR--------> {seismo|ames}!rutgers!topaz!lachac

kagle@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu (Jonathan C. Kagle) (08/31/87)

	As a beta-tester for "WordPerfect for the Amiga" I thought I could 
answer a few of these common questions about WordPerfect.  Please do not
EMAIL me asking about future versions of Amiga WordPerfect or how to do macros.
:-) :-) :-)

In article <14322@topaz.rutgers.edu> lachac@topaz.rutgers.edu (Gerard Lachac) writes:
>Since WordPerfect is available to me at discount ($99), I am very seriously
>considering it.  I have a few questions for current owners.
>
>	1)  Are the bugs that have been mentioned, major enough to make me 
>	    wait for a new release?

	WordPerfect is currently fixing reported bugs and is considering
several improvements to Amiga WordPerfect.  In the past, WordPerfect Corpora-
tion has had generous upgrade policies and inexpensive (often free) bug fixes.
The next "new" release will probably NOT be 4.2 as has been rumored, but 5.0
which should include bitmap graphics and desktop publishing.  If you need a 
powerful word processor within the next year, don't wait for 5.0.
>
>	2)  At school, we have AT&T PC's networked to Laserjets.  Can I 
>	    transfer/translate my Amiga WP files to IBM compat. files so
>	    I can use the laserprinters?
	
	Amiga WordPerfect files are compatible with WordPerfect 4.1 on MS-DOS
machines.  WordPerfect 4.2 will load Amiga WP files, but not vice-versa. 
>
>	3)  I have an Epson JX-80.  I am curious if it is posible to print
>	    out text in different colors, for highlighting purposes.  Is this
>	    supported with WordPerfect?

	The printer definition program allows you to define special function
codes which could represent different colors on your printer.  I believe that
there is a JX-80 driver already built into the WP printing utility (along with
a couple of hundred others), though I am not sure how it supports color print-
ing.
>
>-- 
>lachac@topaz.rutgers.edu <-------OR-------> {seismo|ames}!rutgers!topaz!lachac

	-Jonathan

---------------------------------------------------------------------------_--
The above viewpoints are not necessarily those of WordPerfect Corporation, its
employees, or anybody else, for that matter.
-- 
Jonathan C. Kagle					Cornell Theory Center
kagle@tcgould.tn.cornell.edu/kagle@crnlthry/!decvax!cornell!batcomputer!kagle
"Union Carbide is proud to be the official supplier of tear gas for the 1988
 Summer Olympic Games"

higgin@cbmvax.UUCP (Paul Higginbottom SALES) (09/01/87)

in article <14322@topaz.rutgers.edu>, (Gerard Lachac) says:
> Since WordPerfect is available to me at discount ($99), I am very seriously
> considering it.  I have a few questions for current owners.
> 	1)  Are the bugs that have been mentioned, major enough to make me 
> 	    wait for a new release?

That's debatable, plus, you'll GET the new release anyway, even if you buy now
I think.  In the mean time, you'll simply be getting up to speed on the
product (there's a LOT to learn).

> 	2)  At school, we have AT&T PC's networked to Laserjets.  Can I 
> 	    transfer/translate my Amiga WP files to IBM compat. files so
> 	    I can use the laserprinters?

If you buy a 1020 (5.25 disk drive for Amiga), you can read and write
MS-DOS disks, allowing you to transfer files to and from AmigaDOS.

I'm sure the printer drivers and file formats are the same, so you could
edit on the Amiga, put it on a 5.25, run over to an AT&T PC and printout.
Now if the PCs are Arcnet or Ethernetted together, you can get that from
Ameristar and get right on the network.

> 	3)  I have an Epson JX-80.  I am curious if it is posible to print
> 	    out text in different colors, for highlighting purposes.  Is this
> 	    supported with WordPerfect?

I'm not sure if it does it out of the box, but it can be made to do it,
probably by redefining the sequences to change fonts so that instead of
changing fonts, it changes color.

	Paul.

Disclaimer: I do not represent WordPerfect, and am simply giving opinions
as a user; i.e., I might be wrong.

mwm@eris.BERKELEY.EDU (Mike (My watch has windows) Meyer) (09/02/87)

After seeing the WP demo at FAUG tonight, I'll say that I'm impressed.
There are some nice tools in it. Nice enough that I may pick up a copy
if I can get it cheap enough (something about being offered one at $50
or so at one time in the past...).

However: I still want to use mg (of course). Anyone know if I can
convince WP to load a straight ASCII file, let me run the spelling
checker on it, play with the thesaurus software, etc, and then dump
the result *as ascii* to a second (or maybe the original) file? If so,
it'd sure beat uploading things to Unix...

	Thanx,
	<mike
--
How many times do you have to fall			Mike Meyer
While people stand there gawking?			mwm@berkeley.edu
How many times do you have to fall			ucbvax!mwm
Before you end up walking?				mwm@ucbjade.BITNET

ler@pnet02.CTS.COM (Larry Rosenman) (09/05/87)

mwm@eris.BERKELEY.EDU (Mike (My watch has windows) writes:
>However: I still want to use mg (of course). Anyone know if I can
>convince WP to load a straight ASCII file, let me run the spelling
>checker on it, play with the thesaurus software, etc, and then dump
>the result *as ascii* to a second (or maybe the original) file? If so,
>it'd sure beat uploading things to Unix...
>
>	Thanx,
>	<mike
>--
>How many times do you have to fall			Mike Meyer
>While people stand there gawking?			mwm@berkeley.edu
>How many times do you have to fall			ucbvax!mwm


>Before you end up walking?				mwm@ucbjade.BITNET
Yes, you can TEXT IN an ASCII file do what ever to it, then TEXT OUT the file
back to ASCII.

Very Nice.  BTW, get the FIXED version from WP Corp after you are registered



--
Larry Rosenman
INTERNET:     ler@pnet02.CTS.COM
UUCP:         {hplabs!hp-sdd, cbosgd, ihnp4 }!crash!gryphon!pnet02!ler
UUCP:                               philabs!cadovax!gryphon!pnet02!ler

darin@nova.laic.uucp (Darin Johnson) (05/09/89)

My roommates (married) are planning on getting an Amiga when I move away.
The primary use would be for the wife, who is in the last stages of
law school, to use to write papers.  The best word processor for her
would be WordPerfect, because of the additional capabilities (law briefs
are in a strange format), and because it is the wordprocessor used
most often at work.  However, because WP is discontinuing further
development on the Amiga, they are now hesitant about getting one.
Purchasing a bridgeboard is a big expense, and even a 2000 is a lot
of money compared to an XT or AT clone.  If the computer were just
for her, I would suggest going to an XT or Mac, since they will fit
the bill nicely.  However, the husband would like the Amiga, for the
games, be able to do some work, etc., but would use it much less often.

Questions:

  Is the current version of WP for the Amiga relatively stable and
  full featured?

  Is the format of the files created by WP compatible among Amiga
  and PC (or Mac)?  By this, I mean the "project" files, not the
  printer output.  It is almost mandatory to be able to take work
  home and continue to work on it on the Amiga (using dos-2-dos or
  something similar).

  Will future versions on PC's keep the same format, so that they
  will continue to be compatible with the version for the Amiga?

  Are there other word processors that use the same interface as
  WP (same keystrokes, commands, etc)?

  Are there other word processors that will output a WP compatible
  file?

Darin Johnson (leadsv!laic!darin@pyramid.pyramid.com)
	We now return you to your regularly scheduled program.