cutler@reed.UUCP (Steven J. Russell) (01/18/87)
Does anybody out there have any information on WriteNow, the word processor? Do you think that I should buy WriteNow now, or wait for MS Word 3.0? Why? thanks -- Steven J. Russell "Simplicity is the goal of the advancement of technology" UUCP: ...!tektronix!reed!cutler
ix21@sdcc6.ucsd.EDU (David Whiteman) (01/19/87)
To: sdcc6!sdcsvax!hp-sdd!hplabs!decwrl!ucbvax!decvax!tektronix!reed!cutler Subject: Re: WriteNow Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac In-Reply-To: <5039@reed.UUCP> Organization: UCSD School of Medicine Cc: Bcc: T/Maker puts out a sample version of Write Now. This version does everything the regular version does; except when you print something it prints as a header a statement that this document was produced using WriteNow. I have offerred to send a copy of this sample program to mod.mac.binaries, and I am waiting for the moderator to make a decision about whether to post it or not. It has a built in spelling checker, and some features that the other word processing programs do not have. I do not have enough experience to say whether it is better or worse than the current programs or better than the planned MS Word 3.0. Its major flaw in my eyes is that you have to run a separate translator program to convert text, MS Word or MacWrite documents to WriteNow's format. Also you can only convert Write/Now documents to text. -- David Whiteman, University of California, San Diego The America's Cup, don't leave Perth without it.
dorner@uxc.cso.uiuc.edu (01/20/87)
I've been using WriteNow for a couple of weeks now, and have had both
good and bad experiences with it. I have never used MS Word, so I
can't compare WriteNow to it, but I can give a brief list of the good
and the bad I've experienced. I'm only commenting on what I have
personally used in the program, not giving the mfr's feature list.
Good:
Multiple columns on-screen.
Fairly nice built-in spelling checker.
Can change specific fonts/sizes to other fonts/sizes.
Can change all identical rulers (e.g., center all headings)
Has a 'show space' mode where line break characters, tabs, the
printing area of the page, etc. are all visible.
Definitely WYSIWYG.
Can use any character to fill a tab, to simplify things like:
Water buffaloes................................232
Can put special characters (e.g., ^t for tab) in find/replace dialog
It IS fast at reformatting and saving. It is not-so-fast at
scrolling, however, even though it takes great pains to avoid
redrawing the screen (it is amusing to watch it move hunks of
screen bitmap around).
Bad:
*********Has crashed more than once. The tutorial in the manual
makes a big point of saving your work every fifteen minutes. I
know why.
Verrrrryyyy ssssslllllooooowwww to load into a 256K switcher partition.
First line of first column on a page does not line up with first
line of second column.
Has 'Insert page break' option, but no 'Insert column break'.
Allows you to insert the date anywhere in your document, but
insists on doing the date like 'Tues, Jan 19, 1987'. I'd much
prefer having some other format options.
No "find next and don't bug me with a dialog box" function.
Once a document is defined as multiple-column, EVERYTHING has to
fit in the columns (except headers and footers). This is
inconvenient for graphics, outboxes, etc.
In summary, I'd say that WriteNow is certainly quite capable, but I
think that it's not what it really ought to be. I suspect that
WriteNow Version X, where X>1.0, needs to happen before I'll be
overjoyed with it. You should definitely get the demo and try before
you buy.
-----
Steve Dorner
dorner@uxc.cso.uiuc.edurcopm@yabbie.rmit.oz (Paul Menon) (01/21/87)
> In-Reply-To: <5039@reed.UUCP> Dave Whiteman writes... (About WriteNow, a WP program) > ... > spelling checker, and some features that the other word processing > programs do not have. I do not have enough experience to say > whether it is better or worse than the current programs or better > than the planned MS Word 3.0. Its major flaw in my eyes is that you > have to run a separate translator program to convert text, MS Word > or MacWrite documents to WriteNow's format... Maybe I have missed something when using the current word processors, namely MacWrite and MS Word, but I have never been able to read a Word document in MacWrite - This has caused a few headaches when printing Mac Tech Notes. The index is always a Word document and everything else is MacWrite!! Now if there is a WP that comes with a utility translator for the major rivals' formats, methinks it's a good idea, ie a feature - not a bug. Whether Dave's gripe is because the translator is not an integral part of WriteNow, one answer could be a marketing ploy, ie - use the translator to convert all your existing documents, and then forget about MacWrite, and umm... wotzizname :). To have it as one unit is also an admission by the authors of WriteNow that the big two are here to stay - negative thinking. > > The America's Cup, don't leave Perth without it. Not on Yer Nelly, Teddy! Paul Menon. Dept of Communication & Electronic Engineering, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, 124 Latrobe St, Melbourne, 3000, Australia ACSnet: rcopm@yabbie UUCP: ...!seismo!munnari!yabbie.rmit.oz!rcopm CSNET: rcopm@yabbie.rmit.oz ARPA: rcopm%yabbie.rmit.oz@seismo BITNET: rcopm%yabbie.rmit.oz@CSNET-RELAY PHONE: +61 3 660 2619.
slj@mtung.UUCP (S. Luke Jones) (01/21/87)
In article <5039@reed.UUCP> cutler@reed.UUCP writes: >Do you think that I should buy WriteNow now, or wait for MS Word 3.0? >Steven J. Russell How long are we supposed to wait for Word 3.0? In his letter, Bill indicated that it would go out in January. While I'm on the subject, has anyone got a clue whether 3.0 will be more merciful to those of us without an external drive than 1.05 was? I *still* remember doing 45 count them 45 disk swaps to bring a ~30K file in off a separate disk. (Needless to say, I haven't done *that* again!) Luke Jones -- "Posting to the net is nothing to be ashamed of. Just do it in private and be sure to wash your hands afterwards." This article has been a production of the author, who is solely responsible for its content. Portions of this article were made possible by a grant from the Banzai Institute.
zabetia@tiger.Princeton.EDU (Mahboud Zabetian) (01/23/87)
Does anyone know if the new Word will let me print todays date and time on my "Print Merge"s? I don't think Word 1.05 supported that and its a feature I really needed. By the way, has anyone ever gotten stuck using Word 1.05 while typing a *very* long paper(30 pages on a 512, 11 on a 128)? It just sits there and you can't type, copy, paste... The only thing you can do is save and sometimes that saving goes on for hours and only rebooting the mac seems to put a stop to it. Thanks. -- Mahboud Zabetian allegra! --\ zabetia@tiger.princeton.edu 232 Pyne Hall mhuxi! -----\ (609) 452-2285 Princeton University seismo! -----\ (609) 734-0246 Princeton, NJ 08544 attunix! ------ princeton!zabetia
russell@acf4.UUCP (01/24/87)
When I got my Microsoft announcement about the $99 upgrade to 3.0, I sent it in the next day. This was back in the middle of November. About 2 weeks ago I received a post card from Microsoft. It stated the following: Your Order Number: 701936 Get Ready for the power of the word! Latest Shipping Upgrade....Mac Word 3.0 should roll out the last week in January....Orders will be filled in order of receipt....Expect your personal copy by mid February. The other side has the following info: Questions about your order? Call our Word 3.0 Order Hotline, toll free, 1-800-323-3577. Your Order NUmber is shown on the other side of the card. Please have it ready when you call. Questions about the operational abilites of Word 3.0 for the Macintosh should be direted to our Product Support Department at (206) 882-8089. I have seen and played with a beta copy of 3.0. It has some very nice features. However, to use all of its features, you will need a hard disk. Word 3.0 requires a pile of disk space. I'm hoping that my order number means that I'm the 1936th order for 1987. Bill
ix21@sdcc6.UUCP (01/26/87)
I recently posted an article about WriteNow, a word processing program to replace MacWrite and Microsoft Word, and I was flooded with letters about the program. Sad to say I have only ran the program once, so I cannot comment about it. The main reason is that I have a huge personalized dictionary of medical terminology, and I just don't have the time to repersonalize the WriteNow dictionary. I am sorry if people have took this as a criticism of the program. I know two people who say that it is the greatest word processing program written, and one lawyer who says it has a feature that allows him to print on some special paper that lawyers are required to use. Paul Menon also made a posting of my comment about their translation program. I stated before that WriteNow's most glaring flaw is that you have to use a separate translation program. I thought that it was wrong to write WriteNow so it can not save a text file. You have to run the utility program to go to or from text, and go from MS Word and MacWrite format to WriteNow format. There is no way except via text of going from WriteNow format to either MS Word or MacWrite format. Also of interest they announce a special format for 3rd party companies to use WriteNow documents. So if you buy a 3rd party program to perform some operation on a WriteNow document you will have to use the utility program first. Anyway enclosed with the program is a demo version of WriteNow. I will send a copy to the mod.mac moderator as soon as my disk drive is fixed. So stop sending me letters and try the sample program itself. -- David Whiteman, University of California, San Diego The America's Cup, don't leave Perth without it.
mikec@tekred.UUCP (01/26/87)
> In-Reply-To: <5039@reed.UUCP> Dave Whiteman writes... (About WriteNow, a WP program) > ...Its major flaw in my eyes is that you > have to run a separate translator program to convert text, MS Word > or MacWrite documents to WriteNow's format... I would much rather have a separate program that translates MS Word or MacWrite documents to the WriteNow format. Other word processors should do the same. I don't need to translate documents every time I write, so why should I have to waste disk space on the translation stuff? With a separate program, I can store it in the corner of some little used disk, and maximize the space available on the commonly used editing disk. Loading in text files is a different story... There are lots of occasions when you'd want to load in text files. Telecom, DA editor created documents, etc. -- -- Mike A. Combs GEnie: mike.combs MCI: mcombs tektronix!tekgen!tekred!mikec ^--The "A" is for: "Accidently erased the files". terrorist, contras, drugs, Iran, secret, NSA, CIA <- NSA line-eater food :-(
lonetto@phri.UUCP (01/27/87)
In article <873@mtung.UUCP> slj@mtung.UUCP (S. Luke Jones) writes: >In article <5039@reed.UUCP> cutler@reed.UUCP writes: >>Do you think that I should buy WriteNow now, or wait for MS Word 3.0? >>Steven J. Russell > >How long are we supposed to wait for Word 3.0? In his letter, >Bill indicated that it would go out in January. > I just saw that someone has recieved notification that his order will be shipped. What about all of us registered owners of Word1.05 who bought it before 3.0 was announced?? I haven't heard a word from MicroSoft yet, only what's been on the net and in Macworld. Does anyone have an address for inquiries about upgrades? Please post it, as I'm sure that a lot of people are interested. Michael Lonetto UUCP:(allegra!phri!lonetto) USMAIL: Public Health Research Institute, 455 1st Ave, NY, NY 10016
matthews@batcomputer.UUCP (01/27/87)
I really like WriteNow, mainly for two little tricks: it has command-keys that
1. change the size of the selected text, one point at a time, and
2. sub- or superscript the selected text " " " " "
There are also buttons that increase and decrease the line spacing one point
at a time. Not that I have need for 37pt Times with 53pt leading or
anything exotic. But you don't have to write many chemical formulas before
you get plenty disgusted with the raggedy line spacing that sub/superscripts
force. Besides, sub/sups really should be at least a point smaller than the
regular text. The last manuscript I wrote (in MacWrite), I had to Find for
"2", with a subscripted smaller 2 in the Clipboard ready to paste when I
hit a 2 that was supposed to be subscripted -- which of course was only a
minority of the 2s that were there, so you didn't want to poke along; but
then again you sure didn't want to hit ^F too quick and watch one pass by,
'cause if you couldn't find it you'd have to start all over again. Sort of
an arcade game with ^F and ^V for buttons. After completing Level 1 you
go on to the 3s. Then the second Wave: superscripts!
I'm also impressed with WriteNow's speller. Not that I'm very experienced
with the competition, having perfect dixn without such aids, but the speed
of that thing and the insightfulness of its guesses are almost scary. Sure
gives MacLightning the dunce cap.
The other major features don't mean as much to me. The multicolumn
formatting and miscibility of graphics with text perform as advertised, but
no better, so this is still a long way from letting you do real page
layout. The ability to change the header and footer as often as you like
within a document (as well as allowing different ones for odd vs even pages)
is of course wonderful. Why do I feel like I shouldn't have to summon up
gratitude for a simple thing like that? Why in 1987 can't a software
customer simply demand a certain minimum functionality?
Somebody here complained about the fact that MacWrite and MS Word and even
Text files have to be translated with a separate program before WriteNow can
read them. I was put off by that too, and even more by the fact that
WriteNow can't even Save As a text file without its Translator. But I quit
complaining when I saw that the Translator is almost as large a file as
WriteNow itself. Granted, 71K seems a bit large for a program that
just interconverts file formats, and mainly in one direction. But 79K is
pretty lean and mean for a wordprocessor, or anything serious on the Mac. You
can put WriteNow and its dictionary (50000 words in 100000 bytes -- how do they
do that?) and a reasonable set of fonts on one 400K disk. And of course you
can move plain text in and out via the Clipboard, so I put MockWrite on the
system and so far haven't had any reason to run the Translator.
So what don't I like? Bugs. I haven't had any crashes, but I have seen
some pretty wild LaserWriter output. I went around and around with one line
that had a subscript in a smaller font. The next character jumped out to
the following tab stop, or the right margin if no tab stop, and printed on till
it ran out of acreage. There was nothing obvious different between that
line and the other lines that worked fine, except that it was all
italicized. Changing all those things (style, size, subscripting) one at a
time didn't lead to any satisfying conclusions. I'll try to trap it when I
get a little time, but the point is that WriteNow's WYSIWYG can promise more
than it delivers. The other incidents also involved mixed styles or
mixed graphics and text. Except, I can swear I was once able to create a
continuous horizontal rule by leaning on the underline key in Times 18, but
now all I can get is a string of dashes unless I use a smaller size; at
least this one shows the same story on the screen as on the Laser.
-- Dave Matthews
ARPA: matthews@tcgould.tn.cornell.edu
USENET: ...{cmcl2,shasta,uw-beaver,rochester}!cornell!tcgould!matthews
PAPER: Dept. Plant Pathology, Cornell University, Ithaca NY 14853 USA
BELL: (607)533-7820
DISCL: My employer ignores my opinions altogether.
turk@apple.UUCP (01/29/87)
In article <2129@batcomputer.tn.cornell.edu> matthews@batcomputer.UUCP (David Matthews) writes: >So what don't I like? Bugs. I haven't had any crashes, but I have seen >some pretty wild LaserWriter output. I went around and around with one line >that had a subscript in a smaller font. I had the same problem with subscripts in a smaller font, except that the net result was that I couldn't print it: WriteNow just gave up! That's cause for panic when your 10-page document is only in WriteNow format. The multi-column stuff is too limiting to be useful. The footnote capability seems to be nice, but I haven't had occasion to use it. -- Ken Turkowski @ Apple Computer, Inc., Cupertino, CA UUCP: {sun,nsc}!apple!turk CSNET: turk@Apple.CSNET ARPA: turk%Apple@csnet-relay.ARPA