mds@brunix.UUCP (Michael Strickman) (11/09/83)
has (finally!) been released. I got a copy yesterday -- here are my
first impressions:
* The program is, in general, very complex but also very powerful.
Interaction (cursor movement, etc.) is very different from most
"standard" text editors/word processors. For example, there is
only one "Delete" command, and it operates on whatever has been
selected (character(s), word(s), line(s), paragraphs(s), or whatever),
rather than separate delete commands for lines and characters. The
method is very simple and powerful, but also hard to get used to if
you've never dealt with anything similar.
* Fortunately, there IS a limited undo/redo command -- only the last
change to the text can be undone; hitting undo again redoes the change.
* The mouse is a very useful addition to the program; well worth the
extra charge. It lets you perform most common commands without having
to resort to the ever-present menus at the bottom of the screen. There
are an incredible number of ways to manipulate text with the mouse --
scrolling, selecting, "thumbing", creating/deleting/sizing windows, moving
and copying, plus others that I'm sure I haven't seen yet. Interaction
with the mouse is, for the most part, simpler and more direct than using
keystrokes for comparable commands. The mouse also comes with 3 demo
programs: a simple paint program, a "piano" simulation, and Life. All
three are interesting and generally well done.
* The program is as close to what-you-see-is-what-you-get as any that I've
seen for the pc. While the formatting that you see on the screen is not
EXACTLY the formatting that you get on the page, it is pretty close.
On the color monitor, they use "high-resolution" graphics to actually
show boldface, underlining, italics, super- and subscripts, small caps,
strikethrough, and combinations of the above. Unfortunately, in this mode
you only get white-on-black (as expected), which is very hard on your eyes
after a while. You can also use the program in 80 col text mode on the
color monitor, which lets you choose background colors for the windows.
On the monochrome display, it shows boldface and underlining with the
appropriate attributes set.
* The program is copy-protected, although they let you make 2 backup copies:
one on a hard disk, the other on a floppy. You really don't want to use
the floppy version if you don't have 2 drives; the program is on 2
floppies, and you need both to start it up, so there is an inordinate
amount of disk-swapping, at least at startup. The program uses overlays,
so it accesses the disk frequently. On a hard disk, it is fast enough,
though not blazing; on a floppy, it can be annoyingly slow.
* Word is designed for word processing, and that's it. You would
not want to use it for program editing; it is too complex, too slow,
and too "smart". I haven't yet figured out how to turn off word
wrap (or even whether it's possible), nor have I figured out how to
get it to save a standard ASCII file, without formatting codes.
* The documentation is generally good. The manual is enormous, well-
written, and, for the most part, easy to use. It lacks a tutorial
that shows all of the features of the program, but aside from that it
is fairly complete.
While it is true that you could, in 15 minutes, learn to produce
VERY simple documents with Word, it will take much longer to learn to
use all of Word's features. I have used at least 8 or 9 different
full-screen text editors/word processors in the past 2 years (including
4 pc editors), and none even approached the complexity of Word. On the
other hand, none approached Word's power either.
One ominous note: after editing (for the first time) for more than
an hour or so without saving, Word gave me a "Disk is full" message, followed
by a DOS prompt, followed by complete lockup -- I had to do a hard reset, and
I lost all my changes. I was working on a hard disk with more than 6 meg free,
so there obviously wasn't any real space shortage. After that, I saved more
frequently and didn't have any problems. Hopefully, this problem won't
reappear.
I got Word from Logicsoft, for $299 with the mouse. I had no problems
with the company at all -- they even provide a toll-free support hotline!
This price is very good; the next lowest that I saw was $329.
If you want to try Word, pick up a copy of the PC World Software Review
(just out in the last few days). It contains a "free" demo disk with a
stripped down version of the program.