Which Word Processor?
42 messages in this thread
I am thinking about buying a new Word Processor, and would like some
advice. I currently own Transcript, which does fine for most of what I need
to do, but I might decide I need graphics also.
As I see it, these are my options. Upgrade Transcript to Transwrite. Has
anyone done this and if so is the upgrade worth it. I cannot really tell
from talking gold disk, or from reading their features list.
If I decide I want graphics capability, then I guess my choices are
ProWrite, Excellence, Pen Pal and Final Copy. Can anyone break these
choices down for me so I can decide which one to buy. The only one I have
really looked at was Final Copy. We loaded it up at Creative Computers the
other day. The fonts looked real funky on it, but I cannot be sure we
properly installed the program.
Anyway, any advice anyone can give me would be greatly appreciated.
<<< Michael Shea >>>>
<<< 76665,3360 >>>>
For all of its fallibilities, I find WordPerfect good for many
non-graphical uses. You can't mix and match fonts as you can with the
others, and its file requestor is slower, but its simplistic interface is
also easier to use, in some cases. It also provides numerous builtin
features (such as outlining) that the others don't have. Beware, however,
that WP Corp. has "22-d" their Amiga version.
I don't like the fact that Final Copy appears to limit you to loading just
12 fonts. I also don't like the fact that I cannot specify what _I_ want as
my default font – they have their own preset that you have to manually
override if you don't want it.
Final Copy does well with graphics control, and the output quality on a
24pin Star-Micronics color printer is very good (their small script font
looks as good as any laser print, unless you look VERY close). Final Copy's
multiple viewing sizes is nice – I believe that ProWrite does not have this
capability (neither does W.P.)
Another faux pas for Final Copy is that you CAN open multiple documents
concurrently, but you canNOT tell how many by looking at any one screen.
W.P. is VERY good about letting you know how many documents you have open,
and provides the standard front-to-back gadget along with a keyboard "jump"
key, and a special "switch menu".
I don't know anything about ProWrite, but the Final Copy advertisements
comparing F.C. and P.W. appear to make F.C. look much better (at least in
the functionality area). I have seen some screen shots of Excellence 3.0
and will be on the lookout for more information about it (I was not pleased
that I could not duplicate the look of onscreen display with F.C. as
depicted in the advertisement, with the basic package). E!3.0 looks like a
clone of F.C., but I don't know anything more about it (the screen shots
are available in one of the libraries).
It is kind of funny, that since W.P. Corp. decided to clone themselves to
Windows (only) platforms (where the expansion money is), that the price for
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Jim,
At work, on our clones, I really like WordPerfect 5.1. It does so many
things so easily. However, I hate the Amiga version, and only use it when I
have to do some work at home. It is really too bad that they have 86'd new
development on the Amiga. I have ran into situations where some of WP's
features "bog down" our 386-25 at work. This would never happen on old Amy.
<<< Michael Shea >>>>
<<< 76665,3360 >>>>
Well, we (MSS's e!3.0) are not a clone of F.C., we didn't even have one
while working on 3.0… which many people seem to wish we had…
Andrew,
I got and installed e!3.0. I've a little problem. I can't open
documents from the file reuqester. I can open them if I click on the
doc's icon. After that the requester works. I have MFR (Magic File
Requester) installed. I'll try not installing it and see. Otherwise, is
this a bug no one has reproted yet?
Rodger
P.S.- I love e!3.0. It stands head and shoulder's over the previous
versions. One suggestion, get it to import all other Amiga WP's files
(none ascii) directly!
Rodger and ALL
Ref Excellence! 3.0 & opening files from the requester
======================================================
If your hard drive volume name has brackets in it i.e.
WORK(APB) DH0(100MB) NORMAN(ANYTHING)
Excellence! thinks this is a pattern and will not open the file. MSS are
working on a fix.
Current workarounds:
Rename your volume Copy your file to RAM: before loading it
Andrew
Andrew,
That isn't my problem. My HD is named DH0:. I've tried loading files
from the documents directory in e!3.0: and from another documents
directory in my base wordprocessors directory. (WPs:) I've even tried
reloading documents that I've created the day before. Still won't load a
file from the Open documents requester.
If i write a document, then save it. I can reload it, but only during
that session. If I try to load any other file, nothing. If I power down
and then up and try to load that file I just typed, nothing.
HELP!
Rodger
Rodger,
Just a thought. If you have WordPerfect for the amiga, it auto names all
its files with a "WP" in front. Maybe change the name of your drawer that
you have the wordprocessors in would help if this is the case.
JOHN – The Lost Southerner!!
Actually, my wordprocessors are in a drawer called "WP's". I've tried
going to other .doc and .txt files in various other drawers and the
results are the same, e!3.0 will not load the files from the hard drive
unless I write it from scratch and reload it after saving it without
ending the session.
I have found that it will load those files from RAM: or RAD: after
copying them from "WP's/excellence!/documents/".
MSS is aware of the difficulty. Andrew Apold pointed me toward the
Arexx script that came with e!3.0 called file.rexx. After loading e!3.0 I
use a shell to execute the file.rexx script. That brings up a requestor
on the e!3.0 screen which asks what directory to load the document from.
When "excellence!/documents/" is entered a different (than the native
e!3.0 one) file requestor comes up which displays the files. I can then
load the file I choose.
Rodger
That's the problem. The WP's. the apostrophe is one of those characters.
rename it and it'll work fine (WPs, or even WP`s (reverse apostrophe) would
be fine. We have fixed this problem, BTW…
Great! Wil we e!3.0 users get the fix?
Rodger
Definitely not a clone of F.C.! I like e!3.0 much more for "Word
Processing."
I was one of the people that complained about the output of the CG fonts,
but that was more of a wish, (for better rendering,) than anything!
I use e! about 90% of the time, (5% F.C., and 5% WP5.1,) just to tell you
what I really use. 🙂
Bob Comer – via Whap!
From what I see in the V3.0 demo screen shots, e!3.0 is VERY close in
appearance to Final Copy, though perhaps, NOT a true clone.
Real World: from southern Illinois, USA
Internet: ca0008 at siucvmb.siu.edu
[ continuation ]
W.P. has become more reasonable.
Real World: from southern Illinois, USA
Internet: ca0008 at siucvmb.siu.edu
If you want straightforward text-based word processing, you can not do
better than use Protext. It is a fully configurable, fast and comprehensive
package, dedicated to producing output with the minimum of fuss and bother.
On the other hand, if you want pretty fonts and graphics on-screen, then
you really need a dedicated DTP program such as Pagestream or Professional
Page.
Any other choice always seems to fall between two stools, in my experience.
Pete –
– via Whap!
It may be kind of unusual for another company to plug another amiga
company, but this is me personally taking not GD.
I have used Excellence since ver. 1.0. For the average person I would think
it is fast enough and I love its PostScript output.
To be honest, I don't use it for a lot of graphic import…I use PPage for
that.
My girlfriend is a masters student in university and she uses it for all
her reports…when I first got Excellence it was the only program (other
then WordPerfect 🙁 ) to do real footnoting…this has probably changed
however.
Philip Laitar
Hey, thanks, Phil. And let me add that GD is the only DTP that I (me,
personally) use, and appreciate the import (still can't afford PostScript
at home, though I usually just wait 'till I'm here at work….
e3.0! a clone of Final Copy??? I can't beleive people even considered this.
Their may some similarities in appearence, but any update was a logical
change to the UI and to make it that WB2.0 look.
The fact that e! has been around for so long, has had updates, and still
retains the original `feel', maybe FC is a thought-out clone of e!,
ProWrite, PenPal, WP, Pagesetter, Pagestream, etc….
Keep Smiling
Philip Laitar
Supervisor
No, E! is _still_ the only amiga program I know of that does footnotes…
Pity.
Brian
– via Whap!
I beg to differ. It is the only upgraded word processor. Word Perfect
4.1.12 support footnotes as well.
Rodger
— For What it's worth! —
Perhaps I should qualify this by saying that e! is the only actively
updated Amiga word processor that footnotes. WP 4.1.12 is _NOT_ being
updated by WP Corp. any more. Users of WP 4.1.12 are just about
orphaned….
Brian
– via Whap!
Did you know that WordPerfect now has its own support forum on CIS? Just
opened recently. This is not the user-group forum that we have had for
years, but a new one supported by WordPerfect Corporation itself. GO WPCS
to get there. They have one section set aside for Amiga, Atari, etc., but
most of it is for MS-DOS or Windows versions. Anyway, maybe we ought to
keep the "other platforms" section busy enough that they would reconsider
us.
Well, WP 4.1.12 still works. It's not like it erased itself when WP
re-assigned the development team…
But it's not like you're going to see WP 5.x on the Amiga any time in the
foreseeable future, either….
Brian
– via Whap!
We sure are! I only use it when I have to take a document back to work to
continue work on.
ProWrite has been regularly updated as has Final Copy. I'm more
impressed with e!3.0 though.
Rodger
Brian,
>> E! is … the only Aniga program that does footnotes…
I regularly use ProText 5.5 and _it_ does footnotes. I know this because
I've used them. (or endnotes if you prefer, and indexing, and table of
contents generation, and….. It's fast, too.)
Regards,
Shraddhan – via Whap! from Hertfordshire in the UK
Shraddhan,
Just how does ProText stack up? How does the output look? Does it support
the new features of WB2.04 (scaleable fonts, etc…)? Do the publishers
know that it sounds like the brand name of a condom? 🙂
Curious Jonathan
– via Whap!
Jonathan,
I use Protext purely for fast word processing. The output capabilities are
those of the printer you hang on it. If I want to have even nicer output,
I import the text into PageStream. (The snag with this is that my
Portuguese teacher is then reluctant to mark my homework as she thinks it a
shame to mark such beautiful output. 🙂
As for working with WB2.04, I should think it works, but I haven't tried it
yet. (I've got a three day old new Amiga with WB2.04 sitting right behind
me, waiting for its hard drive to be delivered.)
Protext has been described as "a brute text cruncher… If you need a fast
and efficient WP, mail merge or advanced processing features, then this
latest version of Protext (5.5) is way out in front."
It has comprehensive mail merging facilities, table of contents generation,
ability to add numbers in the text (I use it at work to do the accounts).
It has widow and orphan control (eliminates single lines of a paragraph at
the start and end of a page).
It has user-selectable dictionary – you can specify what dictionaries to
use to spell check each document. It can spell check as you type. This is
fast even when using a floppy-based system, as the 5000 (or 500 if memory
is tight) most common words are stored in RAM. Spell checking in batch is
very fast as the words are collated and sorted before being spell checked.
It handles accents with ease. You can write your own printer driver if
your printer can't cope with accents. I wrote a printer driver that
handles the cyrillic alphabet (for Russian). I also created a screen font
so that with the ability to redefine the keyboard, I am able to type in
both English and Russian, switching alphabets by means of the 'caps lock'
key.
As well as the features you'd expect form any word processor, some of
Protext's other features are:
Automatic timed save. ARP file requester (so you can use Khalid
Aldoseri's wonderful file requester whose name I forget). Line drawing.
Automatic time
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and date insertion. Headers and footers (multi-line). On-line help.
Multiple file editing. Multiple column printing (two or more columns per
page). Page numbering in arabic and roman numerals. Background print
spooler. Sticky keys (for those people who can only press one key at at
time).
I might add that I have no connection with the manufacturers of this
program. On the down side, it can take a little while to get the hang of
using it. There are so many facilities that you have to read the 380 page
manual to find out what it can do. I particularly like the ability to
automatically add footers that tell me the name of the file and the time
and date on which it was printed.
As for having a name that sounds like the brand name of a condom, well, you
can have fun with condoms too. <grin>
Regards,
Shraddhan – via Whap! from Hertfordshire in the UK
Shraddhan,
Thanks for the review! However, you have left me with some questions…
* What are the import/export capabilities? Will it accept files from
Microsoft Word or Word Perfect?
* How does it handle footnoting? Is there any facility for citations?
* How recent is version 5.5? Is there another update coming anytime soon?
* Does it come with its own print drivers to take advantage of
printer-specific features? Does it do Postscript?
Right now, it sounds pretty good. It sounds like, however, that CG fonts
are not supported…:(
Thanks for the info.
Curious Jonathan
– via Whap!
Jonathan,
Import/export capabilities – ASCII, WordStar, First Word (Plus), versions
of Protext on other platforms.
To use footnotes: (1) Define the footnote text – either a single line or
multiple lines – anywhere before the corresponding footnote marker; (2)
Insert a marker at the point in the text to which the footnote refers.
This marker will appear as a superscript in the text when it is printed. I
don't know what you mean by a facility for citations.
The latest version that I have is 5.51, dated sometime in 1991. I don't
know of any forthcoming update.
Yes, it does come with its own print drivers to take advantage of
printer-specific features. The style menu changes according to what
features are defined in the driver. As the drivers are written in plain
text, it is easy to modify a driver if you want to. For example, my
printer can do double underlining. So double underlining appears as an
option in the style menu. I have found no reference ot Postscript either
in the manual or in the list of printer drivers. However, I would have
thought that it would not take long to write such a driver if one is not
available.
CG fonts are not supported. No. You can only print the styles and fonts
that the printer knows about. To me, this is no disadvantage because if I
need more flexibility in output, I just import the text into Pagestream and
then I have more capability than I know what to do with 🙂
I forgot to mention that Protext has a thesaurus too. Very useful.
As I said, for fast text crunching, I find Protext to be very good indeed.
For more than that, I use a DTP program. This gives me the best of both
worlds, albeit at a rather higher software cost.
Regards,
Shraddhan – via Whap! from Hertfordshire in the UK
Shraddhan,
Thanks for the info. It sounds like ProText is a real Amiga WP contender.
Wonder why we have heard so little about it in the U.S.?
Jonathan
– via Whap!
Jonathan,
Every time a magazine in the UK does a survey of WPs, Protext comes out top
for sheer power. Maybe it's because it's a non-US product that you don't
hear about it. It's been around for years in different versions.
Regards,
Shraddhan – via Whap! from Hertfordshire in the UK
Jonathan,
Because ProText's user interface, at least versions 4.0 and below, was
horrid enough to make even MS-DOS users cringe. I never understood its
overseas popularity.
However, more recent versions may have added such niceties as pull-down
menus…
Denny,
I agree that the user interface for ProText version 4.0 was horrid. But
that was years ago. Version 5.51 is _very_ much better. And it has menus.
The file requester for version 4.0 was also horrid. Even in version 5.51
it is not nice, but what you can do is to tell ProText to use the ARP file
requester. Once you've done that, you can then install Khalid Aldoseri's
file requester, and you then have a _great_ file requester. Having a file
requester that has the ability to do a string search on files is wonderful
for a program which works on text.
If you want a word processor only for writing the occasional letter,
ProText is overkill. However, a lot of the documents I work on are about
200k long, and then Protext comes into its own.
Regards,
Shraddhan – via Whap! from Hertfordshire in the UK
Available now! Protext 5.5 – the condom with advanced merge capabilities!
Great for headers too!
Malcolm
I never heard of Protext…. How well does it work. Most importantly, is it
available in the US in a US english version (our oddball spelling practices
and all….)?
Brian
– via Whap!
Brian,
For me, Protext works great. I do believe that an American dictionary is
available, and so presumably it should be available in the US. I just
phoned up the manufacturers, but got an answering machine (it's Saturday).
They're at:
Arnor Ltd.,
611 Lincoln Road,
Peterborough PE1 3HA
England
Tel. 0733 68909
I'd like to point out that I am in no way connected with these people.
Talking of dictionaries, Protext's dictionary is phonetically organised,
which means that it does a really good job of guessing what word it was you
had in mind. The spelling checker will also query words with capital
letters beyond the first letter, so it catches the common typing error of
capitalising two letters instead of one.
Regards,
Shraddhan – via Whap! from Hertfordshire in the UK
Another WordProcessor that is starting to take over the UK market is
WordWorth. This has nearly all the facilities of ProText plus a superb user
interface. It is also now available with a US spelling checker.
I would agree with Shraddhan that Protext is probably the best handler of
text on the Amiga. It is ideal if you have a DTP package with which to use
it.
WordWorth on the other hand is the most fully featured Word Processor, or
more accurately Word Publisher, that is on the Amiga. It's easy to use and
looks great. Along with the excellent support of Digita International,
which includes newsletters and clip art, WordWorth is rapidly taking over
the market for business use Word Processors.
Greg, Another Brit using an Amiga! :")
– via Whap!
Found this in the on-line catalog of Computer Shopping Network, looks like
they got it.
Suggest CSN's
Distributor Retail Price!
Protext ———————- Michtron ————- $199.95 $115.606
NOTE: Over 150,000 SEARCHABLE Books/Cassettes On-Line!!!
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Thought you might be interested,
Chris