#WordPerfect 5.0???
26 messages in this thread
I want to dispell any rumors or tales of woe. There WILL BE an ALL NEW
version of Wd Perfect for the AMIGA. It will be a vast improvement over the
4.1 version. Sadly I am under a non-disclosure aggreement so what I can
say beyond this is nothing. I can say that this new version is not due soon
or anywhere near soon. I cannot give any time frame as it is still not
ready for testing of a kind at this time. I had to get an OK from WP to
even say th, so I wi not able to answer any questions. This is just to let
ya know that a new version will be here sometime but not real sn.
Don't announce vaporware — especially vapor with such a long lead time…
There have been enough "announcements" like yours that didn't come to pass
due to changing market conditions and what not.
David – via Whap!
David,
He didn't announce vaporware…he simply said that WP is working on
a new version of WP for the Amiga, and that any kind of release (if any)
would not be soon.
WP has also made that statement, it's nothing new…Mike was simply
stating that WP is, so far, keeping their promise to keep working on the
Amiga.
Don
Thank you Don as I am a tester for the new product (which I havent seen
yet) I am sharply restricted in what I can say. What I said was cleared
before by WP Corp to counteract some of the negative comments here and to
assure users that a new not just an udated version is in the works.
I kind of understand David's point though about vaporware. MS has
developed it to a REAL art. There's a fine line between information and
manipulation.
I hope that WP does keep working on an update and releases it soon. I'd
love to have an Amiga version of WP5.1. Don't think that I'll wait to see
what finally happens. I'm planning on getting one of the many "Amiga" word
processing programs that will support fonts. I figure that I can use it
and WP both for different types of applications.
It won't be soon as it's still in VERY early development and still quite
aways from reaching the point where I go to work (beta testing) but it is
there and is not vaporware. If I had to guess I would say at the earlist
next summer would be a good time frame but that is just a guess out of the
blue and most likely won't hold up. If you were to get the current Amiga WP
now the upgrade cost would likely be a considerable savings over waiting
for the package at retail when it does arrive.
So, what you're saying is that when they said they had a working version
ready to show at the AmiExpo, and the "little problem" with CBM stopped
them…
They were lying?
Interesting. :^)
Ben
sorry Ben that question falls deeply into the "non-disclosure area".
Mike
Right. Lying. :^)
Ben
Come off it Ben! Neither C= nor WP is saying anything about what is going
on.
I am quite sure that WP does not want a repeat of the 4.11 release. Nor
should anyone else that either uses the Amy or makes their living from the
machine (including other wordprocessor writers). Fact is that WP Corp. is
one the largest and most respected software houses in the world. In a very
large segment of the business world, compatibility with WP files is the
criteria (vs MSDOS compatibility). I personnally have experienced this and
WP 4.11 was enough to allow the Amy to "play too" (to the tune of about
$90K).
Whether you personnally like or care for WP products doesn't "make a
tinkers …" as to the overall Amiga situation. Accusing WP of lying with
no more basis than it appears that you have is an irresponsible act and is
damaging to all parties concerned.
I personnally find your users' interfaces to be non-intuitive and difficult
in use. PCLO+, CoComm, the packet program, and AVT have all been
unreliable on my systems. Of the few dozen times that I have run the
various incarnations of the HAME software, only three have NOT resulted in
either a machine lockup or program lockup. When completely honest and
candid about things, I have to admit that I expect that behaviour from your
products.
However, your software does work (even if I do seem to experience far more
software failures than your other users) and, you and your company are
committed to and do support the Amiga. I also freely admit that for the
few occassions that something actually prevented me from accomplishing a
task, contacting you was sufficient to obtain a solution.
-bill/ARS KB7LX
You do seem to be the exception; but then again, you've been running CBM's
beta OS for a while. :^)
Look: WP said, in plain english, that it would intro WP 5x at AmiExpo. They
didn't. THey said, in plain english, that it was done, but they were
waiting on CBM for small things.
Mike says, it's not done, and it's not near done, and that he knows.
WP didn't bring 5x to AmiExpo.
Either…
WP lied about 5x before Amiexpo, and told mike the truth, which he is now
passing on, or…
WP told the truth about 5x, lied to Mike, which he is now passing on, or…
WP told the truth about 5x, told the truth to Mike, and he's lying to us.
I doubt it's 3; it just seems too risky, even w/o knowing Mike. So, I tend
to think it's 1 or 2. Whichever it is (of all three), somewhere in this is
a stinker, and it's NOT my fault. :^)
And, as you say, it makes no diff if I think WP products stink to high
heaven (I do think so), nor did I make that any part of my position. You're
out of line to bring it up as if it was part of my position.
As far as our UI's go, if you like WP, I'd expect you to dislike ours,
which are quite different (thank goodness… WP is THE standard of what to
stay away from here) But you are certainly entitled to your opinion, and it
does count, somewhat. Since you are far in the minority, it doesn't change
anything, but it's heard, anyway.
It's funny… we have letters from users written specifically because our
s/w works well, BoardMaster being a particular example.
Oh well. Can't please everyone, and you in particular since you're such a
WP fan. But, hey – don't blame me if they said a=2, b=3 and a+b=8.
Ben
Geez Bill, chill out! I can't say that WP Corp was exactly lying about the
AmiExpo release because I don't know all the details. But it sure seems
kinda strange that an annoucement was made regarding a preview, then they
pulled out at the last minute. And now someone shows up here on CIS who is
apparently connected with WP (Beta tester?) and says that 5.1 is just in
the planning stages. Sure I would like to see 5.1 also, but I don't like
the idea of leading people to believe that the release is just around the
corner when in fact it will probably be several months.
As far as Ben's software goes, I've only used IP so can't comment about
the rest. But consider the fact that there have been 3 major revisions
since I bought my Ham-E a few months ago when it came with IP 3.4 — 4.x,
5.x, and now 6.x. Not just bug fixes but major revisions. IP 6.x is a
considerable improvement over what I first received with the Ham-E, and
when I first bought it I thought 3.4 was great. So for a program to go
through so many changes in so short a time, I'm surprised they are as few
bugs as people have reported. Ben has been very responsive to user
suggestions and a few that I have made ended up in later revisions. I'm
sure that when the software gets finalized the bugs will get squashed, but
for now I'm happy to see all the new goodies in each revision. So Ben, keep
it up, and Bill, go take a couple of vallium's and mellow out.
John – K7KB (via Whap!)
Bill,
I have to say that the HAM-E software has crashed on me a total of one
time. And that's running on an Amiga 3000, with last fall's version of
AmigaDOS 2.0 — if it should crash, it would crash on that.
Blaq! – via Whap!
I would personally prefer to see the NeXT or MAC version on the Amiga.
Wordperfect 5.1 isnt GUI, Isnt WYSIWYG, Isnt Color, Isnt a lot of things..
Now the NeXT (how did they justify that??) and Mac 2.0 versions are much
more AMIGAISH..
(and they were written for 68000's!)
Alan Russell
They justified it because the NeXt has a top-notch image. The Amiga has a
basement image. Not even a bargain-basement image, unfortunately, unless
you're seriously into video.
They justified it because the perpitrator of the NeXt has a solid
reputation for marketing and success. CBM has neither of these, quite the
reverse.
There may be other reasons, but these seem like th obvious candidates to
me.
Ben
Ben,
Word Perfect has stated many times that they intend to port WP to
as many platforms as possible.
Don
So?
ben
Ben,
Read the thread. You claimed WP ported to the NeXT because of the
NeXT's image. I simply pointed out that WP has often said they want to
port WP to as many platforms as possible. The implication being that the
NeXT is simply another platform to port to and it has nothing to do with
image.
Don
CBM doen't have a reputation for success? Seems to me that the C64 was
(and still is) a very successful product. There's certainly no doubt that
CBM has managed to mis-manage almost all aspects of things; but the
hardware's good. Also AmigaOS may not be perfect but I'd prefer to use it
any day over MS-DOS or anything else I've seen for those "real" computers.
Granted the NeXT machine is nice. It has a lot of nice features; some I
wish the Amiga had. But it still burns me up when a company that says
there aren't enough Amigas out there to justify developing software for it
will turn around and develop a NeXT program. I don't claim to know any
actual number of units of NeXT out there but I'm sure there are more
Amigas.
I'd also like to see a version of WP that takes advantage of the functions
of the Amiga, but I'd be happy for a while to get something that provides
the functions of 5.1. I use 5.1 at work and really miss those functions at
home. If WP could successfully combine the functions of 5.1 and the
"Amiga" functions of other word processors, I'd be very pleased.
Garry;
The problem with the success is that C-64 success does not translate to
success in the business market.
The problem with the number comparisons is that it would appear that no one
really knows how many Amigas are used for 'serious' business use. If there
are 3,000,000 Amigas out there but only 10,000 are used for business
(excluding Video or other dedicated applications) then it is indeed a small
market. Of course "I" think that there are many more Amigas in business
than that and maybe even more importantly that there would be many more if
only the applications were available.
-bill/ARS KB7LX
Bill,
I use the Amiga & the Amiga WP in my business. It makes life easier
when employees have been trained on WP. I'm hoping WP 5.0 will come out
for the Amiga… it will sell more Amigas & I for one will pay for the
upgrade.
———————————————-Don- via Whap!
Don;
I suspect that you are far from alone!
-bill/ARS KB7LX
Have you stopped and looked at the price of WP for the NeXt? If not, do so.
Then reread your message.
Ben
Ben,
Have I seen the price of WP for NeXT? No. I haven't even seen any
software for the NeXT. I do get mailings from some companies regarding
Next versions of the programs but I've never seen ANY actual software in a
store or catalog for the NeXT. Nor have I seen a machine.
Garry
Garry;
The NeXT machine is quite real. I don't know much about the software
situation though.
-bill/ARS KB7LX
I sat down with two NeXT machines this past weekend. 32mb/25mhz
040/660megHD system with 21" full color monitor… the NeXT 'Cube'… cost
@ $16,000. Used Improv, a database prog (forgot name), a pretty
spectacular Mandelbrot generator, some utilities. Very slick system. (not
hooked up to a NET, so I couldn't try that) Should be a pretty slick
system for $16,000!! 🙂 Store had a fair amount of NeXT software on the
shelf (in an 'exclusive' area)
Also used the 'pizza' version. Also impressive.
Didn't use either long enough to really test them, of course. But I do
like the entire 'feel' of the machine. Helps to be working on the Cadillac
system though.
–jp–seattle–