Re: Lousy Word Procs (was: WordPerfect (Ugh!))

[David Jones <dvjones -at- KSBE -dot- EDU>]

On  6 Dec 96 at 6:17, Yvonne Harrison wrote:
[snips]
> Actually, I'd like to nominate something I consider worse than
> WordPerfect or Word.  AmiPro....  Ack!  (Yvonne hacks up a furball).
>  Oh yeah, and Interleaf for DOS can be a real nightmare to use at
> times...

And I'll throw in some more --

XYWrite. Most confusing program I ever heard of. Yet many, many
non-TW (fiction and non-fiction writers) still swear by it.
Reportedly, if your focus is simply on writing text, writing with
it is fast, transparent, and intuitive.

WordStar for any text-interface OS (DOS, CPM, etc.) Never could keep
the keystrokes straight, even with help turned on, and never figured
out the tedious "dot" (.) commands used for formatting. But it's
another one that many high-volume writers used (and may still use).
Reportedly, the "WordStar diamond" cursor movement layout is *still*
the most ergonomic of any wordprocessing program.

A nomination for buggiest wordprocessor ever -- first release of FullWrite
Professional (Mac).

A nomination for buggiest DTP program ever -- Ventura Publisher Gold
for Windows 3.1 (first release of VP for Windows, coded by Xerox).
Tried to force the DOS VP interface onto Windows, thereby disabling
or changing virtually every standard Windows keyboard shortcut. It
was so bad that at the place where I used it, we had better luck
running VP 2.0 for DOS as a DOS task under Windows (not exactly the
most stable way to run VP 2, BTW.)

Any other nominations, anyone? Off list would be best (sorry, Eric,
I'll stop feeling nostalgic now for the days when there was still
competition in the wordprocessing and DTP markets!)

David Jones, Technical Writer
dvjones -at- ksbe -dot- edu

Thought for the day:
    Intuition (n): an uncanny sixth sense which tells people
    that they are right, whether they are or not.


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