166 lines
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166 lines
8.0 KiB
Plaintext
Path: news1.icaen!news.uiowa.edu!news.physics.uiowa.edu!math.ohio-state.edu!howland.erols.net!worldnet.att.net!news.maxwell.syr.edu!news.bc.net!info.ucla.edu!nnrp.info.ucla.edu!usenet
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From: pubpc1@library.ucla.edu
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Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple2
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Subject: Review - WordPerfect IIgs
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Date: 31 Jan 1997 17:40:16 GMT
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Organization: University of California, Los Angeles
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Lines: 104
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Message-ID: <5ctaq0$fks@uni.library.ucla.edu>
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X-Mailer: Mozilla 1.2N (Windows; I; 16bit)
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Review of WordPerfect IIgs
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WordPerfect for the IIgs has just been released by Corel as freeware.
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This means that a high power word processor is now available for
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anyone with a IIgs. So what is so cool about this software? The
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answer is features. This program offers a combination of features
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that no other IIgs word processing program does. If you are serious
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about writing, this program has no substitute.
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How many times have you had this problem. You are looking through
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a CD-ROM and all of the sudden, you find an interesting file. Great,
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you think, it is a text file from the icon and filetype. You
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double-click on it, but your trusty Finder Extension chokes on the
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20MB file. You then try AppleWorks GS. This program starts to load
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the file, thinks about it for a couple of minutes, then decides it
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has run out of memory. What do you do? You think of letting the
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usual ProDOS 8 software chop up and load up the file. Divide the
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file into four 5MB chunks and load them into your AE Expander
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enhanced AppleWorks Classic. But wait, ProDOS 8 software can't
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access your ISO-9660 CD-ROM. You need GS/OS for this and what's
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worst, you can't even copy the file to a ProDOS volume because
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ProDOS' file size limit is 16MB. There is only one program that
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can handle this job and it is WordPerfect for the IIgs.
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The programmers of WordPerfect IIgs wisely gave the program the
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ability to load a file as large as the storage medium allowed (it
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uses virtual memory in the sense that it is buffering the file with
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disk storage to overcome RAM limitations). This means that it can
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load a 16MB file from a ProDOS volume. As a GS desktop program,
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however, it can also do the usual GS tricks like access your desk
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accessories and, more importantly, your FSTs. You can use
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WordPerfect to directly grab LAGER THAN 16MB files off of HFS and
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ISO-9660 volumes.
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Yes, WPGS is a true desktop program. It uses the standard Apple
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interface, complete with scroll bars, dialog boxes, option buttons,
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mouse interface, Apple, File, Edit, Search, Print, Line, Page,
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Style, Footnote, and Special menus. Yes, the Apple menu really does
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let you access installed desk accessories - this is a REAL desktop
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program.
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But what if you are an AppleWorks Classic fan. You don't like the
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mouse and you fear a graphics screen would be slow. Without an
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accelerator, you've always stayed away from AppleWorks GS because
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of speed problems. Won't WPGS be as slow as AWGS? No. First,
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while WPGS uses the SHR screen, it is very fast. The trick is that
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WPGS does not use standard GS/OS fonts. It uses a built in
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character set - you can see the built in fonts and you can see
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underlines, italics, superscripts, and subscipts. Second, the
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program can function without a mouse. You can access all of the
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program's features through keyboard equivalents. Forgot the command?
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Look under the Help option in the Apple menu and you will find a
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scrolling, alphabetized list of WPGS's 100+ word processing features.
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Simply scroll down and hilite the command you want, press return
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(or click), and presto, it is done.
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Ah, but you want to customize. You are a big fan of macros. GS
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word processors can't do what UntraMacros can do, right? Wrong.
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WPGS has a powerful macro language and you can also change the
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default keyboard equivalents around to match your previous program.
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You can also set up default margins and other page format parameters.
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This flexibility includes user defined footnote and header options.
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WordPerfect does not use the standard GS/OS printer drivers. Like
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AppleWorks Classic, printers are defined via codes. There are many
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built in, including the LaserWriters, but you can define custom
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printers. Setting up WordPerfect to use a DeskJet, for example,
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is trivial. You can even use a freely available NDA to lock the
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printer port at 57.6kbps, giving the program access to the
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DeskWriter's internal fonts (yes, the DeskWriter for the Mac
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DOES have internal fonts, you just need a 57.6kbps connection
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to use them).
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The program has a 115,000 word spelling checker that scans for
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spelling errors and typos and generates a word count. The powerful
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thesaurus supplies synonyms and antonyms.
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Along with the macro language, WordPefect also has comprehensive
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mailmerge capabilities. It actually has database features that
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allow you to set up mailing lists and reports through the integration
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of two sparate files.
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Other features include the ability to hide and show formatting
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codes, like AppleWorks Classic. Split screen views of hidden and
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"zoomed" text side by side, so you can get both views. The ability
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to hide the menubar, for writers accustomed to a clean screen.
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Little touches like the ability to insert the date and time
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automatically in one of any format. It even supports shifting the
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margins back and forth on even and odd pages to create a gutter
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for binding. The program lets you customize your work environment
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by choosing your own palette using the RGB sliders.
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Finally, you must be asking yourself: the file format, is it
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compatible with WordPerfect on my PC? The answer is a resounding
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yes. WordPerfect for the IIgs uses the WordPerfect 5.1 standard
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for PC machines. WordPerfect for Windows versions also support
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reading from and saving to this format.
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Sounds good dosen't it? It should...this program once retailed
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for over $100. Now it is freeware. Get your copy today.
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-Scott G.
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Path: news1.icaen!news.uiowa.edu!news.physics.uiowa.edu!math.ohio-state.edu!howland.erols.net!cam-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!news.bbnplanet.com!cpk-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!news.maxwell.syr.edu!news.bc.net!info.ucla.edu!nnrp.info.ucla.edu!usenet
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From: pubpc1@library.ucla.edu
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Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple2
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Subject: Re: Word Perfect for the Apple II and IIGS now FREEWARE!
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Date: 31 Jan 1997 17:44:51 GMT
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Organization: University of California, Los Angeles
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Lines: 32
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Message-ID: <5ctb2j$fks@uni.library.ucla.edu>
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References: <5coi3b$iff@news.wco.com>
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NNTP-Posting-Host: 164.67.234.115
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"Charles T. Turley" <cturley@wco.com> wrote:
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>I'd been trying to get Word Perfect for the Apple II and IIGS reclassified as
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>freeware (with authorization) for distribution via the Internet web sites and
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>ftp sites for some time now. Well, final authorization has been confirmed by
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>Corel Corp.
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First of all, I'd like to thank C. Turley for repeatedly bugging
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Corel until they saw the light.
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Second, knowing what will probably happen is that this software
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will be boycotted by some, I hope that Nate and others will bury
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the hatchet. WordPerfect GS was the finest IIGS word processor
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available, combining a fast pseudo-text SHR display with a choice
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of pull-down menus or keyboard shortcuts, and the IIe version was
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at least light years ahead of AppleWriter. It would be a sad
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day if the A2 FAQ and the Apple II newsletters all decide not to
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spread the word far and wide.
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I hope that the writers of Apple Blossom, Juiced GS, Shareware
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Solutions II, Softdisk GS, and the Apple II FAQ will independently
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verify WordPerfect's status from Corel and then make the software
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available (through disks or links).
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FINALLY, there is a freely available, full-featured word processor
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that anyone lucky enough to have an Apple II computer can use. I
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believe the latest version was released as an upgrade for the GS
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version in 1993. The software will run under System 6.0.1 and
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see HFS volumes just fine. If you eschew fancy fonts and graphics,
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but appreciate high octane word processing, give it a spin.
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-Scott G.
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