Conference hydra::amiga_v1

    I have used it for the last month. IT's Great. I comes with a 90000+
    word spelling checker and a thesorus (i think thats how you spell
    it) which is realy helpful. I use to use TextCraft and it like
    comparing a got cart to a Rolls. WordPerfect also has a vase number
    of printer drivers.
    
    I highly recommend it; even at full price.

    I don't yet own WordPerfect, but I've heard lots of comments buzzing
    around on Plink.
    
    If you do buy it, try to check if the version the store has has
    a date of August 10, 1987 or later.  The date is displayed in the
    startup message.
    
    Apparently this latest release has numerous bug fixes.
    
    WorpPerfect has a nice upgrade policy:  Free.  Send in a disk, and
    they send out the latest version.

    I asked about it at Memory Location during my spree.  Apparently
    it is text-only: you can't include pictures in your documents.
    That's enough to turn me off--I want to be able to include charts,
    graphs, cartoons, etc. in my documents.  That's one of the reasons
    I got the Amiga!
        John Sauter

    Have you checked out ProWrite yet?  It is somewhat like VisaWrite
    in that it allows import of IFF graphics of any color/resolution
    (except HAM).
    
    ProWrite is presently going through a fairly major upgrade that
    should make it a pretty good contender.  Right now, it has sufficient
    flaws to make me uncomfortable with it.
    
    Ed.
    

    
    My wife needs a simple word processor for doing work and school
    work at home.  She has been using Scribble!  This opportunity came
    along to get WordPerfect at a discount and it is the only reason we
    considered buying another word processor.  Neither of us has a need 
    right now for including graphics into the text.

    Personnally, I see a big difference between something like Prowrite,
    which appears to be a graphics based system, and a simple word
    processor.  Not having a state-of-the-art printer, I would sacrifice a
    lot in text quality by going to something like Prowrite (I think).

    In addition, WordPerfect seems to be a well-established piece of
    software in the PC industry.

    thanks for the info,
    
    - steve
    
    BTW Someone mentioned getting a version after a certain date.  The
        school doesn't seem to have a copy for the amiga on hand.  The
        demand must be really high :-).  So if we order it, it will
        come direct from WordPerfect.  Hopefully, the latest version.

    Word Perfect is a clone of the IBM version to a large degree, or
    so I'd heard. As a text processor on the IBM it is EXTREMELY powerful.
    Everything and the kitchen sink. It is also the *most* popular program
    on the PC. Of course, consider that that crowd thinks Lotus 123
    is the ultimate in fun....
    
    Can your wife by any chance obtain a second copy? I would gladly
    pay $99, but $395 is outrageous and I simply refuse to pay.
    
    $$$ up front!
    dov

    Call the Software Shop (617)756-6452 right away!  Yesterday they
    had a used copy of WordPerfect, I'll bet you could get it real 
    cheap.

    
    Finally received the paperwork we need to order wordperfect with the
    student discount.  It is ridiculusly simple.  My wife has to photocopy
    her student ID along with her driver's liscence.  Anyone can get one of
    these forms simply by calling WordPerfect (801) 225-5000. 
    
    I guess we're going to order it.  They also sent a brochure for
    Amiga WordPerfect.  Here are a few of the features/facts which the
    brochure points out:
    
      1.  WordPerfect 4.1.  Requires 512K RAM.  Kickstart 1.2.
      2.  On-Screen Help.  Manual includes lessons to introduce features.
      3.  Extensive File manipulation.  Everything from print to move.
          VM type file access (allows working on files larger than avail
          memory).
      4.  115,000 word Speller.
      5.  Edit Macros.  (I wonder if these can include mouse movements?)
      6.  Merge.
      7.  Print spooling from within WordPerfect.  Supports over 200
          printers.
      8.  Columnar newpaper-style type formats.  This is on-screen.
      9.  Tables and Outlines.
      10. Thesaurus.  (Does it use the same dict as the spelling checker?).
      11. Misc:  Footnotes, Page Numbering, Simple formula Math tables.

    regards,
    steve mcafee
    
    BTW I believe an individual can only purchase one copy.  I think
        the form said something to this effect.

    I just called WordPerfect to get the form. The offer is for full-time
    students or faculty members only. It will take about 3 weeks to
    get the form. Many college bookstores have the form, so it's a lot
    quicker to pick it up there.

Couple of questions (I know nothing about WordPerfect):

-  Is this a WYSIWYG editor, a semi-wysiwyg editor (like scribble), or what?

-  If it claims to support 200 printers, does that mean it does or doesn't work
   well (or at all) with preferences printers?  (I have an LA50, which is
   presumably not supported explicitly.)

I am still looking for a decent word processor, primarily for the wife and kids.
Scribble just doesn't hack it.  I have to set up all the kids school reports for
them.  I have heard that WordPerfect is supposed to be the best for IBM, but
that may be faint praise.

	Paul

    I'm seriously considering buying WordPerfect for the Amiga. For
    those of you who've used it, is it worth the extra bucks? Abel's
    price is $179.xx. I'm just looking for a word processor and have
    no need for graphics.

	The current issue of Amuzing Confusion (Amazing Computing)
	has a comparison of WordPerfect along with a couple other
	word processors.  Worth taking alook at...

	-Art
	"Bounded chaotic mixing produces strange stabilities..."

    According to the WP rep on PLINK, they've sold $1,000,000 worth
    of product to the Amiga community during the first month of sales.
    They are very happy with those numbers.
    
    Personally, I still hear bug reports on a daily basis on PLINK.
    Any WP users having any serious problems?
    
    On this subject, New Horizons has announced a major upgrade to ProWrite
    around the first of the year.  All know bugs have been corrected,
    and lots of new features.  Upgrade will be $10.00 to registered
    users.
    
    Ed.
    

    
    Sorry, forgot about this note...
    
    Received WP a week or two ago.  BTW  My wife is not a full time
    student.  They never asked when we spoke on the phone.
    
    Overall, I think she has been happy with the program.  There are
    a few bugs.   SWITCH in the first menu still hangs the machine
    sometimes and we have the latest version.  I'm not really worried
    about bugs though.  At this time they are rare enough to be acceptable
    and there is every indication of a high degree of support from WP.
    
    I should reiterate what I believe someone already said:  This program
    is not for the faint of heart.  I for example will probably not touch
    it (unless I need to do some type of paper for school).  My wife
    however needs the WP features daily.   It certainly should not
    be used for programming unless you feel particularly masochistic. 
    
    One thing though:  Has anyone gone through the WP printdef program
    and produced an adequate LA50 or LA100 driver yet?  We've been using
    the DOS printer and I don't relish doing this myself.
    
    If you have any specific questions.  I'd be glad to try to answer
    them.
    
    - steve mcafee

    I decided to take the plunge and buy WordPerfect.
    
    1. It is not a 'Text Editor'. Attempting to use it for programming
       *will* drive you nuts !!
    
    2. It is a great word processor. Yes it does have some bugs. BUT
       WordPerfect has far fewer than many other software packages
       that have been released for the Amiga.
    
    3. The WordPerfect folks stand behind their products. Upgrades 
       are generally very cheap (often free if I remember correctly).
    
    4. It is feature rich !!  Some things I like include:
    	a. Automatic periodic backups
    	b. Backups of the original document (doesn't just 'eat up'
    	    the original)
    	c. A great theseraus (I need all the help I can get).
    	d. A good macro capability.
    	e. Mail Merge capability.
    	f. Automatic Index & Table of Contents generation.
    	g. Lots more....
    
    5. Now for some down side...
    	a. Requires two disk drives (to be practical)
    	b. Requires 512K of memory
    	c. Would like to much on a whole lot more memory.
    	d. The spelling checker stinks - primarily due to
    	    disk drive access times... (more memory might
    	    help this problem).
    	e. The function keys/menus can loose a soul real quick. It
    	    is not as easy to use as WPS-plus, and not a great deal
    	    more sophisticated.
    
    6. Would I buy it again?  In a heartbeat !!  (And this time
    	I would not waste any time thinking about it !!)
    
    
    If anyone has any questions, I'ld be happy to answer... use one
    of the following mail addresses (I don't often get the chance to
    read this notes file):
    
    		John Fisher @RTP
    			or
    		CELSST::FISHER
    			or
    		AUNTB::FISHER_J
    
    
    =jbf=
    

    I'll pose one public question; since many people have 2+ megs of
    memory, it might make sense to load the dictionary and/or thesaurus
    to RAM: for greater speed.  I do this with Scribble. Is this easy
    or possible with WP?  I think it may just require a logical assignment
    or something...
    
    
    

    
    The very first thing I did when I got WP was to put together a boot
    disk which would load everything into VD0.  It does take some time to
    boot everything.  Basically you use the assign/logical WP:.  While in
    WP, it will request the location of the dictionary/thesaurus the first
    time you use each one.  This information is then stored in the files
    that begin with "{SYS}" (I believe thats what it is). Copy these files
    back the the WP disk and then make sure you restore them to VD0 each
    time you boot WP.  I've got 2.5Meg and had no problem loading it
    all up.

    I agree, the Thesaurus is quite good, but even from VD0 the spelling
    checker is lousy.  The interface just isn't that good. The spelling
    checker interface to Scribble! is much easier to use as well as
    faster.  Even AmigaWorld gave the speller a bad review.  I'm sure
    WP is aware of this.  Maybe we'll see some improvements.
    
    One minor thing that bothers me is the excessive amount of window
    manipulations that go on.   For example, when you run the spelling
    checker the text window get resized much smaller so that none of
    it is hidden by the speller.  Also there are many times where they
    might have relied on intuition to refresh the text window but WP
    goes ahead and refreshes the screen manually.  I'm sure these kind
    of things will get polished out of the program.
    
    Does anyone have a good LA100/LA50 printdef yet?

    regards,
    
    steve mcafee

    No LA100/LA50 printer Defs, but if you have one for the AMiga, you
    can send the output through the Amiga Default printer.
    
    Also concerning the use of logicals... WP uses T: for temporary
    storage. Several things are located there:
    
    	o  Files that are spooled to the printer (WP has a print spooler
    	   built into it.)
    
    	o  Memory Files - One of the problems that many word processors
    	   often face is a limitation on the number of pages that they
    	   can handle. WP uses two files to provide a 'virtual' memory
   	   capability. On an Amiga this is not as important as on the
    	   original PCs.
    
    	o  Undo buffers - Ever eat up some text, and decide that you
    	   really did not mean to blow it away?  Well, WP has a nice
    	   undelete capability.
    
    Moral of the story is that though WP does work well in 512K of memory,
    it would really like more, especially with a very large document.
    Of course, when I need to I simply reassign T: to a disk (and wait
    a while longer).
    
    There are three things that can be reassign/changed with WP. The
    first is the WP: directory as Steve indicated. The second is the
    T: directory. The third is a definition of where the Speller and
    Theseraus (spelling??) is located. Not being copy protected, you
    can move anything wherever you want it, and WP is smart enough to
    handle the changes. (That is to say, it's not BRAIN DAMAMGED).
                                                                  
    I also agree that some of the windo manipulation is unnecessary.
    But remember that we had some PC type folks doing this, with a large
    trunk load of PC code. Yes, I suspect they will improve it over
    time, but I cann't complain too much right now.               
                                                                  
    Anyway, enough rambling...                                    
    =jbf=

	Does anyone have WordPerfect working with Workbench V1.3?  I just
upgraded, and now get the error message...

N�9:Not enough available memory,  free some up and try again!!!

	I've got a 1 meg A2000, and wasn't running anything else.  I showed
over 750K free at the time.  I used to run it with much less free memory
under V1.2.

	Problem solved.  Under 1.2 I was using a morerowed screen.  1.3 broke
morerows, so I'm stuck with a "small" screen for now.  WordPerfect was trying to
open a window at old size, and finding there wasn't screen there.  I figured
that would be a problem and tried to us the S switch to see if it would get
the screen size, but no.  I finally used VScreen to give me a big enough
virtual screen and WordPerfect came up.  I then set it to come up in a normal
sized window, and it now works fine.

	Anyone know of a version of MoreRows that works with 1.3?

Mark

    I'm having trouble printing a file on word perfect extracted from
    the Vax.  It is an extraction of notes.  I can't quite seem to get
    it to print without either hyphenating or bringing the last word
    of each sentence down to the next line.  
    
    Help
    
    Steve O

    Here's an interesting tidbit from the usenet....
    
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Path: decwrl!labrea!agate!pasteur!ames!elroy!orion.cf.uci.edu!oberon!pollux.usc.edu!papa
Subject: InfoWorld's Notes From The Field
Posted: 29 Nov 88 18:58:27 GMT
Organization: Felsina Software, Los Angeles, CA
 
 
Excerpted from the Nov. 28, 1988 issue of InfoWorld, in Notes 
from The Field, Robert X. Cringely's rumor section:
 
"AMIGUS, AMIGA, AMIGO
 
There is always a black sheep or two, and our family has Uncle 
Murray and me. Murray is a kind of suburban mountain man who 
taught me as a child to recognize and follow the tracks of 
many animals -- foxes, deer, women. "Tell us about this job 
of yours, Bobby," Uncle Murray leered, draping his arm all too
comfortably around Pammy.
 
So I told them about WordPerfect 6.0 for OS/2, which will be
ported from 6.0 for the *Commodore Amiga*. It seems that the
            ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Amiga operating system is the favored multitasker for WordPerfect
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
programmers, who wrote WP 4.1 from scratch for the Amiga after
the company had given up on a DOS port and sold the development
machines to the programmers for home use"
 
Enjoy.
 
-- Marco Papa 'Doc'
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
uucp:...!pollux!papa       BIX:papa       ARPAnet:[email protected]
 "There's Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Diga!" -- Leo Schwab [quoting Rick Unland]
-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

    If you reveal codes, you will "see" hard carriage returns inserted
    by the VAX, either remove them, or set your page margin wider than
    80 char.
    
    Jean
    

    
    OK, WordPerfect users... here's a simple question:
    
    Can WordPerfect v4.whatever save files in WordStar 5.0 format?  I mean
    with all formatting etc intact?
    
    My wife can get some contract typing work for some consulting
    engineers who use WordStar on PeeCees.  Rather than buy a BridgeBoard,
    I'd rather find an easy way to read/write files directly from AmigaDOS.
    The CrossDOS program that I posted can handle the reading/writing of
    the files onto 3.5" or 5.25 PC disks.
    
    Ed.
    

Sorry Ed, I think the only thing you could do is save the file as TEXT and
then read it into WordStar.  Of course you would loose formatting.

...richard

    
    Drat... thanks for checking.
    
    Ed.

    Is he WordPerfect document format on AmigaDOS identical to that on
    MS-DOS?  For example, can I use MSH: to freely transfer documents
    between AmigaDOS and MS-DOS?

    I have saved a WP document created on the Amiga to a CrossDos disk then
    used that disk on my 386 at work.  WP5.1 loads it in fine, but says it
    is being converted as it is loaded.  There is an option to resave it
    back out in 4.? format from 5.1 but I have never tried going the other
    way (back to the Amiga).  The 5.1 file definitely can't be read by
    Amiga Word Perfect.  

    I'm trying my best to print a WP document on my Fujitsu DPMG-9 dot
    matrix printer, which admittedly is old (4-5 yrs), but having no
    success with the printer drivers supplied by Word Perfect.
    
    I thought that before I go through all 200 of them I might ask...
    
    
    Thanks,
    
    
    Scott