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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 From: pubpc1@library.ucla.edu Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple2 Subject: Review - WordPerfect IIgs Date: 31 Jan 1997 17:40:16 GMT Organization: University of California, Los Angeles Lines: 104 Message-ID: <5ctaq0$fks@uni.library.ucla.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: 164.67.234.115 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Mailer: Mozilla 1.2N (Windows; I; 16bit) Review of WordPerfect IIgs WordPerfect for the IIgs has just been released by Corel as freeware. This means that a high power word processor is now available for anyone with a IIgs. So what is so cool about this software? The answer is features. This program offers a combination of features that no other IIgs word processing program does. If you are serious about writing, this program has no substitute. How many times have you had this problem. You are looking through a CD-ROM and all of the sudden, you find an interesting file. Great, you think, it is a text file from the icon and filetype. You double-click on it, but your trusty Finder Extension chokes on the 20MB file. You then try AppleWorks GS. This program starts to load the file, thinks about it for a couple of minutes, then decides it has run out of memory. What do you do? You think of letting the usual ProDOS 8 software chop up and load up the file. Divide the file into four 5MB chunks and load them into your AE Expander enhanced AppleWorks Classic. But wait, ProDOS 8 software can't access your ISO-9660 CD-ROM. You need GS/OS for this and what's worst, you can't even copy the file to a ProDOS volume because ProDOS' file size limit is 16MB. There is only one program that can handle this job and it is WordPerfect for the IIgs. The programmers of WordPerfect IIgs wisely gave the program the ability to load a file as large as the storage medium allowed (it uses virtual memory in the sense that it is buffering the file with disk storage to overcome RAM limitations). This means that it can load a 16MB file from a ProDOS volume. As a GS desktop program, however, it can also do the usual GS tricks like access your desk accessories and, more importantly, your FSTs. You can use WordPerfect to directly grab LAGER THAN 16MB files off of HFS and ISO-9660 volumes. Yes, WPGS is a true desktop program. It uses the standard Apple interface, complete with scroll bars, dialog boxes, option buttons, mouse interface, Apple, File, Edit, Search, Print, Line, Page, Style, Footnote, and Special menus. Yes, the Apple menu really does let you access installed desk accessories - this is a REAL desktop program. But what if you are an AppleWorks Classic fan. You don't like the mouse and you fear a graphics screen would be slow. Without an accelerator, you've always stayed away from AppleWorks GS because of speed problems. Won't WPGS be as slow as AWGS? No. First, while WPGS uses the SHR screen, it is very fast. The trick is that WPGS does not use standard GS/OS fonts. It uses a built in character set - you can see the built in fonts and you can see underlines, italics, superscripts, and subscipts. Second, the program can function without a mouse. You can access all of the program's features through keyboard equivalents. Forgot the command? Look under the Help option in the Apple menu and you will find a scrolling, alphabetized list of WPGS's 100+ word processing features. Simply scroll down and hilite the command you want, press return (or click), and presto, it is done. Ah, but you want to customize. You are a big fan of macros. GS word processors can't do what UntraMacros can do, right? Wrong. WPGS has a powerful macro language and you can also change the default keyboard equivalents around to match your previous program. You can also set up default margins and other page format parameters. This flexibility includes user defined footnote and header options. WordPerfect does not use the standard GS/OS printer drivers. Like AppleWorks Classic, printers are defined via codes. There are many built in, including the LaserWriters, but you can define custom printers. Setting up WordPerfect to use a DeskJet, for example, is trivial. You can even use a freely available NDA to lock the printer port at 57.6kbps, giving the program access to the DeskWriter's internal fonts (yes, the DeskWriter for the Mac DOES have internal fonts, you just need a 57.6kbps connection to use them). The program has a 115,000 word spelling checker that scans for spelling errors and typos and generates a word count. The powerful thesaurus supplies synonyms and antonyms. Along with the macro language, WordPefect also has comprehensive mailmerge capabilities. It actually has database features that allow you to set up mailing lists and reports through the integration of two sparate files. Other features include the ability to hide and show formatting codes, like AppleWorks Classic. Split screen views of hidden and "zoomed" text side by side, so you can get both views. The ability to hide the menubar, for writers accustomed to a clean screen. Little touches like the ability to insert the date and time automatically in one of any format. It even supports shifting the margins back and forth on even and odd pages to create a gutter for binding. The program lets you customize your work environment by choosing your own palette using the RGB sliders. Finally, you must be asking yourself: the file format, is it compatible with WordPerfect on my PC? The answer is a resounding yes. WordPerfect for the IIgs uses the WordPerfect 5.1 standard for PC machines. WordPerfect for Windows versions also support reading from and saving to this format. Sounds good dosen't it? It should...this program once retailed for over $100. Now it is freeware. Get your copy today. -Scott G. Path: news1.icaen!news.uiowa.edu!news.physics.uiowa.edu!math.ohio-state.edu!howland.erols.net!cam-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!news.bbnplanet.com!cpk-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!news.maxwell.syr.edu!news.bc.net!info.ucla.edu!nnrp.info.ucla.edu!usenet From: pubpc1@library.ucla.edu Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple2 Subject: Re: Word Perfect for the Apple II and IIGS now FREEWARE! Date: 31 Jan 1997 17:44:51 GMT Organization: University of California, Los Angeles Lines: 32 Message-ID: <5ctb2j$fks@uni.library.ucla.edu> References: <5coi3b$iff@news.wco.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: 164.67.234.115 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Mailer: Mozilla 1.2N (Windows; I; 16bit) "Charles T. Turley" <cturley@wco.com> wrote: >I'd been trying to get Word Perfect for the Apple II and IIGS reclassified as >freeware (with authorization) for distribution via the Internet web sites and >ftp sites for some time now. Well, final authorization has been confirmed by >Corel Corp. First of all, I'd like to thank C. Turley for repeatedly bugging Corel until they saw the light. Second, knowing what will probably happen is that this software will be boycotted by some, I hope that Nate and others will bury the hatchet. WordPerfect GS was the finest IIGS word processor available, combining a fast pseudo-text SHR display with a choice of pull-down menus or keyboard shortcuts, and the IIe version was at least light years ahead of AppleWriter. It would be a sad day if the A2 FAQ and the Apple II newsletters all decide not to spread the word far and wide. I hope that the writers of Apple Blossom, Juiced GS, Shareware Solutions II, Softdisk GS, and the Apple II FAQ will independently verify WordPerfect's status from Corel and then make the software available (through disks or links). FINALLY, there is a freely available, full-featured word processor that anyone lucky enough to have an Apple II computer can use. I believe the latest version was released as an upgrade for the GS version in 1993. The software will run under System 6.0.1 and see HFS volumes just fine. If you eschew fancy fonts and graphics, but appreciate high octane word processing, give it a spin. -Scott G.