Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!chaph.usc.edu!alcor.usc.edu!rjung From: rjung@alcor.usc.edu (Robert allen Jung) Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st Subject: Re: WordUp 3.0 Summary: Good show, go for it Message-ID: <10974@chaph.usc.edu> Date: 22 Jul 90 22:29:10 GMT References: Sender: news@chaph.usc.edu Organization: O-Mayer V BBS Lines: 65 Nntp-Posting-Host: alcor.usc.edu In article david.megginson@canremote.uucp (DAVID MEGGINSON) writes: >I (and I'm sure, many others on the net) would like to hear people's >reactions to WordUp 3.0. Is it the word processor that the ST has been >waiting for all these years, or another dud? I need to design and use >special characters on the screen and printer, and I like multiple >windows and something capable of handling a long (200-300 page) document >efficiently in a single file. Well, I like it, though I have not written any 200-page long documents with it. WordUp 3.0 allows up to four windows open at once, with each window containing a seperate document. The following goodies have been added from the earlier versions of WordUp: * Multiple columns. Mark off a section, then choose the number of columns and the space dividing them. * On-line thesarus and dictionary. The basic package comes with a "simple" 116,000 word dictionary and thesarus (with definitions). A deluxe version is also available. * More fonts. The package comes with a serif and sans serif font, as well as "Book Sans" and "Book Serif", a Courier (IBM typewriter) font, a fancy "Distinctive" font, and an interesting sans serif called "Corporate". Any GDOS font can be used as well, and a new system of font manipulation allows the program to load in fonts only as needed. * A "Page preview" mode lets you see how and where your elements will be printed out. Text is not really legible at the preview, but it gives you an idea of where the page breaks occur and whre columns, boxes, lines, text and graphics will interplay. It's not a _perfect_ program; there are some minor gripes with it (screen display refresh is less-than-lightning fast, and my version will occassionally hang when I quit the program). I don't know how many pages you can hold at once, but I suspect that's dependent on how much memory you have. Inserting and manipulating graphics is fun and easy, so if you want a low-grade desktop publiching program, this may be your cup of tea. Other small quibbles: The user's manual is _incredibly_ bare-bones this time around, and there is still no support for true footnotes. If you can get away with writing an appendix, or using endnotes, then that's fine. If footnotes are an absolute necessity, you may need to look elsewhere. In summary? Well, if you need an ST WYSIWYG word processor that can do a lot of Mac-like tricks, this is the program for you. You must be prepared to spend some time learning the nuances of the program, though -- all of its power and features do not come cheaply. A 7.5-8.0 on a 1-to-10 scale. Write if you want more opinionated ramblings. --R.J. B-) P.S. If you get the program, be sure to look on GEnie or Compuserve for the upgrade. The early releases of WordUp 3.0 (June 1990) have a few small bugs that are fixed in the upgrade (mostly involving more memory consumption, which would make the program crash if you tried to print). """""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" Opinions expressed here are mine and mine alone. If you want them, go for it! Send replies to rjung@nunki.usc.edu """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""