Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Path: utzoo!utgpu!jahromib
From: jahromib@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca (Babak Jahromi)
Subject: Atari Wordprocessors Continued
Message-ID: <1990Oct19.215647.5331@gpu.utcs.utoronto.ca>
Organization: UTCS Public Access
Date: Fri, 19 Oct 90 21:56:47 GMT


I would like to thank the many people that replied on this topic (and also
sent me email). I would like to reiterate a few points though:

1) Some of my fellow st'ers did not take well to my lack of appreciation for
gem. My response is that gem is SLOW. text scrolling is laborious (and please
don't tell me to run quick st or turbo st. Also, I
mentioned _wordprocessing_ *not* DTP. When I wish to do simple dtp, I haul out
my calamus and do a quick page. For real, complicated dtp (trust me, I
have worked at a professional typesetting company) I rent time and use
quark express on a mac ci, lino it and have the printers print 1000 or so
newsletters. BUT, this is *not* wordprocessing. For wordPROCESSING, you do
NOT want to be bothered by column placement, pixel shifts, microspacing,
kerning, leading, etc. You wish to type, ie PROCESS words QUICKLY, and a 
window interface is a nuisance. Believe me, hitting some fkey to insert a
code is far easier than fiddling with the ruler (and faster). And for those 
who may think that wind/icon/mou/pointer interfaces (the brave new world
and rebirth of man/comp relationships) has made text and cli's (the diehard
ignoramuses who refuse to catch up to the times) extinct, may I remind you
that any operating system worth its salt has a shell.

2) many have kindly suggested a variety of ST progams (st writer elite, 
wordup, wordflair, etc.) Unfortunately, NONE come even close to the formatting
dictionary, thesaurus, sort, merge, record, page layout (all in text!) 
footnote/endnote/bibiography, macro programmability, most important of all
printer support (customizable!) of  wordperfect (4.2 on). I am sorry to repeat
the name "wordperfect", but I consider it a standard with its *combination*
(note emphasis) of features that NO wordprocessor has approached.

3) other alternatives were suggested (Tex/Latex, nroff, etc.) I am honestly
inclined to vi my stuff and then run it thru troff before I touch something
windows based, and these suggestions are quite reasonable. The only excuse
I have is that I prefer wordperfect's codes much better than typing in
".commands" and find its slight degree of onscreen formatting/character
emphasis helpful.

4)WP 4.1 for the ST is buggy, clunky, and unreliable (this is the OFFICIAL
release version by wp corp. fully updated). Using it is a misery, considering
what it could have been. 4.2 does NOT exist (to my knowledge), neither is
WP likely to release it (or higher versions, for that matter). 

Finally, this is only my opinion. Obviously, many (quite rightly) will prefer
the windowed interface and their favourite wordprocessor and I do not aim
to batter down someone's opinion. Its just that the lack of choice and power
on my st bugs me in this instance.
						thanx for your time,
									Babak