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From: khcg0492@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Kenneth Holden Chang)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc
Subject: Re: Not another NeXT defector???!!!
Message-ID: <1990Nov4.201838.26983@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu>
Date: 4 Nov 90 20:18:38 GMT
References: <3818@idunno.Princeton.EDU> <1990Nov4.161502.5342@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> <Fazhj7$2@cs.psu.edu>
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In article <1990Nov4.161502.5342@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> I wrote
>   It's also first-release software so the features/interface haven't had a
>   chance to mature yet. For example, look at word processors. On the Next,
>   there's WriteNow. (Assuming it's similar to the Mac version), it's a very
>   nice, easy-to-learn program, but it's not feature-laden like Word or Nisus,
>   so if you need to produce a table or contents or an outline or some complex
>   layouts, you can't do it in WriteNow.
>

In article <Fazhj7$2@cs.psu.edu> melling@cs.psu.edu (Michael D Mellinger)
correctly points out: 
>A company called Word Perfect has ported their word processor to the
>NeXT.  I think the gap has been filled.
>
>  WriteNow -> Word Perfect -> FrameMaker | (Quark Express?? 3.0)
>
>BTW.  A new release of WP for the Mac is on the way.  And like the
>NeXT port, WP is suppose to have a real user interface.

Whoops. Forget out that. However, one should still check to make sure that
the software one needs *is* available. I'm still not sure I could write
scientific papers in WriteNow or WordPerfect on a Next because of the 
lack of an easy way to create equations. 

Again, I don't think one program fills a gap. If for some reason you
don't like WordPerfect or if it doesn't do something you need it to (perhaps
Word-like tables), then you don't have a choice. This will probably change
in time, but one should realize that one is on the frontier with the pitfalls
thereof. 

If one wishes to make parallels between the Mac & Next, 
128K Mac <-> original cube (neat ideas, somewhat underpowered, no software)
MacPlus <-> '040 workstations (hopefully will enervate the market)
MacWrite <-> WriteNow (simple, but not feature laden; bundled)
Word 1.0 <-> WordPerfect (first real alternative to bundled word processor)

I think Next is approximately where the Mac was in 1985 when, despite its
advantages over PCs in terms of interface, it wasn't clear at all whether it
(or Apple) was going to survive. The Mac Plus finally provided enough
horsepower to convince people it was a real computer and just not a cute toy.
Hopefully, the new Nexts will do the same, but it's not a forgone conclusion
simply because it has not happened yet.
--
*****************************************************************************
Kenneth Chang                       *  khcg0492@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu
Center for Complex Systems Research *   or
University of Illinois              *  kc@complex.ccsr.uiuc.edu
*****************************************************************************