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From: chuq@plaid.UUCP
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Feature Crazy (was FullWrite Professional?)
Message-ID: <28557@sun.uucp>
Date: Sat, 19-Sep-87 13:22:13 EDT
Article-I.D.: sun.28557
Posted: Sat Sep 19 13:22:13 1987
Date-Received: Sun, 20-Sep-87 14:50:54 EDT
References: <2238@mulga.oz> <4469@oberon.USC.EDU>
Sender: news@sun.uucp
Reply-To: chuq@sun.UUCP (Chuq Von Rospach)
Organization: Fictional Reality, uLtd
Lines: 48
Keywords: FullWrite Professional, Vaporware?

>>In the September issue of US MacUser, there was a 2-page ad for
>>FullWrite Professional saying that it was on the streets. 

It was supposed to ship 27 days after MacExpo Boston (any time now) even
though it was still in Beta. That's okay, Wordperfect was supposed to ship
in October and it hasn't started beta.

[for reference, Word 3.0 went out with only three months of beta. Word 3.01
took an additional five months of beta on top of word 3.0 to get it right]

>However, I got el bombo without too much effort: with the spelling
>checker if I remember full right  :-) .


That's funny, I've heard most beta people are suprised how solid the product
is... Maybe you hit the One Last Bug (he says...)

>I am somewhat worried that most packages have far too many features.

Ah, the famous frepping creaturism debate!

>I.E.  FullWrite has a MacDraw like capability for creating pictures.
>With multifinder coming out, shouldn't software be DEcentralizing,
>that is, performing a single function.

Maybe macdraw is overkill, but I think that a reasonable choice of features
should be bundled into a program. For instance, putting a spelling checking
under multifinder instead of inside the word processor cripples it for me --
I don't want to have to save the file, switch to the checker, check, switch
to the WP, load the file and continue hacking. Integrating the spell checker
means I'll use the thing rather than fight it.

multiprocessing is one level of integration, but it isn't always enough.

Another argument for integration is compatibility. Just because both
programs run under Multifinder or Switcher doesn't mean they'll be
completely compatible or it will be easy to interface them together. Or even
that it'll be easy or convenient to use them together under Multifinder.

Thoughtless integration (who needs a terminal in Jazz, fer Gawds sakes?)
makes a program unwieldy. Thoughtful integration (Word 3.01's spell checker)
makes it better. These are all design issues -- use multifinder for what it
is good at, but don't shove everything at it.

chuq
Chuq Von Rospach	chuq@sun.COM		Delphi: CHUQ

We live and learn, but not the wiser grow -- John Pomfret (1667-1703)