Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ames!oliveb!apple!rutgers!att!mtuxo!mtgzz!drutx!druhi!terrell
From: terrell@druhi.ATT.COM (Eric Terrell)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.atari.st
Subject: WRITE (retraction of FLAME)
Message-ID: <4085@druhi.ATT.COM>
Date: 28 Mar 89 16:05:24 GMT
Reply-To: terrell@druhi.UUCP (TerrellE)
Organization: AT&T, Denver, CO
Lines: 41


I'm going to retract some of my flame about MS WRITE.

After some encouragement from Ken Badertscher at Atari, I decided to play
around with MS Write some more.

MOST of the complaints that I had about Write were due to an improper
installation on my machine, not to bugs in the Write program.  I'll SHARE
the blame for this with the confusing installation process.

My first installation problem was that I was using the ATARI LASER PRINTER
driver (and fonts).  Since I am using a PANASONIC EPSON compatible, this was
a big mistake!  After I set things up so that I was using the EPSON FX
driver and the EPSON fonts, I was pleasantly suprised to see BEAUTIFUL
output on my 9-pin printer.  The Write folks are to be applauded for their
use of the "2-pass Letter Quality Mode" of EPSON printers:  every line
is printed twice, with the second pass deliberately shifted over a little
bit.  The result is beautiful characters on the page, with great contrast
and fantastic clarity.

Another problem that I had was that "page layout" sort of information 
couldn't be saved for some reason.  It was tedious to have to enter
the size of the page, and the margins every time that I ran the program.
This problem has GONE AWAY since I started using the right printer driver
and the right fonts.  

The most irritating problem that I had was that I couldn't print output on
my monochrome monitor.  I CAN now, but don't ask me what I did!

IN SUMMARY, I would like to replace my flame with the following:
MS Write for the Atari ST does have bugs, as does ANY initial version of
a program.  None of these bugs are "show-stoppers".  The output of the 
program using GDOS fonts (at least on my EPSON compatible) is OUTSTANDING.
Although the setup process is confusing, and can result in setups that
"almost work", with some fiddling around things can be set up properly.

I would be happy to help out anyone who is having similar problems with
MS Write on the Atari.


Eric Terrell (att!druhi!terrell)