Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.3 4.3bsd-beta 6/6/85; site ucbvax.ARPA Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!ucbvax!xerox.arpa!bfisher.ES From: bfisher.ES@XEROX.ARPA Newsgroups: net.micro.atari Subject: Re: word processing Message-ID: <850917-130143-205@Xerox> Date: Tue, 17-Sep-85 16:01:30 EDT Article-I.D.: Xerox.850917-130143-205 Posted: Tue Sep 17 16:01:30 1985 Date-Received: Sat, 21-Sep-85 05:03:16 EDT References: <1046@rayssd.UUCP> Sender: daemon@ucbvax.ARPA Organization: The ARPA Internet Lines: 44 A compendium of INFOWORLD reviews---- Atariwriter is adequate for casual word processing, but you can't use it to write documents larger than your computers's memory or to display more than 38 columns. Bank Street Writer is an excellent word processor for beginners. Its use of three operational modes makes learning the system easy. That same three-mode structure can hamper the editing process however, and if you tend to edit documents heavily this word processor probably isn't for you. Letter Wizard is an easy-to-use word-processing program. You can use it to create custom form letters, and you can do this without having access to a data base. Printing columnar information may give you some problems, however - you can't preview the final printout on the screen and the text screen is set in 40-column format even though most printers print in an 80-column format. Homeword is an easy-to-use word processor for Atari systems. Its use of icons makes it simple for novices to understand and use, although more experienced users can bypass the icons and use command codes. This is a good program, but it does have one limitation - you can only store documents that are up to three pages long. Super-Text--If you have never used the Apple version of the Super-Text word-processing program, you won't know what you're missing in this Atari version. This program lacks the math and form-letter capabilities of the Apple version, and it ignores the Atari's special operating features. Unless you are already familiar with Apple Super-Text, you will probably find this program cumbersome and difficult to use. Letter Perfect - contains many features that are usually available only on more excpensive dedicated machines. It can perform almost any word-processing task well, although its complexity may make it difficult to learn to use if you have no prior experience of either word processors or computers. Most of my experience has been with Letter Perfect and I would second JRCooper's comments. I have used it for lengthy documents as well as everyday letters and have found it quite satisfactory. bf