WORD PROCESSING REVISITED A review of five new versions of familiar WP packages for the IBM PC--WordStar, Word, pfs:Write, MultiMate, and FinalWord

BY JANET CAMERON ust a few years ago, we wordsmiths We pay for this with increased difficul­ were satisfied with a word pro­ ty in learning and operation. New pack­ cessor that would print out our ages with varying degrees of user­ text neatly. 1bday. though, our friendliness are flooding the market; standards are considerably higher, currently there are some 150 to 200 andJ software manufacturers are re­ word processors available for the IBM sponding with increasingly complex PC alone. programs. Updates, too, are flying out of soft­ Part of the complexity of "installing" ware manufacturers' doors faster than word-processing programs could be our you can push Escape. Some programs own fault. Almost everyone who uses offer significant improvements; some a word processor is spoiled. With our are simply gimmicky add-ons or "hold­ increasingly sophisticated palates, we ing patterns:' i.e., devices to keep users have come to expect our word pro­ from switching their loyalties. cessor to be at least as good as a new (continued) and improved R2D2. Some of them are. Some of them even Janet Cameron (POB 1069, Cambridge, MA do windows. 02238) is a professional business writer in the We demand an extremely high level areas of printed circuit boards and micro­ of performance from word processors. electronics.

Fall 1984 • BYTE Guide to the IBM pc, 165 WORD PROCESSING

AT A GLANCE WordStar. Microsoft Word. pfsWrite. WORDSTAR'S CAPABILITIES MultiMate. and FinalWord all are out with recent updates of their updates. There's not much you can't do with Each of them has put in a few or many WordStar. Commands are initiated Name new bells and whistles. Each of them mostly with the Control key plus one to WordStar 3.32 has deleted a few or many old bugs and several keystrokes coupled with com­ gremlins. It seems that instead of trying mands from one of the seven WordStar Type Word-processing program to approach some sort of "standardiza­ menus. tion" in the way we operate word-pro­ Beginning with the opening menu. a Manufacturer cessing software. the new wave of word­ WordStar user can go to any of the pro­ MicroPro International Corp. processing developers proceeds on the gram's seven help screens. open a file 33 San Pablo Ave. theory that whoever can achieve the for editing. execute one of four file com­ San Rafael. CA 94903 ultimate in esoteric will achieve the mands (print. rename. copy. or delete (41 5) 499-1200 ultimate in financial rewards. a file). see the file directory. set his level Price I am a writer. I definitely am not a of help (from 0 to 3). or run either Mail­ 5495 : options package. $345: both. 5695 mathematical whiz-bang kid . Along with Merge or CorrectStar. millions of others. then. I expect two Besides the opening and help menus. Format things of a word processor: I want it to WordStar users can access the editing On e 5 v.\-inch floppy disk: three additional do a lot and I want it to be fairly easy and formatting screens and the print disks for extended lesson tutorials: two ad­ ditional disks required for optional to learn and operate. So far. although menu (which. strangely enough. IS for speller/indexing programs I've thoroughly tested more than two­ special effects on the text and print de­ dozen packages. I haven't found any faults rather than for printing). Each Language such critter. screen is fairly self-explanatory. Word­ 'j)-anslation from 8080 machine language to In researching this article. I used Star supports most of the best-selling 8086/8088 machine language (listing provid­ ed for some sections that may be cu stom­ knowledge of and experience with printers on the market today. ized by the user) these five packages. information from All that is required to run WordStar is my anonymous calls to the manufac­ 64K bytes and one disk drive. but Cor­ Computer turers. opinions from friends who use rectStar takes a major upgrade to 192 K IBM Personal Computer (as reviewed) these programs. and a recently pub­ bytes of system memory and two disk lished paperback. The Ratings Book drives. On my benchmark tests of all five Documentation 475-page loose-leaf manual including an in­ (Wynnewood. PA : Software Digest. packages (see table 1 on page 180). stallation. training. and reference guide: 1984). that features overviews of some WordStar came out with medium-range three disks with extended lessons: reference 30 word-processing programs. I put the times on all four criteria: loading and folder: key labels programs. in their updated forms. saving the document. searching for the through some pretty strenuous paces final word End. and scrolling from the Audience on my machine. an IBM PC with DOS beginning of the file to the last line. Basic to sophisticated word-processing users. especially those who need to merge I.I. 320K bytes of memory. and two disk When I write with WordStar. its speed programs. create form letters. and use spell­ drives. seems acceptable. Some basic features WordStar ing and indexing capabilities WORDSTAR-VERSION 3.32 handles with ease include moving. In spite of its reputation as hard to copying. inserting. and deleting small learn. MicroPro's WordStar is one of the amounts or blocks of text; automatic easiest packages to get started. How­ search and replace. word wrap. and ever. between the new version of Word­ hyphenation; dynamic page-break dis­ Star and its options package. MicroPro play and default resetting; cursor moves must be attempting to earn a perma­ to any part of the text; and a variety of nent place in the Guinness Book of World format settings and within-text changes. Records. WordStar supports special features such With WordStar and its options pack­ as double strike. boldface. superscript. age. you receive six disks and two very subscript. underlining. and strike out. thick and erudite manuals. Just making The program automatically justifies the backups of this monumental mass of in­ text unless you change the default. formation costs a fortune. The increased With WordStar. you can perform si­ benefits provided by this library of flop­ multaneous editing and printing. as well py disks is worth a lot. but users must as microjustification. Directions for true be willing to wade through the newest proportional spacing on WordStar are WordStar changes. the new spelling available in books that explain how to checker (CorrectStar). · the new index modify the format portion of the pro­ system (Starlndex). and the handy but gram to achieve this result. involved WordStar tutorial. (continu ed)

166 • BYTE GUide to the IBM PC • Fall 19 84 WORD PROCESSING

MicroPro representatives say they are The six-lesson tutorial. though quite AT A GLANCE "working on" a toll-free telephone num­ time-consuming, is helpful in learning ber for end-user support. Updates of this heavy-duty program. But the docu­ WordStar and the add-on packages are mentation is difficult and puzzling to get available for fees varying from $25 to through. I especially have difficulty try­ Name Microsoft Word 1.1/2.0 $85, depending on the program. Word­ ing to find the index. Star is not copy-protected, enabling With most of the other word-process­ Type users to make backup copies for their ing programs I use, there is an S com­ Word-processing program own use. mand for the Search function. Not so Users of the MicroPro family will find with WordStar. It uses a command Manufacturer they can merge not only information called Find. Even though WordStar prac­ Microsoft Corp. 10700 Northup Way from other "Star" packages into Word­ tically invented word processing and set Bellevue, WA 98004 Star, but also that this pioneering word­ the defaults for many programs, I still (206) 828-8080 processing package can often handle find this difference irritating. the integration of other vendors' pro­ When I am totally immersed in the Price grams into its system. WordStar handily writing process, I find it almost impossi­ 5375 without mouse: 5475 with mouse deals with the creation and manipula­ ble to return to WordStar's opening Format tion of columnar text and figures. menu. The way WordStar is set up, most Without mouse, two 5 !4-inch floppy disks: Sophisticated .DOT commands enable of its commands work off the opening mouse-driven system requires a third the user to utilize microjustification, menu; when I have a problem access­ 5 !4-inch floppy "mouse" disk and a mouse conditional page breaks, headers and ing it. I have a problem producing my card footers, top and bottom margins, page document. In fact. getting back and numbers, margin offsets, line height and Language forth between WordStar's menus is a C (user-configurable for typesetter interface paper length, bidirectional printing real pain, There are several ways to get but cannot be customized) commands, and a variety of other ad­ back and forth, including the CTRLrK vanced formatting options. commands, but they are awkward and Computer File merging, support of a host of frustrating. IBM Personal Computer (as reviewed) printers, an on-disk tutorial. column Still. WordStar is a clean, satisfying, in­ Documentation manipulation, and decimal tabbing are depth program. Writers, office workers 400-page loose-leaf manual. 120-page additional features appreciated by con­ with serious word-processing needs, mouse installation gUide, graphics mouse firmed WordStar users. Although Word­ and people who spend a lot of time pre­ guide, mouse operations guide, reference Star has been added to, subtracted paring nonstandard reports, papers, ar­ folder, and key labels from, and revamped as much as its own ticles, etc., will probably consider Word­ cut-and-paste feature, the latest version Star the respectable giant of word pro­ Audience Basic to sophisticated users: mouse-driven is a clean package that performs cessing. And in spite of the huge program appeals especially to users who superbly. amount of competing programs, Micro­ want speedier operation and less typewriter Among the improvements of version Pro still has a winner. orientation 3.32 over 3.0 are more clearly written documentation (the new pictures are a MICROSOFT WORD­ big help), user-definable function keys VERSIONS l.l AND 2,0 (and they aren't too difficult to pro­ (WITH AND WITHOUT MOUSE) gram), simpler installation, support for It sure will help when Microsoft gets a multicolor on color monitors, redesign­ toll-free telephone number for Word ed menus, and faster screen updating, users and writes some half-way decent The best of these features is the improv­ documentation. New users of the clever ed manual. although there are still voids little mouse especially will benefit from and complexities that could have been these improvements. eliminated by almost any beginning There's almost a consensus in in­ WordStar user. As with every package, formed circles that mice are the wave there are problems and limitations. of the future. I'm not sure I'm happy about this trend. If you're accustomed WORDSTAR'S LiABILITIES to keyboards, operating the mouse A sure way to be marked and deleted takes some adjustment. ' is to badmouth the American flag, In my case, Microsoft Word's I22-page Mom, apple pie, or the sacred cow of so-called "installation and operation word processing, WordStar. The pro­ manual" is a complete farce. A fine gram has its liabilities, and they are as tutorial is really needed. In the newest peculiarly confusing as MicroPro's con­ version, the addition of a small folder tinuing utilization of non-mnemonic about using the mouse doesn't help a commands, (continued)

168 • BYTE Guide to the IBM PC • Fall 1984 WORD PROCESSING

great deal. Clearer prose would help Word's developers say users may create tually every dot-matrix and daisy-wheel new users to get into the program with menus to use with other programs. printer without requiring a special pro­ less than a lifetime of frustration. Two spelling checkers are now avail­ gram. Only a printer-descriptor file Generally speaking, Word (with or able (at additional cost) to Word users. (described in the manual) is required. without the mouse) is clever. put Microsoft's package can run on more together well. and performs some extra­ computers and is compatible with more MICROSOFT WORD'S ordinary feats. Its highly touted windows printers than before. According to the CAPABILITIES are well worth the high touting. It's com­ manufacturer, with this current revision, Power and flexibility mark Word as a mand structure is relatively easy to Word has the capability to support vir- (continued) learn, and Word can fully utilize all the special characters (listed in its extensive help menu). hexadecimal codes, and up to 64 different type fonts. Word's formatting and style-sheet ca­ pabilities are complete and more than One board satisfactory, though I found them hard to use fully while operating with the mouse. The biggest problem I have with speaks over Word is its many built-in redundancies, including having to use two disks to get into and out of the program; the multi­ 450,000 words. ple commands; confusing labels (Alpha, Gallery, Transfer, Division, etc.); and the use of the right. left. and both-together mouse buttons. Word's system disk con­ tains copy-protected material and thus cannot be cloned. The program disk can be copied. Instead of working to make the pro­ gram more flexible in the context of cur­ rent word-processing programs, Word's developers seem to be trying to com­ pletely reinven~ word processing. At this time, I care not to start over from scratch. Those users who are just dis­ CaUText'MVoice Synthesizers have an Unlimited Vocabulary covering the wonders of word process­ ing may feel differently about Word. With CallText Voice Synthe­ Features Major enhancements in this revision sizers, your computer can speak • High quality text-to-speech electronic mail, stock quotations, conversion. include a built-in merge for customized sales status, weather reports or form letters, built-in support for the Her­ any vital information, And • FCC-registered telephone inter­ face with Touch-Tone ™ cules graphics card, a mouse utility pro­ CaIlText products include a tele­ decoding and generation. gram that provides mouse support for phone interface, so people can several external programs, optional call in and listen as any ASCII text • Speaker amplifier for local monitoring. compatible spelling checkers, and the file is converted to speech in real time. • Two models now available: support of other computers and Advanced technology gives - CallText 5000, IBM PC / XT printers. CaIlText Voice Synthesizers full compatible card. Includes Now, without shuffling disks, Word's command of the entire English 110 drivers; BASIC, C, users can produce form letters; merge language - nearly a half million Assembly languages. data from other Word documents, ASCII words. - CallText 5050, (American National Standard Code for For a live, interactive demon­ RS-232C stration of how data can be Information Interchange) files, or from computer ..,. delivered in voice, call (415) peripheral. the keyboard; use direct output from 969-6257. other programs, such as dBASE II; and use English-like instructions with no T'~'('h:ro ncT~1 restrictions on the contents or lengths b •• l... deCUJ,k ul '\T&TlnllJr",al~M' of text fields to be inserted. ~>' >I"mi The utility program (called Mouse 461 NORTH BERNARDO AVENUE, MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA 94043 Menus) that comes with the new version TELEPHONE (415) 964-7023 of Word furnishes support for Multiplan, Lotus 1-2-3 , WordStar. and VisiCalc.

Circle 167 on inquiry card. Fall 1984 • BYTE Guide to the IBM pc · 171 WORD PROCESSING

AT A GLANCE multifaceted program that's worth command/style process), Help, Insert. checking out. But there are hundreds of Jump (go to), Library (set aside for future new things to learn if you choose this features). and Options (sets measure­ package for your own , especially if you ments. turns on and off the alarm and Name opt for the mouse. overtyping modes). pfsWrite l.l For those of you who aren't familiar The Print command sets the param­ with this little gadget. the Microsoft eters for hard copy. 1tansfer is used for Type mouse is a hand-held device with but­ loading and saving documents from a Word-processing program tons used either separately or in data disk. Undo and Window round out tandem to carry out commands. The the first level of commands. And that's Manufacturer Software Publishing Corp. underside of the mouse has a rolling just the primer. 1901 Landings Dr. ball that positions the mouse's cursor In my benchmark tests, Word. along Mountain View. CA 94043 on the screen . By utilizing short direc­ with WordStar, came out just about (415) 962-8910 tional moves and pressing one or both average in speed of saving, searching. ' mouse buttons, the user points to and and scrolling to the end of the docu­ Price carries out Word's commands and func­ ment. In loading the document. Word $140 tions. Essentially, the left button was slightly ahead of the other four. Format chooses the option you desire; the right Word handles all routine chores with One 5 ~-inch floppy program disk, one button executes the command and puts ease and dispatch. Some of its more ad­ 5 ~ -inch floppy "sampler" disk you into the following level of com­ vanced features include glossary op­ mand. Pushing them both simultan­ tions (an abbreviated way to delete or Language eously negates the previous order. copy repetitive words. strings, or blocks Pascal and assembly Some of the features programmed of text) and windows (up to eight hori­ Computer into Word include compatibility with zontal and/or vertical divisions of the IBM Personal Computer (as reviewed) hard disks; an "undo" facility with a screen for cutting and pasting. viewing scrap buffer; and highlighting of char­ and editing text. documents. footnotes, Documentation acters. words. sentences, and para­ and so forth). Word also automatically 70-page manual. on-disk "sampler" tutorial graphs for use with various modes (such reformats copy as you are working and Audience as Move, Copy, Insert. and Delete). This displays a rainbow of colors when used Basic word-processing users and those who program lets the user make the most of with an RGB (red-green-blue) monitor. want form-letter capabilities standard and advanced formatting with You can use the mouse to create and an ease up to this time unknown in the handle windows by pointing to an area word-processing game. in the double border (the window bar) Entering the program requires first in­ and clicking the button. or pOint to the serting the Word system disk; then. lower right-hand corner of the screen when Word prompts it. the program and turn the cursor into a four-headed disk. Backing out of the program re­ arrow. You can also create and manip­ quires the same hassle in reverse. ulate windows with Word commands One thing Microsoft did right: it made when the mouse is not being used. the mouse very easy to install. You posi­ Besides the standard word-processing tion and secure the printed circuit board functions. ASCII-based Microsoft Word that comes with the mouse into an ex­ has the capability to handle footnotes. pansion slot. Then simply attach the mUltiple columns, the transfer of Word­ mouse's plug to the I/O (input/output) Star files. horizontal scrolling, and spe­ port and you 're in business. cial features such as italics. sub- and After you get into the program, things superscript characters, small caps. start to happen fast. A screen with a underlining. boldface print. and combin­ double border appears. One is a selec­ ations of these features. Integration with tor rectangle. the other is the movable laser printers will be available as this mouse cursor. A visible ruler outlines type of printer becomes more common­ the top of the screen; Word 's menu. ly obtainable. command, status, message, and infor­ In the works. according to Microsoft. mation lines take up the bottom four is badly needed revised documentation. lines. The working portion of the screen a toll-free user support number. and an (19 lines) is a bit short. but the space indexing capability. seems adequate for my needs. With the mouse-driven version, com­ WORD'S LiABILITIES plete words prompt the user to choose I have many friends who like this pro­ Alpha (for entering or editing text copy). gram a lot. For me. however. this pro­ Delete, Format. Gallery (an alternative gram. especially when operated with

172 • BYTE GUide to the IBM PC • Fall 1984 Circle 135 on inquiry card.

WORD PROCESSING IBM pelM

mI.", the mouse, has many more limitations PFS:WRITE-VERSION 1.I than benefits, I'd like to mention a few, Generally speaking, this package PfsWrite continues to plug along as an (even without the mouse) is extremely elementary program for users who frustrating to learn and operate effi­ don't have enough time to major in ciently, With the advanced Word fea­ word processing or who have basic 64K, 1/360K Drive tures, the user has to go to several dif­ needs and aren't into the one-upman­ ferent places and utilize more than one ship game. This revised program has command level to get results. In order some major deficiencies, though, in­ $1650 to operate the program with the mouse, cluding its inability to justify text except lYPical Configurations you need some more-than-basic manual line by line, its insecure nature, and its IBMPC64K skills or a course in remedial pointing. extremely complex deletion mode. 1 Drive, Monochrome Monitor & Card It's very frustrating to miss the mark $1995 with the mouse's selector and destroy PFS:WRITE'S CAPABILITIES Same w/256K & 2 drives .. . . $2349 what has taken a good bit of time and The benefits of pfsWrite are many. The or add 10 meg Internal Hard Disk effort to achieve, or to continually run main advantage is its overall ease of with these features: Plug compatible with IBM XT™ the mouse headlong into the keyboard operation. I get the feeling the devel­ - Half height hard disk - One year warranty and risk ruining the keyboard or the opers set out to make the package as - Uses IBM DOS 2.1 -Requires no extra power mouse module itself. simple to use as possible. (What a novel $3037 w/256K Memory requirement for the program approach.) For instance, this program's Compaq 256K, 2/360K drives •.• $2349 is 128K bytes and one disk drive, but main menu really is self-explanatory; it Compaq 256K, 1/360K drive, my experience with Word leads me to offers six choices: lYpe/Edit. Define 10 Meg Internal •.•..••.••. $2995 believe 192K bytes and two disk drives Page, Print. Get/Save/Remove, Clear, and 10 Meg Internal Hard Disk •.••. $895 are almost essential. An item most of Exi t. PfsWrite's Define Page menu lets 64K RAM chips for PC's •..••••• $49 us find extremely irritating is Microsoft's users make formatting changes other Tandon TM 100-2, DS/DD ..•..• $199 policy of copy protection. Yes, the pro­ than the default values. With this selec­ Control Data 9409, DS/DD .•••.. $199 gram disk can be copied for your own tor, you can set the margins (top, bot­ 1llxan Monochrome •.•.•••••• $165 use, but the system disk, necessary to tom, right. left), specify page length, put Amdek 310 A Monochrome .•.•• $165 Princeton PGS HX-12 (RGB) •.... $499 boot and quit from the program, can­ in headers and footers (up to two lines Quadram QuadColor I • • . • • • • • $209 not be copied. each) , and have Wrire automatically in­ Persyst mono card w/paraUel •••• $229 In order to tap into the mouse system , sert the page numbers for you. There Quadram Quadjet •.••.••.••. $695 you have to read between the lines in are some tradeoffs, however, such as TI 855 •.•••.••.•.•••••.• $849 the mouse non-manual and read the the program's assuming that any num­ Jukl 6100 •..•.•.••.••.••. $449 minds of the developers. Every now and ber found in a footer is a page number. Okldata ML92P .•.•..••.•.• $449 again, when you hit a dead end, the If you need to have the footer act as a Okldata ML93P ••..•.•••••. $709 only way to move ahead is to insert footnote, you're out of luck. Epson FX-80 .••.••.••••.•• CALL DOS (disk operating system) and utilize PfsWrite does a good job of automat­ Epson FX-IOO ••..•.••..•.•• FOR its capabilities. I could not find this situa­ ically reformatting text when you Epson LQ-1500 •••.•.•••••• PRICE tion mentioned in the documentation. change parameters through its Define AST SIxPack Plus (64K) ••.••.•• $259 Word often moves text off the screen Page feature. You can decide you want Quadram Quadboard (64K) .•.•• $279 while it is in its operating mode. This is your material to be squashed down to MuItlMate 3.22 .••.•.•..•••• $299 terrifying to those who need security a narrow column instead of given the Multiplan •.••••..•• ' .' •••. $145 blankets to keep their equilibrium while space of a full-width page. With the Print ProKey 3,0 •..••.•.••.••.•. $89 producing long or complex documents. menu you can set print parameters; Norton Utilities •••••.••.•••• $ 55 Inadvertently wiping out text you in­ cause the program to merge other dBase III ...... CALL tended to be permanent is frightening. documents, such as VisiCalc (as long as Open Access •.•••••.••.•.• $299 With Word, deleting is a two-stroke they have been printed to a disk file); Lotus 1-2-3 ••••••••.••.••• $339 Wordstar Pro Pack • • • • • • • • • • • S399 process. With many, many packages, and create a text file by printing to a deleting is safely accomplished with disk. The Print function also enables you Pric(s subjt:ct 10 change wilhout nOlice. SHIPPING FREE WITHIN USA. one stroke and response to a safety­ to add graphs from pfsWrite's fellow IBM 15 a trademark of IBM Corp. No surcharge for credit cards. valve question. Saving is even more dis­ program, pfs:Report, if the material has Quantity Pricing Available. concerting and time-consuming. Not been saved as a picture file. You can Corporate PO's accepted. only does Word require three or four print an entire document. one or many ORDERS ONLY, CALL steps to save material. but after you pages, space your material. print 1-800-IBM-5150 have executed these commands, it envelopes from the addresses in your pauses more than 10 seconds before letters, change the position of your text PC'S LIMITED putting the message on screen that it on the paper, and print the document (512) 452-0323 actually is saving the material. This will to almost any printer that you can con- CALL FOR LATEST PRICES be a long and awkward delay for most (continued) 7801 N. Lamar, #F-I users. Austin, Texas 78752 Fall 1984 • BYTE Guide to the IBM pc, 173 WORD PROCESSING

nect to your machine. More pluses for pfsWrite's Print mode however, my printer kept on humming With the Print function, you can print include the ability to insert a command along. more than one copy of your material. for special characters (such as italics or Appending is exceptionally easy. To take advantage of any of these fea­ any others . your printer will support), Simply enter the command at the loca­ tures, or those from any other of this utilize more than one printer, pause be­ tion in your working copy where the program's menus, however. you have to tween page s, and stop the print func­ joined document is to appear, and reprogram your thinking to use the lab tion at any stage Simply by pressing the pfsWrite makes it happen when you and FlO keys instead of the cursor and space bar (supposedly). Wh en I tried print it out. Enter keys. this clever little "stop print" feature, The Get command works approx­ imately the same way as the Save fea­ ture. PfsWrite makes a working copy of your document so changes affect the backup instead of the original. The Re­ move command provides an exception­ ally easy way to permanently erase a document or other on-disk file. But there is no going back, no undoing, no changing your mind. If you don't have a backup copy and you command the program to erase your copy, you'd bet­ ter have some Valium or a stiff drink handy. When I crank up pfsWrite, I like what I see on my screen. At the bottom, I see a ruler with decimal and text tabs, line and page numbers, amount of memory space left. cursor position, places for special editing functions, error mes­ sages, and special enhancements, such as Insert or Label. The program also tells me when I am in "working copy" mode and how to get to the help screen (FI) . The package's Insert function is fun­ damental and acceptable. The pro­ gram's developers should get an award for the uncomplicated " labeling" method of changing, deleting, mOVing, removing, and copying blocks of text. Function keys are used for moving around in the text when you label (high­ light) the areas you want to change. The Search function works only in forward gear, but the Search/Replace function (either manually or automatically) is almost sinfully simple. The program creates standard ASCll files, supports a hard disk, several new machines (the IBM XT for one), DOS 2.0, and shows on-screen the location of page breaks (with cursor move only, not with page-up or page-down moves). I#'l!=B l! t.lCl WIPES A minimum of one disk drive and 128K A product of ACL, Incorporated bytes is necessary to run pfsWrite. 1960 E. Devon Avenue Elk Grove Village, IL 60007 PFS:WRITE'S LIABILITIES (312) 981-9212 Even though the program is inexpen­ sive and the manufacturer provides one backup, the fact that pfsWrite is copy­ protected is inexcusable.

174 • BYTE Guide to the IBM PC • Fall 1984 Circle 3 on inquiry card. WORD PROCESSING

Although the documentation sum­ when I twice lost some copy after press­ Although pfsWrite came out in my maries are good, the documentation ing FlO to continue in the printing benchmarks about average in all four itself (including the on-screen tutorials) operation (instead of preSSing Escape tests, I found you can add another year leaves much to be desired. Yes, you can to "abandon this operation") and the or two to your life during the time it make a copy of "Sample:' the on-screen program trashed my prose. takes to save material. tutorial. but who wants to? The tutorial Since I have a penchant for doing Several other "couldn'ts" include not teaches you about price lists before it funky things to formatting defaults, I being able to get pfsWrite to append even mentions cursor moves, and found it extremely frustrating not to be files from other ASCII programs (it's pfsWrite cursor moves aren't all that able to permanently change them in supposed to do this) ; alternate the easy. In the book, the program's fea­ pfsWrite. And the program operates in placement of page numbers or headers tures are arranged from advanced to Strikeover mode when my personal pre­ and footers; copy columns (it's sup­ easy. Why? I found the material about ference is Insert. but since this pro­ posed to be able to do this); save large form letters especially confusing. What gram's Insert mode is simple to get into deletions in order to move them; should be elementary explanations are and out of. I adjusted fairly quickly. change formats within a document; and not. But the biggest problem I have with Deleting is not easy with pfsWrite, keep the original format of the file be­ this pleasantly small. handy (not dandy) especially in Command mode. There is ing appended to or merged with the guide is that when I am searching for a destructive backspace, but you have pfsWrite file. something, anything, the pages con­ to remember to go past the last char­ Updates are available for less than the tinually manage to get out of the spiral acter to activate it. And deleting forward package's original price, but at this writ­ binding. Reinserting them is next to im­ is jerky and sporadic. Right justification, ing, a toll-free user hotline is not in possible. Thus I have a desk full of in­ boldface print. and underlining can be operation. dividual manual pages for this program. done after the fact-one line or word at Nevertheless, in spite of (or maybe be­ To move the cursor more than one a time. With the Shift and a function key. cause of) pfsWrite's developers' perSis­ character at a time, it helps to have these enhancements eventually do hap­ tence in retaining its KISS (keep it sim­ memorized the function keys. 1b move pen. But not without effort. (continued) the cursor within a menu requires the use of the lab key. The manufacturer provides a cheap cardboard template; when I tried to apply it over my func­ tion keys, it immediately tore. The Get and Save portions of pfs: Write's Get/Save/Remove function aren't all they're cracked up to be. For a pro­ gram with lots of built-in comfort. pfs: Write could excel here, but it doesn't. Having to return to the main menu, push #4, type in the name of the docu­ ment you're working on, and then press FlO is not only a huge waste of time but a sure exercise in how to forget what you were working on before you started into this process in futility. Then you have to reverse the procedure to get back into your document. consuming another few plodding minutes. PfsWrite's multiple-step Save pro­ cedure includes a sentence, "document about to be overwritten:' each time you write the material to disk. "Press Escape to abandon this operation or FlO to continue." Sounds safe, eh? Wrong. To find out how safe it is, I pressed FlO in a couple of instances and instantly lost two hours' worth of data. After working with this problem, I concluded that the use of the term "overwritten" is ques­ tionable. Evidently, for some reason, the program doesn't always save newly entered material. I got an additional dose of insecurity

Circle IOJ on inquiry card. WORD PROCESSING

pie. stupid) policy. this firm has assured of MultiMate's numerous help screens AT A GLANCE itself a permanent and unique place in is that they are too numerous. and even the word-processing marathon. When with a chart in the manual. confusion Software Publishing or another com­ reigns. It would have been easy and pany fixes this program's faults while wonderfully clear had the developer Name MultiMate 3.20 keeping its assets. we'll really have simply put the key or keystroke com­ something. binations in boldface type followed by Type the explanation for each. For some Word-processing program MULTIMATE-VERSION 3.20 reason, quick reference charts are few MultiMate International Corporation's and far between. Why? Because Multi­ Manufacturer efforts to "modernize" its program have Mate didn't do this. I did my own and MultiMate International Corp. 52 Oakland Ave. North resulted in a good news/bad news ef­ found that within 15 minutes I had the East Hartford. cr 06108 fect. Now MultiMate is safer-the safest most-used functions down pat. A tem­ (800) 243-4646 package of the five I compared; but it's plate that does this is available from the also klunky-the klunkiest package of company for $6.95. Price the five I tested. Would that the com­ MultiMate's status line displays the $495 pany had concentrated on reducing the document name, page. line, and column Format number of steps required to use each number. Its format line indicates the cur­ Three 5 i->-inch floppy disks: boot/system. of the program's handy features instead rent line length, line spacing. and tab utility. and speller/dictionary of providing so many safety backups of settings. It also puts an on/off sign on­ safety backups. screen to remind the user of the status Language The consensus is that this Wang-like of the Shift and Numlock. I had prob­ Assembly program has a multitude of benefits and lems with the page-length parameter. Computer a multitude of sins to contend with. And This program sets a limit of I 50 lines per IBM Personal Computer (as reviewed) my investigation bears out this opinion. page. but just try to get it to actualize Wangs are known for their heavy use of this promise. Documentation dedicated keys for cutting and pasting. Defaults are easy to change. And the 469-page padded manual. reference card. canceling. entering. etc.; MultiMate information this program's documenta­ templates. and key labels seems to have patterned part of its pro­ tion offers the user is helpful and ap­ Audience gram around this concept. preciated. Novices. however. might find Sophisticated word-processing users who the going a bit tough at first since the want a Wang-like package with spelling- MULTIMATE'S CAPABILITIES jargon in the manual is pretty intense checker capability . MultiMate's documentation actually and assumes everyone is familiar with starts with what you need to begin; this word processing. marks a beatific trend I hope catches MultiMate has several points in its on. As soon as I got over the shock of favor. Besides being very safe, it lets you it all, I realized it takes 192 K bytes (2 56K customize the program both with its bytes with DOS 2.0 or 2.1) to begin. So standard utility and its easy-to-use PAT I went to the memory store and hiked (printer action table) functions. up my memory past what MultiMate MultiMate is politely sparse with its er­ says is necessary. ror messages, too, and hurls them at It takes three disks-the DOSlbootisys­ you only when you've done a no-no. tem disk. the utility disk. and the speller/ MultiMate's ability to work with ver­ dictionary disk-to do all of what Multi­ tical and horizontal columns (including Mate provides. Essentially. the DOS disk calculations) is a bonus. Unfortunately. gets things up and running and does the moving the vertical columns doesn't major portion of the tasking. The utili­ always turn out new, perfectly aligned ty disk handles the responsibilities of material. converting to standard ASCII files and This program handle5 formatting recovering lost data or miSSing format chores as if it were made to serve. Cen­ lines. The speller/dictionary (accessed tering. underlining. boldfacing. justifica­ from the main menu) is self-explanatory tion, spooling. continuous automatic and works satisfactorily. reformatting. visual page breaks, and The program is easy to install; the getting back and forth between menus documentation has good basic direc­ all are easily dealt with. Thbs. margins, tions. And typing wp to boot the system hyphens (hard and soft), and line spac­ is a grand way to enter. Would that we ing are simple. could start them all this easily. MultiMate has a vehicle (its library) This package has good walk-through that enables the user to create macros screens-many of them. My impression (continued)

176 • BYTE Guide to the IBM PC • Fall 1984 WORD PROCESSING

for often-used words, phrases, strings, hended that MultiMate's documentation and other information the operator de­ had neglected to mention adjusting the AT A GLANCE sires to call up at the press of a key. contrast in order to see the highlighting Although the program's speed has suf­ so necessary to operation. Additional­ fered since its developers reinforced its ly, the manual takes up the subject of safety level. it came out as fastest in my merging before it teaches basic editing Name FinalWord 1.16 save-document benchmark test. functions. At this writing, MultiMate Interna­ Cursor control is difficult with Multi­ Type tional is shipping an update, version 3.3 . Mate. Often the keystroke combinations Word-processing program Because of deadlines, I was unable to designated to move the cursor around review this latest revision. According to chunk by chunk don't do so. Sometimes Manufacturer the company. 3.3 incorporates faster Mark of the Unicorn Cntrl + End put me at the end of the 222 Third St. screen refreshing, microjustification, an text. sometimes at the end of the line. Cambridge, MA 02142 on-disk tutorial with an instruction book­ The destructive backspace is slow, (617) 576-2760 let. and the optional capacity for the shaky, and tenuous, as if it doesn't in­ user to utilize ellipses for visible spaces tend to obey. If you want to change the Price when desired. default and permanently operate in the $300 MultiMate handles moving, deleting, Insert mode, select another word-pro­ Format and copying with highlighting; headers cessing package. And don't try to tab ']\vo 5!4-inch floppy disks and automatic page numbers are sup­ over if you already have text on-screen. ported with little problem. There are When changing MultiMate files to Language some deficiencies in this area, however, ASCII and back again, I saw my copy C (user-configurable but cannot be and they will be noted under the sec­ turned into gibberish. During my in­ customized) tion on liabilities. vestigation, I discovered that although Computer The package supports a host of this package lets users insert as many IBM Personal Computer (as reviewed) printers and is hard-disk compatible. formatting changes as desired into a The program is not copy-protected, and document. operators can "undent" (in­ Documentation free updates are available for six dent each line below the first paragraph Hard-cover ma,nual. approximately 300 months. Thereafter, they can be ob­ line) or enumerate paragraphs (auto­ pages (manual not completed at time of this writing) tained for a reduced price. matically number each succeeding sec­ The biggest bonus MultiMate has is tion) only by doing it manually. With a Audience its pool of knowledgeable, polite, and package this powerful. why? Basic to advanced word-processing users, patient support people at the far end Although I understand MultiMate is especially those who need sophisticated of a toll-free number (800-243-4646). It coming out with an improvement. the features such as the ability to create long may take you a year or two to get spelling checker that came with my ver­ documents, tables of contents, and indexes through the busy signals, though, and sion had inherent in it so many gremlins, even when you do manage to break into I never could get it to do anything the hotline, you may end up on hold for worthwhile. It caused me nothing but another decade or two. problems. The manual promotes MultiMate's MULTIMATE'S LIABILITIES shadow print. boldfaced, and draft MultiMate's many hitches and glitches print. but I had problems with these en­ all combine to make it the most awk­ hancements until a kind voice in the 800 wa rd package of all I tested. Now I can nether-nether land explained that the really relate to the theory that the sum program has an IBM bug in this area. of the parts equals more than the He gave me detailed instructions as to whole. Just naming a document with how to subvert this and eventually I did MultiMate is a chore if you take the manage. MultiMate does not do foot­ manual's reserved character list as notes. gospel. The symbol #, for instance, can't I started out with high hopes for Multi­ be used in the naming process, al­ Mate, but its disadvantages outweighed though I couldn't find information any­ its great benefits. Tbo bad. The program where that mentioned that. has incredible potential. In the benchmarks, MultiMate came out last in speed of both searching and FINALWORD-VERSION 1.16 scrolling to the end of the document. Until recently, FinalWord was almost Searching and highlighting can be done' alone in its ability to index documents. only in the forward mode. Now there are others that have this Shortly after entering the program, my capability. including PeachText. Samna, disappointment level rising, I com pre- (continued)

Fall 1984 • BYTE Guide to the IBM pc· 179 WORD PROCESSING

Edix, and WordStar's Starlndex. advanced (by an order of magnitude) within your text. Suppose you want to I have used FinalWord for well over a formatting talents, I rate it extraordinari­ do some wondrous, aesthetic things year now, but I haven't even touched its ly high in performance for users who with your material. FinalWord provides full range of features. Because I use it need to be able to do esoteric format­ these and dozens of other advanced and rely on it. I have a strong love/hate ting chores. I also recommend it for formatting functions. relationship with it. For my purposes, its people who produce extremely long The program lets you automatically talents are exceptional and well worth and complex documents and need to underline words and spaces or just text; the massive effort it took to learn it and be able to create indexes and tables of utilize sub- and superscript characters get through its dozens of eccentricities. contents. or boldfaced print: center, double­ The most recent revision of FinalWord space, or justify text; set line length and consists of improved documentation, FINALWORD'S CAPABILITIES bottom and top margins; alternate page badly needed and a long time coming. There are many, but I'll start with its ver­ numbers or headers and footers; and Version I.I6's upgrades include the satility in letting users move the cursor cross-reference material. There isn't ability to wrap footnotes, produce from place to place with the Cntrl and much in the way of enhanced format­ unlimited end notes, support the new arrow keys. I give FinalWord a solid A ting or printing that FinalWord can't DEC (Digital Equipment Corporation) here. Moving, copying, and deleting carry out for you . printers, and create foreign characters blocks of text are tasks this package per­ on the IBM Pc. I prefer less bureaucracy forms with speed and efficiency. FINALWORD'S LIABILITIES in this program's handling of its swap file To its credit. this program isn't copy­ There are, however, some basic and ele­ and buffer functions. protected. Generally speaking, Mark of mentary tasks that FinalWord's devel­ It's hard to believe, but the operation the Unicorn offers free updates and fair­ opers have either overlooked or of this extremely powerful. sophisti­ ly comprehensive documentation­ deemed low-priority items. cated program requires only 64K bytes especially in version I.I6. From my office, Mark of the Unicorn's with DOS 1.1 and 128K bytes with DOS It's possible FinalWord was a pioneer support number is a local telephone 2.0. FinalWord's capabilities are com­ with advanced features, such as its De­ call-fortunately. During my learning parable to or greater than those of the fault Insert mode, windows, highlighting, curve, I literally spent hours on the other programs I tested, and the pro­ replace functions, and mnemonic com­ phone with the company's technical gram uses less memory than most of mands. Its abilities, too, in the areas of people. At that time, they were neither them unless you use its indexing skills, footnoting; headers and footers; "state­ knowledgeable nor patient. That situa­ which means you'll have to upgrade in save"; use of the IBM function keys; text tion has improved, but a toll-free num­ a serious way. movement from one file to another ber has yet to be instituted. This program's developers promote its while displaying both documents on­ FinalWord cannot handle columnar safety with a swap file you can put data screen; and numbering system for material (either text or numbers), hori­ into and take out of with abandon, and pages, blocks of copy. footnotes, and zontal scrolling, automatic hyphenation, buffers that hold editing changes like lit­ chapters, are greatly appreciated by or continuous reformatting tasks. Al­ tle pockets you can stuff with goodies. those who have used them. though the program came out ahead in But because of some flaws in these Creation of ASCII files, spooling, user­ the "scroll to end of document" bench­ functions, my experience with Final­ definable keys, optional help screens, mark, it is terminally slow in its preprint­ Word hasn't been reassuring. and microjustification and proportional ing sequential-paging mode. Mark of the Unicorn says it has re­ spacing on printers that support these You don't see what you get with Final­ paired these irregularities. But since I features all are important. But its ad­ Word except with its View Screen com­ can't go back and use the "nix fix" in vanced formatting capabilities are the mand, which whips by so fast it's almost the situation where I lost four days' hub around which FinalWord's reputa­ worthless. Because this package per­ worth of text (and FinalWord duplicated tion has been built. forms so many advanced functions, not the tragedy on the backup disk), I can't Suppose you want to write poetry or being able to see what you have done swear to the perfection of the revised produce a document (or part of one) (or want to do) is a serious drawback. edition or the efficiency of the debug with automatically numbered para­ FinalWord's most frustrating charac­ program. graphs. Suppose you want to change teristic is its habit of beeping and put­ Nevertheless, because of FinalWord's the formatting style numerous times ting up error messages at the press of a key. A great deal of the time, too, the machine totally hangs up, either from Thble I: Benchmark results for the word-processing programs reviewed. All times are an incorrect combination of keystrokes in seconds. or just plain orneriness. Literally hun­ dreds of times, in order to get FinalWord FinalWord WordStar word pfs:Write MultiMate to accomplish a task, I have had to Load document 11.9 9.9 8.9 9.6 9.3 Save document 71.0 31.66 42.6 20.1 3.9 switch off my system , turn to another Search document 10.4 12.43 15.1 13.5 42 .1 job, then return later and begin all over Scroll to end of document 45.8 30.76 39 .0 65.0 104.0 again. FinalWord is a very powerful package, (continu ed)

180 • BYTE Guide to the IBM PC • Fall 1984 'Table 2: An evaluation of features and performance.

FinalWord pfs:Write WordStar MultiMate Word Name (Version 1.161 (Version 1.11 (Version 3.32 1 (Version 3.20) (Version I. 112 .0)

Price S300 SI40 S495 S495 S375: S475 with mouse

Hardware 64K. two 5 V<-inch 128K. one single-sided 64K minimum. two 192K with one double­ 12 8K. one double­ Configuration Single-sided floppy-disk drive floppy-disk drives sided drive (DOS 1.1): sided disk drive drives or 300K recommended. but one 256K with two double­ (mouse optional) capability and printer drive is practicable if sided drives (DOS WordStar is already 2.0/2. 1) installed

Maximum Number of varies according to largest document. files up to 8 128K in document: varies according to Characters Directly disk size and user-set 32.000 characters megabytes. depending each page 6K long disk size Manipulable size of swap file on storage capacity

Command Structure control keystrokes menu-driven with func­ command-driven. but mainly menu-driven command mode. line­ organized by three­ tion keys uses function keys with a few keystroke structure oriented level menus. user­ commands definable function-key support

On-line Help? yes: optional command yes: through function yes: four levels of help yes: while editing. hit yes: 50-page text on­ menus at top of screen keys and info screens from no help to max­ Shift and FI. and from screen Help screens accessed by keystroke imum help (user can main menu commands specify level)

Longest Line Length 65.535 characters (no 79 columns 256 characters 156 characters 22 inches horizontally horizontal scrollingl an\:] vertically

Use of IBM PC optional: use of Alt. extensive yes: mainly as user­ strong use of function minimal: used Function Keys Shift. Cntrl. and definable macros for keys: combinations of specifically to jump assignable keys WordStar functions Cntrl. Alt. and Shift (40 from window to win­ options) dow and for selection of text

Insertion of yes yes yes. i.e .. phantom no yes Nonprinting ASCII spaci ng Control Characters?

Formatting Scheme both on-screen and mostly through Define through Cntrl com­ mainly format lines on-screen and through embedded command Page and through mands. formats on placed in document style sheets formatting possible Type/Edit screen page (text)

Print While Editing' yes product spools through yes yes: background yes: has queuing printer card but not capabilities capability via product itself ex­ cept file by file

Cha nge Default yes: through menu­ no yes: through its install yes: through menus yes: via various menus Parameters? How? driven configuration program or special key codes program

Automatic Formatting extensive and complex yes: in Type/Edit some: user can change yes: some alternating headers Capabilities? capabilities through margins and footers embedded commands

Change from Single- to yes: through formatting yes: at print time yes: .Dar commands yes: by search and yes: via command Double-Spacing? "style" function replace of format lines menu or Alt key code

Can Text Be Searched yes yes yes yes no for Printing Attributes?

Features of Disk-File in 1.16. users have op­ DOS to format disk n.a. nonstandard file format can automatically save Format tion to use full 8-bit with conversion utility files in ASCll format characters covering en­ to create standard tire PC character set. ASCII files or users can stick to 7-bit characters and use the eighth bit for on-screen highlighting

Reviewer's Assessment I like this program's I like this program I like this program I dislike this program I dislike this program's features slightly more slightly more than I much more than I slightly more than I features more than I than I dislike its dislike it dislike it like it like its benefits limitations

Fall 1984 • BYTE Guide to the IBM PC' 181 Circle 133 on inquiry card. WORD PROCESSING Performance BIOS but it's extremely hard to learn and A low.. cost way to improve the operate. However, your hefty invest­ ment in time and frustration will payoff performance of your IBM PC. handsomely, and you'll enjoy its sophis­ ticated subtleties and considerable • Plug~in replacement for the original capabilities. BIOS ROM. A ROUNDUP • Faster floppy disk writes. These five programs appear to balance out in basic benefits and disadvantages. • Faster console output. I wouldn't rate any of them unaccept­ • ANSI console driver in place of able. Nor would I rate any of them way "dumbTTY. " above the rest. Particular features I like in WordStar • Serial printer support. are its compatibility with other pro­ grams, its capability to do just about • .Auto search for expansion BIOS ROMs. anything you need a word processor to • And more ... do, and the inherent integrity its devel­ opers adhere to in delivering on its promises to the user. Advantages I appreciate most in pfs: PC Performance Inc. Write include its built-in Simplicity and 117 N. First St. • Ann Arbor, MI 48104 its utility as a basic word-processing (313) 761-9347 program. Microsoft Word garners some favor because it is paving the way in flexibili­ ty. Microsoft's pioneering efforts may be the beginning of a whole different way for people to use word processors. MultiMate rates high in the areas of security and user support (through its toll-free user hotline). Advanced formatting capabilities dis­ tinguish FinalWord. Even with all the re­ cent enhancements to other word-pro­ BIG TIME cessing programs, FinalWord still ranks high as one of the most able handlers of text-processing tasks. Certainly, how much an individual STATISTICS likes or dislikes any word processor depends on the application for which it is used. At the moment. there is no ideal or near-ideal word-processing pro­ GO SMALL gram to be had. As there is no camera Statpro'" brings the You get all this in one that suits the majority of photographers, power of mainframe integrated, easy-to-use, there probably never will be any soft­ statistics to your fully documented ware that fills most people's word­ personal computer. package. For a Statpro demo, processing needs. Now you can do serious contact your Tocal dealer. Along with many other word-pro­ statistical analysis on your Or Wadsworth Professional cessor users, I believe that some firm or Apple ~ Pc. Including descrip­ Software, Inc., Statler Office tive statistics, regression, time could make a serious financial killing Building, 20 Park Plaza, Boston, were it to delete the disadvantages of series, ANOVA and multivariate MA02ll6. analysis. What's more, Statpro these five programs and combine the lets you plot all your results in 800-322-2208 benefits. My kudos will go to the four-color charts and graphs. (in Massachusetts, 617-423-0420) developer who creates a word proces­ sor that has the ease of pfsWrite, the safety of MultiMate. the formatting ca­ Oil Wadsworth Professional Software pabilities of FinalWord, the flexibility of Statpro is a trademark of Wadsworth Professional Software, Inc. Apple is a registered trademark of Apple Computer, Inc. Microsoft Word . and the compatibility mM is a registered trademark of International Business Machines, Corp. of WordStar. •

182 • BYTE Guide to the IBM PC • Fall 1984 Circle 182 on inquiry card.