Msg: Re: XyWrite for Windows

On 9/24/2011 2:47 PM, Bill Troop wrote:

Isn't NotaBene more or less XyWrite for current versions of Windows?

I'd love to have a XyWrite for Windows so that I would have access to all the fonts installed on Windows - - so I would be more happy printing documents from XyWrite. But I would also need automatic kerning and manual tracking features, and a few other modern-day requirements for formatted text, such as OpenType ligature support (and even stylistic set support, offered in the most recent versions of MSW), to make it worthwhile. Meanwhile, if I have anything I want to print, I prepare the document in XyWrite and then go to Quark or InDesign for printing if it's demanding, or MSW if it isn't. XyWrite is too good not to use for document creation and preparation, and I can't think why in all these years the NotaBene people haven't addressed the printing issues that would make the software more attractive for non-academics. Not that I would dream of arguing with NB's assessment of their priorities.

About Nota Bene's priorities (and I've been using it for some years now, though I still use XY4 and will until my XP goes the way of all flesh:

Here's NB's linguistic support (from their website):

Lingua provides a full range of functionality in Hebrew, Greek and Cyrillic as well as an extensive character inventory which includes the International Phonetic Alphabet and characters used in African languages. Over 1,700 distinct characters can be entered and over 230 distinct accents that can be added to any character, in virtually any combination. Write in Hebrew, Greek or Cyrillic and mix languages in the same document or even on the same line. You can select a right-to-left orientation so that Hebrew text will begin at the right margin. Or you can integrate Hebrew in a document with a primary left-to-right orientation. In either case, Hebrew characters will be entered from right to left and words will wrap properly from line to line. Accents, breathing marks and Hebrew vowels and cantillations are entered easily with pop-up dialogs and/or simple key combinations.

Optional modules extend support to http://www.notabene.com/arabic.html, as well as http://www.notabene.com/alphabets.html.

Much as I would like to write in Akkadian or Ugaritic, I don't think I ever will. When will NB's priorities recognize E. Asia? When I have to use Chinese, I'm drive to (ugh) MS Word (though I keep a copy of Word 95 on my computer since it's much easier to use than the newer versions).

Nick Clifford