RE: Mastersoft Filters Resurface

["Olson, Timothy" Timothy_Olson@xxxxxxxx]

Intrigued by the recent discussion of Mastersoft filters, I got out some
of my notes from a few years ago when I researched translation programs.
I was looking for an upgrade of Word for Word, since the version we had
(and, actually, still have) was 7.0, copyrighted 1992 and 1995. Here's
what I found:

MasterSoft was bought out several years ago. According to PC Magazine
Online, an article (or is it a Press Release?) dated April 8, 1997
states: "Based on a package first released by Mastersoft (a vendor
recently acquired by Adobe Systems), Adobe File Utilities, Version 1.0,
is a massive collection of viewers, converters, and file-comparison
utilities. . . . This $150 package includes the Viewer95 file viewer . .
... , along with the Word for Word document-converter. . . . Viewer95
shares its file converters with the well-established Word for Word. But
some of the viewers are showing their age and don't display files created
by recent versions of major applications [the main reason I was looking
for an upgrade]. . . . Despite its wide range of viewers and features,
unless you need Adobe File Utilities for working with obscure file
formats not supported by KEYview or Inso's QuickView Plus 4.0, you would
probably be better off looking elsewhere." To which I add, "Yes,
especially since Adobe File Utilities doesn't seem to be available!"

Going to Adobe's Web site, I found the following (for some reason dated
earlier than the PCMag article): "March 11, 1997: ADOBE FILE UTILITIES IS
CURRENTLY UNAVAILABLE FOR ORDERING. INSO Corp has recently bought the
package from Adobe and are in the process of re-packing it and releasing
it under a new name." That name, apparently, was VaporWare. Inso never
released a file-conversion utility. They already had QuickView 4.0 at the
time.

ConversionsPlus, from Dataviz (www.dataviz.com), has a nice range of
filters, but at the time didn't list XyWrite. I checked today, and the
list on their Web site (still) doesn't include XyWrite. However, at least
one person on this discussion list says that the Mac version of the
program does have a filter for XyWrite.

I downloaded a demo of another program, Here & Now (www.softarch.com),
and will see if it has XyWrite filters. I couldn't find any filter info
on their Web site.

But here's the good news. A program called KeyView Pro (v6.5) DOES have a
filter for XyWrite 4.12. And they already have filters for Office 2000
(Microsoft Word 2000). For more information, see www.keyview.com.

--TLO