Re: Two Questions (XyWin)

["Dr J.L. Gordon" jgordon@xxxxxxxx]

On Fri, 6 Sep 1996 14:05:24 -0900 (PDT), Jimmy C Diecker wrote:
[deletions]
>2) Is anyone using or know anyone using the new DeScribe Voyager Plus?
>It's only $59 in the latest _IBM Direct Desktop Software_ catalog, cheap
>enough to be worth buying for comparative purposes.
>
Damn good deal, in my opinion. I'm using Describe (Enterprise
edition, same as Voyager, I believe, except that it runs on
networks) and it reminds me a lot of the early days of XyWrite:
it is quirkly, very powerful and highly customisable (for a GUI
wp). It takes good advantage of OS/2 (it actually *uses*
multithreading) and has some very advanced technology built-in.
You can open multiple copies (called Describe windows) without
re-loading the whole app and these "Describe windows" are in
addition to the multiple files (in windows) you can open within
each Describe window. It has unlimited undelete, which I at
first thought was a gimick, but now rely on. And the feature,
for writers, that must rank at the top of the list: it protects
your work like no other word processor I know of. In
combination with OS/2 on an HPFS drive, it is as safe an
environment as you can get. Even if OS/2 goes down, Describe
will come back up with everything you were working on, even if
you had not saved it! It's also quite quick for a full GUI word
processor. And it has a very good implementation of
hierarchical styles.

The downside: after years of code-based XyWrite, I found the
adjustment to a full GUI rather difficult. Once learned, it's
great. And you will need to spend some time customising the
keyboard (using the Describe macro facility) to get even the
most basic of XyWrite's built-in key assignments.

I still use XyWrite 4 for editing and some writing; it remains
an outstanding product for certain types of work. But I've
given up on XyWin; it pales as a GUI wp in comparison to
Describe.

Cheers,
John Gordon


********************************
Dr J.L. Gordon
Department of Anthropology
University of Western Australia
Nedlands, WA 6907
AUSTRALIA

tel: +61 9 380 2850
fax: +61 9 380 1062

jgordon@xxxxxxxx
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