Xy loyalty

[Daniel Say say@xxxxxxxx]

Scanning Nexis/Lexis for Xy references (about 2000 of them)
I find a touching example of loyalty to XY despite the
blandishments of the big wupo programs.

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       The New York Times

 July 7, 1996, Sunday, Late Edition - Final

LENGTH: 2828 words

HEADLINE: THE CYBER-MAXIMS OF ESTHER DYSON
.... [much deleted]
Q: Do you use Windows 95?
A: No, I use Xywrite for a word processor, Eudora for E-mail and Netscape as my
Internet browser. As for Windows 95, I gave my review copy to my stepmother and
father. There's no compelling reason for me to make the switch over. My old
stuff works. If I were starting over with a new computer, I'd get it loaded with
Windows 95, and I do suppose in the long run, I'll move over to it. Right now, a
switch would be complicated. Besides, it's not that easy to install, which
reminds me of a joke: Why did God need six days to create the world? Because he
had no installed base.
.....

[ and 6 years earlier ]

    Copyright 1990 Ziff-Davis Publishing Company
             PC-Computing

            February, 1990

Vol. 3 ; No. 2 ; Pg. 15; ISSN: 0899-1847

HEADLINE: Esther Dyson; column

BYLINE: Dyson, Esther

  Consider me an old-timer complaining about young upstarts who never had to
trudge 10 miles through the snow to get to school and who lacked a chanced to
build character. Skip a generation or two, and let me talk about the pleasures
of traveling light--not just on airplanes but on computers as well.

  You see, I believe OS/2 and Unix eventually will supersede DOS--and for some
deep but ultimately unconvincing reasons, I'm not entirely delighted at the
prospect. As much as I like the luxury and variety that these systems will
bring, sometimes I miss the thrift, self-reliance, and inventiveness of the old
days of scarcity.

  OS/2 and Unix will encourage people to be wasteful and to use lots of
programs to do lots of little things that may or may not be necessary.
  DOS, on the other hand, is like carrying your own suitcase: you don't want
to lug around too much baggage. You can wear only so many clothes at one time,
just as you can use only one package (plus TSRs and add-ins) at one time. All
the trinkets and treasures you collect just weigh you down. When you have only a
couple of things to wear, you tend to make good use of them. In fact, they rise
in value (as opposed to cost) because you use them more.

  That, of course, parallels software. When you start out with just a couple
of software packages, you learn to make full use of them. That's why people use
1-2-3 not only as a spreadsheet or a database but also as a word processor. My
secretary keeps my financial affairs in order with Paradox instead of a more
appropriate package, such as Andrew Tobias' Managing Your Money with TaxCut. We
keep my calendar in Xy-Write because switching back and forth between the word
processor and a calendar program all the time would be too much trouble.
....

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.... takes a licking and keeps on ticking, that's Xywrite