Xy4Win yes or no

[W BECHSTEIN CXI00541@xxxxxxxx]

Jim Besser writes:

> I don't care so much about the variety of features; I want speed and
> reliability above all.

Now, that's a sixty-four dollar question: if you want speed, I'd
say, go for Xy4Win, but if you want reliability, I think you are
probably better off with one of the mainstream Windoze word
processors. I don't believe--without having seen it--that even
the upgrade to 4.12 will miraculously turn Xy4Win into a smooth
performer that will cure all of its idiosyncrasies and problems.
So far, no XyWrite upgrade ever did.
Usually, what we get are some bug fixes, some interesting new
twists, and some possible new pitfalls.

Sometimes fellow translators ask me about Windows word
processors. If they are XyWriters who probably will go on using
Xy4DOS and want file
(as well as to a certain extent keyboard file and XPL) compatibility,
I usually say that Xy4Win can offer a worthwhile extension to
one's word processing arsenal. But if the person is someone who
has been totally untouched by the Xy bug, I always recommend to
stick with one of the mainstream programs such as Word for
Windows or WordPerfect for Windows.
These are certain to be around next year as well, there are tons
of reference works and numerous support groups, their file
formats can be handled by most anybody, and they are for the most
part quite easy to use
(if slow and bloated).

Actually, one thing I often wonder about is what kind of market
XyWrite for Windows is really aimed at. As someone here has
pointed out, not even all XyWrite for DOS users seem to have
received upgrade notices, and I have _never_ seen any
advertisement in any of the major computer rags. I certainly am
not of the opinion that only mainstream blockbusters do have
merit, but even an off-the-beaten-path product needs the support
of a certain market segment. Can anybody enlighten me as to exactly who
TTG are aiming this product at?

Nathan Sivin writes:

> No Chinese or Japanese input system known to me can use XyDOS
> formatting (that is, work within it).

Are you familiar with DOS/V? This is a Japanese version of MS-DOS
originally developed by IBM Japan but later adopted also by
Microsoft
Japan and Compaq Japan among others. DOS/V has two screen modes:
the English mode in which it is one-hundred percent identical to
plain-Jane English DOS (unlike for example the NEC version of
MS-DOS) and the Japanese mode in which two-byte characters can be
displayed and handled. I am running Xy4DOS under DOS/V. Normally,
this would mean using it in English mode only, but thanks to a
Japanese freeware program called TR which remaps certain BIOS
calls I can run Xy4DOS even in
Japanese screen mode, display Japanese text, and input kanji with a FEP
(front-end processor). Xy thinks it's handling single-byte characters
(and therefore will mess up line endings) but it lets me even
search for two-byte codes if I define them and put them on the command line.
I use it to handle log files from Japanese bulletin boards, and
to write short messages. Printing is a different story, however.
I can print kanji files using the very limited generic DOS/V
24-dot printer driver, but for higher-quality printing, I need to
use a genuine Japanese program.

Wolfgang Bechstein CXI00541@xxxxxxxx
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