Re: 3.52 to 4

[cld@xxxxxxxx (Carl Distefano)]

Reply to note from Frank Heydenrych  Thu, 19 Oct
2000 10:50:03 +0200

-> I've got Xy 4 ... I had no idea it was so different to 3.52,
-> which I've used for 13 years. Can anyone else who has been in
-> this situation advise on whether it is better, or if there are
-> major bugs? What problems (other than new keystrokes) should I
-> expect? And is there an easy way to import keyboards (my
-> SUPER.KBD in 3.52 contains 13 years' customisation).

Xy4 is almost eight years old (nine, if you count Signature), and
these questions have been debated and answered around here many,
many times over the years. I suggest that if you search the list
archives for the abundant information it has on this subject, you'll
get fresher and more comprehensive answers than you may by
revisiting these questions today. If you don't remember how to
search the archives, visit http://users.datarealm.com/ammaze/xylist/ for
instructions. Also, bear in mind that the archives accessible via
the list processor only go back to 1999. You'll need to download
the earlier archives from XyWWWeb (URL in my sig, below).

I don't mean to discourage anyone from answering anew; just to point
out the resources that already exist. My own answer, in brief:

The latest version of Xy4 (v4.018) is robust, stable and free of
major bugs. The command set is greatly expanded, and memory
management is much better; I've edited files up of 4 or 5 megabytes
with no problem (try doing that in 3). Although Xy4 comes with
menus and default keystrokes that differ from Xy3's, it can be
easily configured to look and feel like 3. Your keyboard file, by
and large, should work as is; I strongly recommend changing
BC,...,XC pairs to BX,...,Q2. Although there are some differences
(witness the recent discussion of BC...XC vs. BX...Q2 in XPL
programming), they're eminently manageable. Last but not least, you
can load the XyWWWeb Jumbo U2 customization file. In sum, there's a
modest learning curve, but your efforts will be richly rewarded.

--
Carl Distefano
cld@xxxxxxxx
http://users.datarealm.com/xywwweb/