Re: A couple of issues

[James Besser jbesser@xxxxxxxx]

** Reply to note from kfrank@xxxxxxxx 04/16/96 2:59pm  
> That brings me to the second issue. When Peter Feldman states that
> "Something happened to XyWrite between releases 3.xx and 4.xx.
> Whatever it was, it was a turn downhill in terms of real functionality",
> I believe he is in error. While 3.xx may be faster in some areas, and
> our benchmarks clearly indicate certainly not all, in terms of
functionality 4.xx is vastly superior. I think the

I'm with you on this one. I do sometimes switch back to 3.55 because of
the speller, but for everyday use, 4.XX offers additional functionality without
any real costs.

> I also must take a little exception to Jim Besser's comment about our
> "unwilingness" to fix bugs. He is using 4.014 for DOS (the current
> version is 4.017). That means we have completed 17 maintenance

Agreed that the product has been improved. But when I complained early on
about some of the speller's problems, and about the inadequacies of the
"convert to ascii" filters, I was told by TTG that fixes were not planned.

If that's changed, I'd be more than willing to plunk down the extra money for
an upgrade. And mind you, these are not major problems, but more in the
nature of irritants. My complaints should also be put in proper context; my
brief fllirtation with WordPerfect/Windows suggested that Xy/Dos is a
pretty darned clean product, compared to the competition.

But it's still irritating when known problems are not being
addressed--especially since the speller problems did not appear in earlier
versions.

> I realize this message may sound defensive. I do not feel defensive, and
> these comments are not offered in that spirit. I just have a somewhat

Defensive is OK. We old-time users are just an unsually cranky lot, and
unusually devoted to the product.

jb

        ***James D. Besser, Washington correspondent ***
 Fax: 703-978-3675 * E-mail: jbesser@xxxxxxxx or 4212207@xxxxxxxx ***