Xywrite fonts and Win98

["Lawrence Malkin" malkinlit@xxxxxxxx]

  I am new to this group but experienced in XyWrite, having
used it since 1985 when it was given to me by Time Magazine, then
my employer. Within a year I used it to write a book with far
greater ease than otherwise would have been possible, and have
since written or edited (i..e., ghostwritten) more than half a
dozen books using XyWrite 3+. During the 1990s I could not have
done without it, working under great deadline pressure as the New
York correspondent for the International Herald Tribune. I have
no desire to change, or to complicate my life in any way by doing
technological backflips which many members of this and other
computer groups seem to enjoy. Bless you all, but it's not for
me; that's why I like the simplicity of XyWrite in the first
place--as opposed to MSWord, which is for people who do not
realize that writing means organizing your thoughts in proper
order, and not just slapping them in boldface or prefacing them
with a bullet.
   However, having just bought a new computer, I do feel
threatened and have some questions which others may help answer.
I bought a Toshiba 1800 laptop operating in Windows 98 (replacing
a Toshiba 100CS in Win95). I use Xywrite only for wordprocessing,
put the text on a 3 1/2 inch floppy, and then transfer it via the
floppy to MSWorks for printing on an HP Laserjet. That suits my
needs, and it seems to be what some other members do, such as
Judith Davidson. The local computer shop installed Xywrite 3+ as
a Window on my new laptop for a fee; it works fine with a few
minor exceptions.

  1. When I go to full screen (the one without all the Windows
garbage surrounding it) is there any way to change the font? On
my old Toshiba I got a handsome Times Roman font; on the present
one I get an ugly sans-serif font which is hard on the eyes. The
font that comes in the largest Window (13 x 22) is OK but I'd
prefer another if I could get it.

  2. I have been given to understand that this Window is not
actually DOS but an emulation. Would I be better off to work off
of the MS-DOS that exists on the computer, rather like a
pre-Cambrian geological layer? Is it even possible to use XyWrite
3+ in this underlying real DOS? If so, how?

  3. How do I install the Xywrite spellcheck on my hard drive
so that I don't have to insert the Spell floppy every time I want
to run it. On the old laptop, all I had to do was type SPELL on
the command line and it popped up.

  4. I'm told by a retired IBM salesman that what I really need
is a reliable Windows engineer who will be tolerant of DOS
applications. Does anyone know of such a person in NewYork City?
I am of course prepared to pay. (Needless to say, Toshiba tech
support has been clueless.)

  As instructed in the Welcome, I've gone through the
archives--about fifty of them until I couldn't handle any more,
and I didn't find the answers anyway. I learned about Sanskrit
fonts (interesting to me because I used to report from India);
Sherry's imminent baby (we share a publisher), and old cars--on
which I fear this intelligent group missed the point. I drive a
1984 Honda (only 85,000 miles and still going strong). Why can I
obtain parts, service and expert advice on a 17-year-old car at
any good garage in New York City--but not the equivalent for a
15-year-old computer program? The answer must be monopoly. When
Redmond decrees no more stick shifts, then it's goodbye stick
shifts no matter how useful they may be in rough driving. I hope
I live long enough to see some form of international competition
do to the Windows monopoly what Detroit did to itself with its
own form of planned obsolescence.

  All replies accepted with thanks in advance for any advice
(as long as it's not too technical).


  Lawrence Malkin
  20 East 35th Street
  New York NY 10016

   212-213-0045 (office phone and fax).