A DEEPER QUESTION

[chet.gottfried@xxxxxxxx]

XY-> lee dembart:

XY->     To be sure, there are conversion programs available, but they
 -> almost always have to be cleaned up after the fact. If the writing
 -> includes footnotes, it's a real mess.

Conversion programs are generally more trouble than they're
worth; however, Ventura through 4.2 has been very pleasant
inasmuch as it strips out the mostly unnecessary formatting
codes. On the downside, it doesn't handle footnotes in accepting
text.

Anyway, the conversion problem is one of the reasons I not only
have various versions of Xy and WordPerfect but also Ami Pro and
M Word. It's easiest to start work in a file's native format.

XY->     In the old days, when I was using an 8088 processor, XyWrite's
 -> blazing speed made up for the computer's sluggishness. Word Perfect, by
 -> comparison, was virtually unusable on that machine. But nowadays, with
 -> 486s and Pentiums (and God knows what's next), the speed comparison is no
 -> longer an issue.

True enough. Fast machines have pretty much changed speed issues.
And the various word processors have become much more
sophisticated than those of a few years ago.

XY->     Before everyone starts flaming me and telling me what a jerk I am
 -> even to contemplate giving up XyWrite, let me say again: I love
 -> XyWrite. If I ran the world, XyWrite would be the standard.  But alas, I
 -> do not run the world, XyWrite is not the standard, and I'm wondering
 -> whether the benefits of one universal standard outweigh the benefits of
 -> the better word processor.

Finally, I think it's a form of misplaced loyalty to feel that
you can have only one word processor. No one would question a
person's ability to speak several languages. Why not have
different word processors for different purposes?

--Chet
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 ? SLMR 2.1a ? Art + write + dtp = chet.gottfried@xxxxxxxx