XyWIN vs Xy4DOS

[jgordon@xxxxxxxx]

In response to a number of recent posts comparing the Windows and DOS versions
of XyWrite:

I use both (having upgraded from long-time use of III+ late last year) and
there are some differences which, in my view, favour one over the other.
XyWin has a superior interface for the spell checker (Alt-I instead of F1 for
`ignore' for example) and seems to spell check faster. The overall perforance
of XyWin seems to me, subjectively, to be faster (especially screen scrolling)
than Xy4. BTW, I run both under OS/2 and have EMS set to
4MB for Xy4. Log/restore is superior under XyWin since you can have multiple
sessions to log or restore from. I find this very handy for different
categories of work. I set up separate logs for journal editing, lecture
writing, admin business, etc. Split screen editing is also slicker under
XyWin. So, do I use XyWin for most of my work? No. I use Xy4 for two main
reasons: I can run it in an OS/2 window while retaining the option to maximize
the window
(which takes up about 1/2 the screen) or to go to proper full-screen. I haven't
gotten XyWin to run in an Os/2 window even when I start it from an
OS/2 windowed version of Windows PM. I find running in a window on the OS/2
desktop to be a big advantage since I can see icons from other apps at the same
time I am using the word processor. The most important reason I use Xy4 is that
I continue to find the white characters on a blue background to be much
superior to the XyWin black on white. This is on my office computer. At home on
the laptop (small mono screen) I use XyWin because IT is superior on the laptop
screen. What I would really like is a character mode screen with customisable
colours in XyWin. All in all, I am happy to have both versions. And despite the
faults of TTG in answering queries (I still haven't found out how to run Ibid &
Orbis without crashing), I am delighted that they brought
XyWrite into the modern world of GUI word processors. I am doubly delighted
that they retained the best features (e.g. command line) of XyWIII+

Cheers,
John Gordon

----------------------------------------------
Dr J.L. Gordon
Head, Department of Anthropology
The University of Western Australia
Nedlands, W.A. 6009, Australia fax: 61 9 380 1062 email:
jgordon@xxxxxxxx