Re: us

["Olson, Timothy" timothy_olson@xxxxxxxx]

OK, time to jump on the bandwagon. . . .

I thought the article was well written and interesting. It really drew me
in, and I think it will do the same to those who don't know anything
about XyWrite. Especially helpful was the history of the product (thank
you, thank you, David Erickson!). In itself the history was interesting,
but it's also enlightening--the IBM fiasco also goes a long way toward
explaining why XyWrite may have fallen by the wayside (in the
marketplace) a few years back there.

There is one thing I found very disappointing, however. In an article
focusing on the fact that all these people are still using this
supposedly antiquated word processor, wouldn't it make sense to spend
some of that space talking about *why* these people are still using *it*
and not something else (i.e., something newer)? In her defense, perhaps
Amy didn't have time to interview those people, or perhaps they never
responded (I raise my hand). So, to round out that issue, here are a few
reasons why we use XyWrite:

--Nothing else gives you control over *every character* of text. Part of
this is due to the nature of the file format--pure ASCII. This control is
especially important in an Editorial-to-typesetting context, and it's
also becoming an anomaly in light of all the automation creeping in to
word processors these days.
--It's infinitely programmable. Text will always need to be manipulated,
and XyWrite gives you all the tools you will ever need.
--It's easily and infinitely customizable. The program allows *us* to
change *it,* not the other way around. No other program has its degree of
"user intervention" and customizability.
--It easily handles long documents (I'm talking several hundred pages),
and easily links multiple files. By way of contrast, Word doesn't do well
with long documents, and its Master Document system is clunky, and a mess
at best. I will say that Word is nice for 1-2 page memos/letters though.
--It easily treats files in batches. Thanks to XPL programs that harness
directory information, we can easily make a change throughout an entire
manuscript--whether it's one file, hundreds of files, or
pick-and-choose--in just a few seconds. (I'm not exaggerating!)
--While other word processors can do lots of fancy formatting, XyWrite
does a great job of basic formatting (which is all I need), simply and
easily. I especially like how it makes the formatting apply "from this
point on, forever," until you change it, rather than having highlighting
to format, or changing just a paragraph at a time. For those who like
fancy fonts, XyWrite *can* do this--if the fonts are printer resident,
you can reprogram a printer file (although that's not real fun) to
accommodate them.
--No other word processor gives you direct control over formatting.
(Although WordPerfect had that "reveal codes" thing for a while, but I've
been told you couldn't manipulate them.) According to the *Chicago Manual
of Style* (and probably most other style manuals), any usage of italic
should include the surrounding punctuation. In XyWrite it's easy to swap
an opening quote with the ≪MDRV≫ code to make it italic, or likewise
swap the ≪MDNM≫ code with a closing comma/period/etc.. But try doing
that in Word and you'll have to stop on every instance of italic--twice
if you're doing this in a macro (Snore . . . ).
--XyWrite is stable. Period. (Although I can't speak from experience with
regard to Xy4 or XyWin.)
--XyWrite is not quirky, buggy, or complicated; it's clean and
straightforward. The program continues to function just fine nearly ten
years (Xy3) after its last update. ("If it ain't broke . . .") By
contrast, Word has had two significant upgrades in the last 3-4 years.
Companies that keep upgrading are throwing money away--not only are they
paying for the upgrade, they're also paying for all the retraining
(classes), so people can learn the latest way Microsoft has decided we
will do things, and to learn about features that most people don't need!
[whoops, soapbox OFF]
--And last, but not least: XyWrite is incredibly FAST!!!! At anything and
everything!!

To summarize, then, we use XyWrite because we haven't found anything that
works better, and because we haven't found anything that can do the
things XyWrite can do!

So, it might actually be possible that we're XyWrite users because we're
intelligent and practical! (-:

Timothy Olson
Editorial/Technical Assistant
Tyndale House Publishers
(630) 668-8310
(630) 668-8311(FAX)
Timothy_Olson@xxxxxxxx