Re: We should move en masse to Nota Bene

[Paul Breeze paul.breeze@xxxxxxxx]

Harry
I have been thinking along similar lines for some time although I might
approach the issue slightly differently. I've been working with NB10
for a couple of betas now and find the basic word processor much better
than NB9 in terms of cleanness of the interface and text window -- I get
much less 'noise' with NB10 that I do with NB9. It even offers
different styles so that in common parlance it can be skinned. This is
probably not of much interest to most XY users but I find you can tweak
some of the styles to increase menu font size, for example.
What works less well at the moment with NB10 is compatibility with XPL
programming and particularly many of the routines within U2. I do not
know enough about XPL and XYWrite to come close to identifying what the
problems might be but as of beta 7 they are still major. NB is
generally sympathetic to the needs of former XY users and I have had
quite a lot of useful contact with Steve recently. HOWEVER, their
overriding concern is to get all the basic functions that their main
user base needs working solidly. Once that is achieved then I think
they can be persuaded to pay more attention to other issues, and I can
accept that as reasonable.
My own wish is that NB10 should be capable of running everything in U2.
(Or virtually everything: there will be some routines that are no longer
necessary such as ANSI compatibility that I have recently been wrestling
with.) I too would like to see more users on the group trying out NB10
and identifying its weaknesses. The collective technical expertise
within the group could probably help pinpoint issues that, for example,
prevent U2 routines from functioning correctly. I'm sure there will be
strength in numbers when it comes to negotiating with NB and for that
reason alone I would encourage all of us who are able to embrace NB10
and help it on its way. It should work: as far as I can see -- which
may not be very far -- it utilises the same underlying engine and
philosophy as our beloved XY4.


Paul Breeze

On 19/12/2012 16:53, Harry Binswanger wrote:
> Having bought a Win 7 machine, I've been giving a lot of thought to
> this, and I think we XyWriters are in an unsustainable position. 16-bit
> DOS XyWrite is drifting ever further back into the mists of history.
> Fortunately, Nota Bene is our lifeline.
>
> I've been trying using a VM (Parallels Workstation) to run XP in Win 7.
> It works, yes, but with such mental and computer overhead that I'm
> thinking I am going to struggle with NB 10, 64 bit, so that I can
> continue gaining the advantages of the XyWrite engine.
>
> As I see it, the situation is this: we can spend our time either on the
> complexities of getting things the way we want in a VM (note the
> extended back-and-forths here on DOSBox) or invest roughly the same time
> in getting things the way we want in NB. The advantage of the latter is
> that for the same time spent, we create a setup that carries forward
> into the future.
>
> It would be considerably easier to make the Xy-to-NB transition if we
> had each other (especially Carl) to email to. I suppose that would mean
> either a large number of us moving to the NB list, which I gather is
> presently too nontechnical for us, or staying on this list but devoting
> a large part of it (a sublist?) to things NB-related.
>
> Comments?
>
>
> --Harry