Re: Goodbye Xy?

[Harmon Seaver hseaver@xxxxxxxx]

James Besser wrote:
> But I still find myself using Xy/Dos for daily writing chores; for projects that need

  I know -- I just pumped out 4 resumes today, and guess what -- I did
it in XY. Why -- because I've used it so long, it's instinctive.

> decent-quality printing, I import the file into DeScribe for formatting.
>
  Isn't this crazy? We revert to XY, essentially because we haven't
figured out how to use Describe/Starwriter, etc., as well, and it isn't
easy yet, so we perpetuate the agony.

> The lack of keyboard customization capability in DeScribe is a problem. So is the

  Well, I don't think so -- it just hasn't been as carefully explored.
Herb Tyson says he has it doing the same things with the same
keystrokes, for the most part. I look at Starwriter's keyboard, and --
although I haven't tried it yet, since I have nothing but German dox --
it looks as easy to customize as XY's. BUT -- it all takes so much time,
I spent almost ten years on XY.

> lack of any way to edit formatting codes. With XyWrite, I can change the margins

 I'm just not sure -- can you or can't you? In Starwriter, I can choose
to make the formatting codes visible, so does that mean I can edit them?
Don't know yet. OTOH, maybe they do it some other way. And, while
Describe might be a dead horse (and I don't even remotely understand why
that company decided to fold -- or did they?) but Starwriter is so
totally on the edge (they *are* doing a MAC version now too, and even a
Amiga and VMS versions are listed on their webpage as "to do") so don't
you think they perhaps just need to be told of the need to have editable
formating codes?
  If I were a Deutsch/English translator, I bet I could have a job
right now, either on their dox or webpages. 8-) And I'll bet if I had
the technical skills of Carl or R.H. or T.B, I might get some sort of
consultant status with StarGruppe.
  TTG is digging some sort of little hole in lawyerdom to bury XY.
StarDivision is trying to blow out the boundaries of wordsmithing beyond
any heretofore known perspective. Damn, I sure wish I had more than two
semesters of German (and that over 30 years ago) -- it's so tantilizing,
it's driving me crazy.

--
Harmon Seaver hseaver@xxxxxxxx hseaver@xxxxxxxx
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The fundamental delusion of humanity is that I am in here -- and you
are out there.
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Copyright, Harmon F. Seaver, 1996. License to distribute this post is
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