Re: `power' v wp xyW (lewp)

[OkAnnie@xxxxxxxx]

Marv Katz writes: "I resist the temptation to send all that
verbosity back at you, but I didn't get past the fourth
paragraph. ..."

Yes, my "long!" caveat certainly failed to extend attention
spans. The lead was a mistake. Instead of being glued
inextricably to the substance, it offered an excuse for unrelated
testimonials.

I'll follow your example and respond selectively. When I suggested that when
XyQuest read the ur-"lightning-fast-but-steep-learning-curve" it
should have hired an expert to improve the default keyboard, I
had in mind specifically the Leading Edge Word Processor. LEWP, a
dog under the hood, was in such disrepute in the trade press no
wonder XyQuest never would have considered it as a model.

Pity. LEWP lived years longer than it deserved because users and Consumer
Reports loved its intuitive interface, designed by ex-Wang
programmers who'd given each detail and how all details meshed *lots* of careful thought. To
LEWP vets, long file names are no recent innovation. Early '80s LEWP allowed
32-char names. (Thanks, no. The crucial layer long names
necessitate between files and FAT made me appreciate the
discipline of 11-char file names.)

My first xyWrite file of any kind was a lewp.kbd. Then I wrote
xpl macros that made my xyWrite a LEWP interface work-alike over
the astounding xyWrite engine--the best of all possible worlds.
I'd used several text entry systems, some well-considered, before
LEWP, so my assessment is based on comparison with a variety of
interfaces before and since.

Isn't it a bit of a stretch to infer, as James Besser does--and
you seem to concur--that because TTG may make the supplementary
language TTG programmers use accessible to customers, TTG
henceforth will focus "exclusively on the needs of" atypical
"computer jocks"? The brief respite from the winWP/Warp drone is
exhilarating to anyone fascinated by what makes xyWrite tick and
uninterested in winWP and Warp apps. (For succinct recent comment
on winWP's notorious bugs, see 13 June PCMag, p 85. IBM's Lotus
buy should put the xyWarp pleas to eternal rest; see Laurence
Zuckerman's piece on
Notes-as-os/2-alternative, sent by the NYTimes News Service
95-06-11.)
   --Annie


PS: Good grief! When I wrote the preceding, AO had delivered only
Marv Katz's first postings to my mailbox. When I signed on to
send it, the gefilte fish explosion and much else that I haven't
read yet was waiting. AO mail delivery
(to me, at any rate) goes bonkers when xylist traffic gets heavy;
delivery four days after email is posted is routine, continuity
is lost totally. Hope it's not starting.

A quick scan shows one more Marv Katz comment I'll remark on: "It
just seems to me that people here keep wanting TTG to turn
XyWrite into a Swiss Army knife, when all it ever has been
described as is `a versatile, powerful word processing tool.*'
*--XyWrite 4.0 Installation and Learning Guide"

Nobody needs to turn xyWrite into a Swiss army knife. It is and
always has been; in fact, that's the icon I've always used for it
in Windows. If you only use it as a word processor, that's your
loss.    a.

========================== annie fisher  nyc