Re: What Is XyWin?

[Robert Holmgren]

Dear SysOp:

May I take that as a "Windows Everywhere" endorsement? I can understand the
selection. Windows is certainly better than pure DOS. No more worry about
hundreds of different printers, or memory management, or fonts. Video
resolution as good as your hardware! These are givens. Still, I remain
curious: You mention limited kerning on HPs (that's in there? I hadn't heard
about that -- very nice), and "most importantly the command line interface"
(hardly new, is it?). Any other *word processing features*? Can you still
shell out of XyWin to a DOS command line, and perform DOS-level tasks?

I don't intend to be argumentative or unpleasant, but: I called III+ a
"dead-end product" because it's a product line (Xy3) which is no longer being
developed; which has arrived at an evolutionary end; which is dead. Ditto Xy2.
My question to you was, how soon will that fate befall the Sig-Xy4 product?
When Sig was first released, XyQuest said it intended to continue developing
the 3+ product line (witness e.g. the separate 3+ section of this BBS). In
fact, further 3+ development never happened. As for Sig-Xy4 being superseded,
it isn't an "if" issue, it's a "when" -- DOS is kaput, and I'm not complaining,
just asking! But I can't help feeling that you only just got Xy4 "right"! It
smacks of remarriage with unseemly, but very pecuniary, haste.

As for Orbis, if it doesn't work yet, then conserve your postage! I don't want
ORBINSTALL.EXE to turn EDITOR into a tortoise, and then I've a nightmare
de-installing and restoring the original EDITOR again (because of ZIP problems
previously discussed). I've never pushed for "early [premature] release" of
anything, nor pressured on the basis that "hey, I paid, where are the goods?"
But I do think its unacceptable to enthusiastically promote a product like
Orbis (which I recall being much more costly than XyWrite IV), to offer
pre-production discounts (deadline December 31, 1992!) -- and then to just
"move on" before bothering to get the bloody thing working! I supported you
guys less out of desperate need for this product (even today, I haven't the
faintest idea what Orbis does), than because Orbis seemed like a radical *new
programming departure* for XyQuest, and TG needed the money, and I wanted TG to
survive. Here we are, 10 months later, and still no healthy product.

As for the "great graphical display" of Windows -- well, of course. That's the
main point, isn't it? Video resolution as good as the hardware supports -- the
good news. On the other hand, there are the UAEs incompatibilities bloated
code gotchas undocumented calls and other monopolistic tendencies of Microsoft.
But, what the heck. I'm eager to try XyWin.