XyWrite & the Competition

[Dr John Gordon jgordon@xxxxxxxx]

Comrades,

Thought you might like to know that there has been a thread recently on
 entitled Describe and XyWrite. It was started by a
XyWrite user, now working in OS/2, who is looking for an OS/2
word processor. Several of the replies were from former XyWriters
who recommended Describe. I posted a reply relating my experiences with
Describe and AmiPro/2, the gist of which is that I am sticking with
XyWrite (I use both the DOS, v.4 and XyWin under OS/2) until
something better comes along. I just hope the something better is an OS/2
XyWrite. The problem, of course, is that OS/2 users appear to be dropping
XyW while Windows users seem already to have done so. Why do I hang on?
Several reasons: (1) Cannot live without the command line. This,
plus log and resume, are the best features, in my opinion of
XyWin. (2) Cannot, yet, find either an OS/2 or Windows wp which
has the built-in direct manipulation of text features that XyW
has [Describe, for instance, requires that you select text before
you move, copy, or delete it. You even have to select a previous
word to delete it. No Ctl-bkspace delete feature.]

AP/2 has a number of built-in keyboard features which resemble XyWrite's
(movement forward and backward by word, sentence and paragraph,
transpose paragraphs without selecting first, etc.). If I had to
choose between the two main OS/2 word processors I would take
AP/2. And I am using it enough to get the feel of it so that I
will be prepared if XyWrite never makes the transition. But for real work, XyWrite's the one.

A request to Ken Frank, whose presence has enlivened this group
and given us long-time users hope for the future: You have said
you cannot spare the resources to develop for OS/2. This I
understand, and regret.
Can you, as a halfway measure, develop OS/2 integration tools
like those available for WordPerfect for Windows? I have
installed WPWin 6.1
(available here under cheap campus license) and immediately
noticed several things: WP recognised that it was being installed
on an OS/2 machine even though it is a Windows product. It put up
a notice with the phone number to call for the WP Integration
tools, which, I believe, give it drag and drop capabilities on
the OS/2 desktop. It also works very well in a seamless OS/2
window, much better than XyWrite. For instance, once I set the
window size, WP returns to that size whenever I load it. XyWrite
returns to its own default which I then have to resize.
Also, when WPWin is in the background my CPU monitor drops back
to near zero if I am not doing anything else. With XyWrite in the
background, the monitor stays at 100%. Both have WIN-OS2 settings
which are identical. In short, I think you could do more for
XyWrite users who have chosen OS/2, without having to make a
company-breaking investment. This would help us resist the
temptation to abandon XyWrite in favour of some of the slicker
competition. What do you think?

Cheers,
John Gordon