Re: Rescue Xy3

[Robert Holmgren holmgren@xxxxxxxx]

** Reply to note from xywrite@xxxxxxxx Sat, 22 May 1999 17:47:25 -0300

> I'm not sure I would characterize an XPL-coded command stack, project
> manager or recently-opened file function a "workaround".

Right, they're additions. Which you could also add to Xy3, if you wanted.
(Several of those things _were_ added to Xy3, in its day.)

> Much of XyIV relies on XPL and help-screen programming too. (Borland's Sprint
> wordprocessor wasn't much more than a pile of macros.)

This gives a false impression, IMO. I don't know of any internal
functionality in Xy3 that is not also internal to Xy4. The XPL programming
in the .DLG file is **extra stuff**! If you are satisfied with the internal
functioning of Xy3, and want none of that extra stuff,
you can use Xy4 in much the way of Xy3, and not be poorer for it. Just
don't load DLG (or load it but don't use it -- I certainly don't).

> And although I have
> brought XyIII and XyIV very close together in terms of function and feel (I
> use many of the Windows key combinations), the former runs comfortably from
> a single floppy and is quite useable even on my 286 and 8088 laptops.

Well, I have an emergency Xy4 diskette with all my crucial files (but no DLG,
no U2, no Speedos, all of which are "extra"), and it fits in less than a
megabyte; plenty of room for text files left over. All you need is
EDITOR, STARTUP.INT, KBD, PRN, and DFL -- that's about 750K, or half a
floppy.

Bottom line is, Xy4 has many additional services, but they're optional.

What is not being addressed in this thread is what was WRONG with
Xy3, and in my opinion, plenty was wrong. There were bugs
galore, e.g. the 64K segment issue, incessant out-of-memory, a looong list
of problems (some with workarounds, others not). And programming, in
particular, was a ghastly struggle, with a poverty of control over the
system. Xy4 programming is terse, much easier, much more powerful. If you
don't program, that may not matter. But if you want to make your machine do
anything beyond the canned basics, you need to program -- there's no
alternative, obviously. Programability is the main reason to use XyWrite,
IMO, and in that arena, Xy4+ is incontestably superior. And that's an
opinion I would enjoy to debate, if anyone with an opposing view cares to
engage...

As for the "intolerance of diversity" raised by Annie "as a New Yorker", I
think that's a bit extreme. Leslie (if he's the target) was just expressing
an opinion, with his Chevy analogy. I doubt that Leslie cares in the least
what WP anyone else uses. I didn't detect any intolerance there. But people
are entitled to opinions, even strong ones (e.g. that Xy4 is "suffocating").

If opinions drive people away, e.g. XyWin or Xy3 users, then they're pretty
thin-skinned.

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Robert Holmgren
holmgren@xxxxxxxx
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