Re: Windoze questions

[nsivin@xxxxxxxx (Nathan Sivin)]

Since Matt recommends Word, and I just downed it, maybe I should
say why. The only thing that makes a bloated program like WPW
workable for me is direct access to the formatting codes. That
is especially true in v. 6.1, since one can directly (i.e., as
directly as WPW allows) change settings by clicking on the
formatting code. I remember years ago working on an early
version of WPDOS, when I finally learned about "reveal codes" I
discovered that frustrating problems with formatting were largely
due to codes I didn't know about, for instance, repeated strings
of spacing codes most of which were cancelled out by those that
followed but could still make trouble if you didn't know they
were there. I consider the XyWrite approach, where you can
instantly open any formatting delta and change it, to be a
desirable norm, and simply wouldn't have the patience to grope
around in a program where I couldn't find out exactly what codes
were in play at a given point.

-- Nathan Sivin
History and Sociology of Science
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia PA 19104-3325