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Fred's Follies



Author: Fred Cranston
Date: January, 1989
Keywords: writenow 2.0 word processor processing writing pc tools deluxe
Text: You may recall that in November I asked if WriteNow 2.0 was vaporware. I sent a copy of that column to T/Maker, hoping to get fast results on my upgrade. I got fast results all right. In fact, I think they may have been psychic because WriteNow 2.0 must have crossed my letter in the mail. I now have 2.0 and the reviewers were right; it is a fine upgrade. There are over 40 changes from 1.0 including: Two dictionaries, 50,000 words for memory-sensitive users and a 100,000-word dictionary for word-processing-groupies; mail merge; Character/Word/Paragraph count; double-click insert of new header and footer; smart quotes; and elimination of that annoying ''System has changed*'' message. In addition, I believe they have eliminated the problem I had with extra copies using up a lot of memory. It now Saves two copies, but the second copy only Saves the changes. As was the case with 1.0, the manual is well-written, easy to use, and includes a section on ''Learning WriteNow for Macintosh.'' If you are a registered owner of WriteNow 1.0 there is a deal included with the upgrade to 2.0 which lets you buy MORE for $49.95 (retail value $295). Here is my folly of the month. I ordered and have received Central Point Software's new PC Tools Deluxe, Mac Version. The first thing I did was to attempt to make a copy of the disk using Tools' own Fast Copy Utility. I clicked on Start, inserted the disk as directed and received a big Bomb on the screen. I know that not many of you have ever had that happen, but when it does there is a little box in the lower left- hand corner that says RESTART. In most other Bombs, clicking on the RESTART restarts the Mac. But not here. On this Bomb, clicking on the RESTART does nothing; it doesn't even give those nerve-wracking wiggly lines. To restart, I had to push the little plastic button on the left side of Mac. I think the problem may be with the name of this disk. If you were a Mac, would you want someone to shove a disk into you that said PC Tools Deluxe!! PC indeed! I have sent the disk back to Central Point. Editor's note:Here's another endorsement for WriteNow. It's a bargain at about $110 by mail order. I especially like its ability to automatically use ''smart quotes'' and apostrophes. One drawback to the program is the insertion of a mandatory header -- there's no way to eliminate it.

Copyright © january, 1989 by Fred Cranston


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