Merlin source files are a 'strange' variant of text files, in that the highīit is set on almost all characters, with the exception being the nominal Great, and I still gladly use it regularly, but his concept of a userįriendly interface and mine just never were the same. Here is where the proper word processor (e.g. 'Program Writer' is so much better for that task than any of the word It's certainly possible to use any of the Apple II word processors as anĮditor for BASIC by doing the LIST/EXEC dance, but Alan Bird's (Beagle Bros) > Also, did people use any word processor on the Apple II as a text editor for Most people needed extremely easily and very quickly. AppleWorks may not have done everything when compared (which could import AppleWorks AWP files and output to PostScript). Particularly prior to the entrance of dedicated DTP programs like PublishIt! Others, though, swore by it for producing newletters and the like, Reference writing, so the 'fancy print' capability SuperFonts offered wasn't LaserJets (which had dozens of built-in fonts anyway) for printing fromĪppleWorks, and at that point going back to Dot Matrix printing just wasn'tīesides, most of my stuff was either business correspondence or tech + 1 Extra (Some others might mention) TimeOut SuperFonts (Mark Simonsen)Īlso neat, but by the time I picked up a copy, I'd already moved on to using Neat, but I'll confess that I never use it much. Page Preview (see graphically how the pages will split when printed) (Some more useful than others - in no particular order):Ĥ. This package included the following separate apps: Very handy when you 'just can't come up with the right word.' If I could have only _one_ AppleWorks add-on, this would be it.

I'm _still_ using UltraMacros in ways I never even imagined 20 years ago. 'keyplayer.' It's an entire programming/scripting language inside Man oh man, what _can't_ you do with UltraMacros? It's not just a (previously an add-on, but was built into version 5.1) I'm biased, of course, but here are my Top '5' (+ 1 extra) word processing Pretty capable right out of the box, it's hard to say that any add-on wouldīe considered 'essential,' but add some of these TimeOut apps to it and it Integral spell checking, mail merge and 16,000+ line in-memory capacity is Since AppleWorks' (especially Version 5.1) word processing module with WordPerfect - WP had a huge installed base in business and especially in the medical, legal and academic professions.īank Street Writer - hundreds of thousands of copies were sold, it was the most popular word-processor for kids used in schools and at home. Hundreds of AppleWorks how-to books were published essentially becoming unofficial manuals for the bootlegging users. It was also easy to learn and use, but still required add-ons like the Time-Out series to make it's word-processor (and spreadsheet, database) more capable than it's contemporaries.ĪppleWorks was a tremendous success - I read a statistic from the Software Publisher's Association that claimed for every copy of AppleWorks sold, 20 more were illegally copied. It's appeal and strength were in it's application integration and it's cost - AppleWorks was less expensive than buying 3 separate apps (that were probably proprietary and incompatible). Then AppleWorks happened.ĪppleWorks - AppleWorks was like the second coming of Visicalc, in that many people and small businesses purchased Apple IIe and IIc systems just to use AppleWorks. Times were changing though and people were tired of the hassles of converting, importing and exporting data between different applications. As a dedicated program, it was peerless at what it did. Then, AppleWriter came out.ĪppleWriter - AppleWriter with WPL is arguably the most powerful word-processor ever published for the Apple II right out of the box. It seemed like the rest of the world ran on CP/M back then. WordStar - wildly successful for it's day, it was an essential hedge for Apple II owners concerned that 'serious' productivity applications wouldn't be published for the Apple II. The rest may have had their own virtues, but compared to the big 5, they weren't nearly as popular. Keep 'em coming!ĭepending on one's standards, there are really only 4 or 5 truly noteworthy word-processors for the Apple II.

Word processing for mac 2013