🚀 go-pugleaf

"Rogelio Perea" (os9dude@hotmail.com) writes:
> Joe - from Linden NJ wrote:
> 
>> Nice site David.  It brought back MANY memories of my Coco (1,2, &3) days.
>> Let's see IF anyone here remembers a terrific word processor program I 
>> once had,
>> it was called "Simply Better".  It could do a lot of things that today's 
>> WPs can't.
>> Maybe someone could give it to you to post on your site (?).
>>
>> If you ever get a chance, search for a music file I composed in the 80's.
>> It's called: EDOML. (A Bobby Vinton song - Every Day Of My Life).
>> It has nice 4-part harmony and I personally think it came out pretty good.
> 
> I do remember Simply Better, though still at this time have not had the 
> chance to use it, it remained in my CoCo 3 wishlist since the first review I 
> read about it in The Rainbow. I was mostly a VIP Writer guy, and in fact 
> much a VIP suite guy (the spreadsheet, database and the disk fixer, not much 
> a fan of the Terminal program). Simply Better seemed like the upgrade path 
> to take from the basic and solid VIP Writer program I was using... VIP 
> Writer probably suffered from being a word processor that basically was 
> ported from its CoCo 1/2 versions to the CoCo 3 while adding a couple of 
> CoCo 3 specific features, mainly the hardware hi-res text screens, extended 
> color capabilities and a workable way to use a fully 512k RAM expanded 
> computer. Simply Better on the other hand was a program that was born with 
> the CoCo 3 so the advantages are clear right from the start.
> 
> Another word processor specifically done for the CoCo 3 was Microcom's Word 
> Power. Never got this one either but just from checking the specs in the ads 
> and the reviews it packed quite a bit of power.
> 
> All in all, the 3 word processors mentioned above pretty much cover ANY 
> modern day word processing needs ;-)
> 
I got VIP Writer within a month of buying my CoCo in 1984, and I wasn't
all that pleased with it, but I lived with it.  Realistically, the CoCo
was really limited by that small screen, and things got so much better
when the III came along.

I recall modifying something in VIP Writer, so it could run on the CoCo 
III.  I sure can't remember what I did.  I did do some disassemblying of
the CoCo III ROM in order to figure out the new screen arrangement,
and the new hardware.

Once the III came along, I completely switched over to OS-9, whereas
I had been using Vip Writer before that with some dabbling in OS-9.

I got Screen Star from Computerware, that run under OS-9.  I liked
it better than VIP Writer, though of course it was "merely" an
editor.  But by that time, Radio Shack was already clearing out the
software, and I had bought the RS OS-9 text formatter that worked
fine.  Better than TS Edit that I paid the full price for.

But Screen Star had some bugs, including one fatal that did happen
to me a few times.  Then I got Bob van der Poel's VED and I can't
say anything bad about it.  It was still for sale, at least the last
time I checked a few years back, and he even had a variant for 
Linux available as a download.

Most of us only have limited needs, so most of the editors for
the CoCo were fine.  The limitations were in the hardware, and that
got better with the CoCo III.  When I was running a Mac Plus, becoming
my main computer and pushing the CoCo aside in 1994, I did pretty much
everything with a desk accessory, and I actually write quite a bit;
it was the only practical reason I had for getting the CoCo  in 1984.
Even now, running Linux on a 1GHz computer, I still use a simple text
editor for most things.

  Michael