Holy cow that brings back memories. I used it in MCAS Iwakuni, Japan while stationed there in 1988. If you took a few to learn the syntax you could really do things very quickly. Thanks for the memories!

-reynolds_john (March 25, 2020, 12:34 PM)

WordStar was awesome for touch-typists. You could do everything without moving your hands away from the home keys. Sure, there was function key support too -- later on, anyway -- but anyone who'd learned it properly could bash out documents faster than anyone working on pretty much any other platform.

Not sure if this is the response you'd want but -- do you need a mouse?

I have been using graphics tablets instead of mice for ... well, it's definitely over 15 years. My first was a rebadged Wacom Volito 2 that I got in a bundle with a drawing package. (No, it wasn't. I'd forgotten -- my first was a thing called a Hyper-Pen in about 2003. My first GOOD one was the Volito2.)

It's a bit of a culture shock. You're probably used to relative movement with your mouse and graphics tablets rather demand (although most don't insist) on absolute positioning -- so if you're intending to click in the middle of the screen, you tap in the middle of the tablet.

Mouse movement is achieved by moving the tip of the stylus around just above the tablet, with (typically) left clicks done by tapping the tip on the surface, right clicks by hovering in the appropriate place and pressing a button on the stylus with your forefinger. If you can write comfortably, you already know how to hold the stylus -- and you don't need to worry about the RSI associated with heavy use of mice (mouses?) unless you're also prone to similar issues when handwriting.

The missing mousewheel is an issue for some -- but most tablet software has a way to do scrolling if you can't bear to drag scrollbars around.

There are some cheap but perfectly serviceable tablets out there. Wacom are usually the tablets to beat but tend also to be the most expensive. Huion are pretty good (but some of the drivers don't support mousing across extended desktops so check before you dive in) and I'm just about to pick up a new XP-Pen device that's had good reviews and will replace an older Ugee on one of my systems if it's as good as it seems. Prod me in a week or two and I'll post a review.

And if you ever do any graphics work at all, your tablet will change your life. Honestly. (Don't get smaller than 6" x 4" though, and serious art really needs 10". Costs more the bigger you go, naturally, so stick with toe-dipping until you're convinced. In about a week after purchase, I confidently predict.)

Oh: some styluses (styli?) don't need batteries, some do. The ones that don't are lighter, obviously. Wacom used to be about the only choice for batteryless styli but my new XP-Pen has a passive stylus so again, there are options.

I have a couple of cheap wireless mouses (mice?) that I cart around with me if I'm carrying a laptop around but anywhere I'm static for any length of time, I put a tablet.