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Return of the Son of the best *free* Windows Text Editor
superboyac:
I don't mean to sound rude, but what is the big deal about Wordstar?
-superboyac (November 15, 2010, 11:39 PM)
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This article, WordStar: A Writer's Word Processor by SF author Robert J. Sawyer is the the best explanation I've seen.
-rjbull (November 16, 2010, 03:09 PM)
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Interesting. I'm always a little fascinated and puzzled by how these old programs are held in such high esteem even long after the technology has advanced so much that the interface is very unfamiliar. The article makes some great points about how it's difficult to write freely on a computer vs. a sheet of paper (which I prefer when I'm really sketching things out). but I'm not convinced that Wordstar really offers something to the new user. For people used to it, I get it...it's efficient. But for a new user, what would they use? I plan on writing more soon, so I purchased Liquid Story Binder, which I've always like the idea, but never really used yet. I find nothing comes close to paper yet, for me. But if a program can bridge that gap between what the author calls "serialness" of computer word processors and the freedom of paper. I still can't even imagine something as good as paper, and I've looked, believe me. Just recently, i even bought a spiral-bound notebook to jot my ideas down. But even that was too restrictive. I've settled on just loose leaf paper. Nothing beats loose leaf paper for me. My friend doesn't even know why I even bother looking for alternatives. He might be right.
widgewunner:
... I assume that's a only a feature of Pro rather than Lite. ...-rjbull (November 16, 2010, 03:02 PM)
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Good assumption. I just checked and the Lite version of EditPad does NOT support the WS keyboard emulation. However, the new EPP7 beta version does continue to support this feature.
rjbull:
I'm always a little fascinated and puzzled by how these old programs are held in such high esteem even long after the technology has advanced so much that the interface is very unfamiliar.-superboyac (November 16, 2010, 03:18 PM)
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Even back in the DOS days, the WordStar interface took work to learn. You had to be at least a reasonably competent typist to start with, too. Once you learnt WordStar, it genuinely became second nature and everything else seemed unbearably clumsy and slow. If you needed to churn out and edit lots of text, nothing else came close. The familiarity became grooved into your muscles and you no longer had to think about it or watch what your fingers were doing - which, I think, is not really true of Windows or any GUI.
The article makes some great points about how it's difficult to write freely on a computer vs. a sheet of paper (which I prefer when I'm really sketching things out).
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Unless something is really short, I usually sketch it out using a soft-lead mechanical pencil and a notebook. You might like to read author Garth Nix's short article How I Write: The Process of Creating a Book, where he starts with pen and notebook. When he types out the first chapter, that's the first revision. But, once I get to the computer, I prefer WordStar editors/word-processors for handling text. And I'd rather have plain text, so I'm not constantly bothered by formatting considerations when it's the ideas I'm trying to get straight.
I'm not convinced that Wordstar really offers something to the new user. For people used to it, I get it...it's efficient. But for a new user, what would they use?
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As I said, WordStar takes effort to learn, and as we're in an age of instant gratification I doubt if many new users will appear - but the world will be the poorer if it's most efficient text-processing engine disappears.
I find nothing comes close to paper yet, for me. [...] Just recently, i even bought a spiral-bound notebook to jot my ideas down. But even that was too restrictive. I've settled on just loose leaf paper.
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Careful - you'll be starting on the whole new world of Moleskine vs. Rhodia vs. Clairefontaine vs. Filofax etc. notebooks and the whole vast realm of which are the "best" pens and pencils! :)
rjbull:
I just checked and the Lite version of EditPad does NOT support the WS keyboard emulation. However, the new EPP7 beta version does continue to support this feature.-widgewunner (November 17, 2010, 09:41 AM)
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I just suggested EditPad Pro as a desirable future deal on Bits du Jour 8)
superboyac:
rjbull, thanks for that information. That article is good, I'm reading it right now. I'm still not convinced about the whole wordstar thing. Like, I don't get what's so great about using Ctrl-<letter> instead of the arrow keys to navigate through a document...other than Wordstar users who prefer it because they are used to it. I get that there may be an elegance to it that combines simplicity, speed, workflow in a particularly useful way. That's the part I'm not convinced of. It's the same thing I don't get about people who love VIM, or the old Norton Commander. I'm like, "Man, there are way better things nowadays. If it's just a matter of assigning different keyboard shortcuts, just take another program and redefine the keys. Wouldn't that be better?" Anyway....
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