Software Hall of Fame

[nosh]

There's a certain retro charm that older wordprocessors possess - the wordprocessor that always springs to mind is the one Peter Coyote used in Bitter Moon. I remember searching for it on the Intertubes, with little luck.

[oblivion]

Another irrelevant thought...

A BBC producer I used to know once told me that WordStar was often used by programme makers, not because they particularly preferred it (Macs were mostly used by the creative types) but because it had a "clean screen" mode that could be used to "mock up" pretty much any character-based computer screen you might want to appear on TV... 

[rjbull]

Nothing masochistic about WordStar. The command sequences were considered arcane by many but had a certain amount of logic [...]
But far and away the most important thing about WordStar was the fact that you could do everything without moving your hands away from the home keys.

-oblivion (September 16, 2011, 03:54 AM)

Exactly, the logic was kinaesthetic, not intellectual.  Once you'd trained your fingers, they knew what to do without needing your brain thereafter.

[MilesAhead]

There's a certain retro charm that older wordprocessors possess - the wordprocessor that always springs to mind is the one Peter Coyote used in Bitter Moon. I remember searching for it on the Intertubes, with little luck.

-nosh (September 16, 2011, 04:31 AM)

I don't remember the name of the word processor that came with my Leading Edge XT Clone. But it made heavy use of the Function Keys.  Being an XT Clone, the 10 Function Keys were on the left side. I could sneak my left pinky over and hit the keys without moving my hand from "home row."  I like getting the dedicated arrow and number pads. But I hate the Function Keys being on top.  There's no way to press 'em without losing hand position on the keyboard. Well, if you're Kareem Abdul-Jabbar then maybe.

[Ath]

I don't remember the name of the word processor that came with my Leading Edge XT Clone. But it made heavy use of the Function Keys.

-MilesAhead (September 16, 2011, 03:30 PM)

Wasn't that WordPerfect 5.1? It was controlled by functionkeys almost 100%

[mwb1100]

Exactly, the logic was kinaesthetic, not intellectual.

-rjbull (September 16, 2011, 03:25 PM)

It was a little more than just kinaesthetic (if I understand that term correctly) - at least for the 'core' navigation keys.  There was a logic to the command key layout that mirrored the desired navigation.  As Wikipedia puts it:

For example, the "diamond" of Ctrl-S/E/D/X moved the cursors one character or line to the left, up, right, or down. Ctrl-A/F (to the outside of the "diamond") moved the cursor a full word left/right, and Ctrl-R/C (just "past" the Ctrl keys for up and down) scrolled a full page up/down.

-http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WordStar

This idea of placing the commands to mirror the action works well enough that I could remember the actions of those particular keys even after not using the Wordstar layout for more than a decade (which I think is unfortunate, but I got tired of fighting to have to configure every last bit of software to respect the Wordstar commands).

[rjbull]

It was a little more than just kinaesthetic (if I understand that term correctly) - at least for the 'core' navigation keys.  [...] This idea of placing the commands to mirror the action works well enough that I could remember the actions of those particular keys even after not using the Wordstar layout for more than a decade (which I think is unfortunate, but I got tired of fighting to have to configure every last bit of software to respect the Wordstar commands).

-mwb1100 (September 16, 2011, 03:48 PM)

That's true, there is an "intellectual logic" to the WordStar Diamond, if not always the other keys.

It's one of my grievances against Microsoft that they pirated WordStar keys for other things, Ctrl-C, Ctrl-X and so on.  There are a few Windows editors that can be configured to use them - e.g. WSedit, freeware by Dr. Martin Vieregg.  That's one of the most extensive sets I've seen.

[MilesAhead]

I don't remember the name of the word processor that came with my Leading Edge XT Clone. But it made heavy use of the Function Keys.

-MilesAhead (September 16, 2011, 03:30 PM)

Wasn't that WordPerfect 5.1? It was controlled by functionkeys almost 100%

-Ath (September 16, 2011, 03:43 PM)

It wasn't a name brand. Just some no-name Dos word processor. They may have thrown it in because we bought a dot matrix printer at the same time.

[rjbull]

Getting online into mailbox systems with 300 bd, later with a lightspeed modem at 1200 bd and a software that somewhat sounds like Qemm, don't ask

-TomD101 (September 15, 2011, 04:26 PM)

QModem? 

[rjbull]

I don't recall the DOS program name that became InfoSelect

-barney (September 15, 2011, 07:51 PM)

Tornado Notes.  It was mentioned in another DC thread recently.

[barney]

I don't recall the DOS program name that became InfoSelect

-barney (September 15, 2011, 07:51 PM)

Tornado Notes.  It was mentioned in another DC thread recently.

-rjbull (September 18, 2011, 10:29 AM)

Yah.  I vas dere.  These short-term memory lapses get frustrating  .  On the other hand, things don't keep me awake at night very much  .

[cranioscopical]

On the other hand, things don't keep me awake at night very much

-barney (September 18, 2011, 11:14 AM)

Plus, every day you get to meet a new friend…  in the shaving mirror.

[barney]

Optimist!  I seldom shave  .  Pretty much weekly or three (3) times a month.  Might be the original shabby - er, make that shaggy - coder  .  OK, prolly not, but I try  .

[IainB]

Visicalc!
I didn't realise that it is time for: Celebrating VisiCalc's 32nd birthday with the inventors of the spreadsheet

[Ath]

Visicalc!

-IainB (October 21, 2011, 04:31 PM)

Wow!

[DerekHal]

My first love was XtreeGold:
https://secure.wikim...ipedia/en/wiki/XTree
Unique piece of software.

... or maybe first version of Leisure Suit Larry 

[mwb1100]

Visicalc!
I didn't realise that it is time for: Celebrating VisiCalc's 32nd birthday with the inventors of the spreadsheet

-IainB (October 21, 2011, 04:31 PM)

Don't forget to get a copy  (as indicated on the linked site) of the MS-DOS version from Bricklin's site: http://bricklin.com/...ory/vcexecutable.htm

I think it'll work on most or all 32-bit Windows systems (did Vista or Win7 remove 16-bit compatibility in 32-bit installs?), but probably won't work on any 64-bit OS (you'll need to fire up a VM with MS-DOS or an earlier version of Windows in the guest).

[40hz]

Visicalc!
I didn't realise that it is time for: Celebrating VisiCalc's 32nd birthday with the inventors of the spreadsheet

-IainB (October 21, 2011, 04:31 PM)

Don't forget to get a copy  (as indicated on the linked site) of the MS-DOS version from Bricklin's site: http://bricklin.com/...ory/vcexecutable.htm

-mwb1100 (October 21, 2011, 05:09 PM)

Wow! A blast from the past.



I remember the first time I saw it in action on a Radioshack TRS-80 III and immediately thought "I gotta get me one of these." (Bought one a few weeks later too!)

Thx for the download link. I grabbed a copy (all 27.5 kilobytes of it) and have it running under DOSBox on a Linux machine right now. Works like a charm. I'm surprised I still remember how to use it. Only had to look at the crib sheet a few times before it all came back to me. Awesome!

I think I'm gonna keep it there just in case I decide to start using it again.

Übergeek Retro Rulz! Almost Steampunk by today's standards. How cool is that?