• Please review our updated Terms and Rules here

The top vintage platform for word processing and desktop publishing?

P

punchy71

Experienced Member
Joined
Nov 16, 2011
Messages
100
Location
U.S.
From a home market perspective, which vintage platform(s) were known for (or came to be known for), their word-processing and desktop publishing abilities? As I recall, some were more preferred over others for this capability.

Thank you
 
Xerox Star, Sun (Interleaf), Canon Cat (if you didn't care about graphics). Adobe PageMaker was pretty good.

Depends on what you mean by "vintage" and "word processing" (whole document prep or just business letters?)
 
From a posting perspective, why not do your own research and report back here when you're done.

Thank you
 
This changed every few years, so maybe you could limit your question's scope a bit?

Completely unbounded scope and assuming years=1977-1990, I would say out of all of those personal computing platforms, the Macintosh was perceived as the winner in desktop publishing.
 
Well it was really the Mac that brought low-cost desktop publishing to the masses in the late 80's, so you might want to look into an all-in-one system (Plus, Classic, SE, etc) or a LC or Performa pizza-box system. The nice thing about word processing is that it can be done with nearly any level of hardware. As for software, the most popular apps were Word 5.1, ClarisWorks, WordPerfect, and WriteNow. There's a pretty good review of these vintage apps at System 6 Heaven.

As an example, I'm currently doing a substantial (currently 98 pages) writing project on a 16MHz Mac Color Classic with 10MB RAM and System 7.1. I'm using WriteNow 4 which has all the essential features - styles, spell check, page numbering, etc. It runs pretty fast since large portions of it were coded in assembly, and it's been completely stable - I've been using it for months with zero crashes. I print to a networked HP LaserJet 4+ with a PostScript card, which takes some time but works reliably.

For desktop publishing, you'll probably want a faster system that can handle true color. I'd recommend a 33Mhz 68030 or above with at least 12MB of RAM, more if you plan to use lots of color images. A Quadra system might make sense here - either a Q700 or Q950, or a Q840AV if you've got the budget. Popular apps included PageMaker, QuarkExpress, and FrameMaker, with support from Photoshop, Illustrator, and/or Freehand.
 
I actually used my PowerMac 9600 to make web pages for a while. I can't remember the software I used, but it was HTML 2 or 3. I ended up wanting all the things that Wordpress provides, but it was at the cost of not being vintage compatible.
 
"Changed every few years" is an understatement!

Anyone still use Multimate? Palantir? PC-Write? Easywriter? WordStar? SuperWriter? All had large followings. I could probably name another dozen...
 
I'm sure the OP mentioned home market. Can't recall Interleaf ever being remotely targeted for that. As mentioned Macs were percieved as the platform of choice for DTP. As far as software goes Print Shop by Brøderbund was basic general use DTP on a number of platforms and aimed at the home market. Mag disks had templates/images that could be used.

I'm sure the likes of the Amiga,Atari and Acorn crowds had DTP and wordprocessor software which were as capable as anything available for Macs or PCs at the time.

Timeworks Publisher was targeted for home use for PCs and Atari ST using GEM which was marketed as Publish It! for the Apple II crowd.

As an aside you can still buy a Dos DTP program- http://www.jetsettersoftware.com/Specifications.html
Jetsetx1a.jpg
 
Last edited:
Chuck(G) said:
"Changed every few years" is an understatement!

Anyone still use Multimate? Palantir? PC-Write? Easywriter? WordStar? SuperWriter? All had large followings. I could probably name another dozen...
Click to expand...

Like Xywrite for example? That was our department's standard WP for a few years in the Mid 80s before Word Perfect.

But I agree..the original question is far too general. I think I know what is meant by "home market perspective" but you really have to say what year exactly? A lot happened in a year in microcomputing from the mid 70's to the late 1980s.

Tez
 
Before Windows (and subsequently Microsoft Word) became popular, everyone I knew used either WordStar (first on CP/M, later DOS) or WordPerfect. In school, we used AppleWorks on the Apple II and then later ClarisWorks on the Mac.
 
Caluser2000 said:
I'm sure the OP mentioned home market. Can't recall Interleaf ever being remotely targeted for that. As mentioned Macs were percieved as the platform of choice for DTP. As far as software goes Print Shop by Brøderbund was basic general use DTP on a number of platforms and aimed at the home market. Mag disks had templates/images that could be used.
Click to expand...

The whole notion of DTP has changed over the years, so it's not clear what the OP meant. In 1983, almost nobody was doing home desktop publishing of any sort. Word processing, yes, but not DTP. Corporate DTP, however was very strong and growing (kept labor costs down).
 
Granted but the Op made no reference to corporate/bussiness use. I'm surprised Ventura Publisher hasn't been mentioned if that was the case.
 
Last edited:
Back in the day when I would walk through the office, the ladies could be seen with pc monitors flipped 45 degrees to resemble an actual 8 x 11 page. It seems that the word processor of choice, in the early going at least, was WordStar. Later on in the federal government arena, Word Perfect reigned supreme until Window got a foothold, then it was all Microsoft Office with Word. As far as I know, it still that way.
 
I still use Wordstar on my PC from time to time (very useful when handling ASCII text). My editor of choice under Linux is still Joe.

Some things you never forget.
 
Wasn't it the Atari ST with the brain dead Atari Laser printer (ST did all the formatting work) the first real inexpensive home publishing system? GEOS on the C64 was cheap for publishing but with the dot matrix printers the output still looked like crap.

Later Macs had all kinds of good software for desktop publishing and word processing ( I have all kinds of software for this).
 
I remember that--I picked up a 520ST and the printer and fabricated my own hard drive with the intention of doing something like that. I ended up selling everything because of one failing--the absolutely, bar none, worst non-chiclet keyboard that I'd ever used. I bought booster springs but it was more than I could take.

It's a shame that Atari cut corners on the early ST models. By the time they figured out what the world wanted in a personal computer, it was too late.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top