Looking for Wordstar 3.40 for DOS

[Chuck(G)]

Palantir, Ami Pro, PFS:Write, Multimate Advantage, Peach Text, Volkswriter, XYWrite...

All dead. :sigh:

 

[Stone]

Around here Professional Write was used quite a bit as a DOS word processor (cheap too).

I still use it. It works in DOSBox, too.

 

[Unknown_K]

Palantir, Ami Pro, PFS:Write, Multimate Advantage, Peach Text, Volkswriter, XYWrite...

All dead. :sigh:

That is consolidation in the software industry, same with hardware venders. There were quite a few Mac word processors until MS Office took over there as well. Luckily my old hardware doesn't know it is running orphaned software.

On the one hand each of those old apps worked quite differently then the others and the file formats were and incompatible mess, on the other hand Windows and its consistent interface allowed consolidation and standards so people didn't have to relearn them when every few years.

Choice is anarchy, standards are boring.

 

[Chuck(G)]

Ton the other hand Windows and its consistent interface

Really? Really? I can show you three Windows programs that purport to do the same thing and the interfaces will be completely different.

 

[vwestlife]

Really? Really? I can show you three Windows programs that purport to do the same thing and the interfaces will be completely different.

The IBM "Common User Access" standards were supposed to solve that. CUA gave us the standard File / Edit / etc. menu bar, press F1 for Help, etc.

Ironically it was XyWrite redesigning their program to conform to CUA which did them in. Users revolted because they were used to the old command structure, even if it made it more difficult for new users to learn the program.

 

[Unknown_K]

Really? Really? I can show you three Windows programs that purport to do the same thing and the interfaces will be completely different.

Well drop down menus people can understand (and are somewhat the same between apps) compared to cryptic control+function keys to do things in DOS era programs. The old Classic mac interface was kind of consistent as well until OSX came along.

 

[Al Hartman]

I found a website: www.vetusware.com that has a lot of old DOS software, including a couple of things I own, but can't find the disks for...

- QDOS IIII
- 1Dir
- Digitial Research GEM versions 1.x and 2.x (which look like the Atari-ST version)

And tons of other things. I really need to re-arrange my disk boxes and find all my 5.25" PC software for use on my 5150.

 

[Chuck(G)]

Well drop down menus people can understand (and are somewhat the same between apps) compared to cryptic control+function keys to do things in DOS era programs. The old Classic mac interface was kind of consistent as well until OSX came along.

Drop-down menus predate Windows, so that's not a measure of the consistency of the Windows interface.

 

[vwestlife]

Well drop down menus people can understand (and are somewhat the same between apps) compared to cryptic control+function keys to do things in DOS era programs. The old Classic mac interface was kind of consistent as well until OSX came along.

The Ctrl-key commands were the main reason why I stuck with WordStar. WordPerfect's function key commands had a much steeper learning curve, and then they threw salt in the wound by changing some of the commands between WP 5.1 and WP 6.0. WordStar's Ctrl-keys were at least partly mnenomic (such as ^PB for Print Bold) and since they used the same letter keys that you used to type, they were quicker to access and had stronger "finger memory" attached to them -- you could touch-type the commands as well as your text!

And isn't it funny that the on-screen help menus of WordStar in "beginner" mode are quite similar to the "Ribbon UI" in recent versions of MS Word?

 

[krebizfan]

The Ctrl-key commands were the main reason why I stuck with WordStar. WordPerfect's function key commands had a much steeper learning curve, and then they threw salt in the wound by changing some of the commands between WP 5.1 and WP 6.0. WordStar's Ctrl-keys were at least partly mnenomic (such as ^PB for Print Bold) and since they used the same letter keys that you used to type, they were quicker to access and had stronger "finger memory" attached to them -- you could touch-type the commands as well as your text!

And isn't it funny that the on-screen help menus of WordStar in "beginner" mode are quite similar to the "Ribbon UI" in recent versions of MS Word?[/img]

The software industry seems to have run low on good new ideas. Sometimes, like the Ribbon, a lot of testing could add polish to an existing idea. Otherwise, development is being run like the fashion industry with fresh color schemes and the return of 30 year old styles because there are no improvements to offer.

 

[Ole Juul]

The software industry seems to have run low on good new ideas.

Their vision is different from ours and they're quite successful in their own way. They've achieved an all-time high with bad new ideas.

WordPerfect's function key commands had a much steeper learning curve, and then they threw salt in the wound by changing some of the commands between WP 5.1 and WP 6.0.

I've never used Wordstar, but I appreciate some of the keystrokes that they made standard. To this day I hit Ctrl-Y to delete a line and if the editor doesn't do that, then I'm ready to dump it.

As for WordPerfect's steeper learning curve, I think I'm going to have to disagree. There aren't that many keystrokes and they're laid out in a grid. If you can remember to hit F3 twice, you've got it in front of you. If you worked in an office chances are that there was a cheat sheet at the top of the keyboard. That's pretty straight forward if you ask me.

Regarding the downgrade from WP 5.1 to WP 6.0, that has always puzzled me. It seems to me that one would have to make a conscious effort to do that, so how could someone possibly make that mistake? The world is full of mysteries.

 

[Haemogoblin]

Finally I have images to show everyone!

Also I want to apologise, I think I had a brain fart or something as I totally remember the computer brand wrong! It was NOT Olivetti but Apricot! As you can see in the lower image of the open manual, it is for version 3.3 and 3.4. If i can get a working disk of either I'm happy. I dont just want to download this and put it on any old floppy, I want to place it back on a floppy and put a proper period looking label on it, so the box is complete. I realise that is probably really sad of me, but I have a fondness for old software and old computers.

​

By the way, anyone wondering why in heavens name I'm trying to get such an old piece of software to run on a modern computer. Here is the computer I built to run all my old DOS, BBC Micro, Amiga software.

​

 

[Malc]

If both discs are that hard to turn in their sleeves i'd go with what Krebizfan suggested, Crack open the sleeve and remove the disc, Get a good working floppy, Crack it open and swap disc's depending on the condition of the original disc of course.
In the past i've done it and after cleaning the disc have been able to make a good backup, Don't always work though.

 

[krebizfan]

Save those disks. They are a rare and exotic WordStar variant. Apricots had strange disk formats and unconventional video modes. Might even be for the earliest Sony drive which differed from later drives. Does mean it will be a challenge to run the contents of the disks on a more typical PC or even read the disks if you can get them to spin.

You may want to create a new thread so Apricot experts will see and offer help in saving disk contents.

 

[Haemogoblin]

Hi guys


Thanks for the replies, at present I'm tempted to not bother taking the floppies apart until further research is done. I mean if my PC can't read these disks anyway, there seems little point in splitting them open. I'd actually rather leave it to someone who has some experience recovering data.

Ok so where am i best posting this so Apricot users can see it?

 

[krebizfan]

Most of the Apricot posts are in the PCs and Clones forum. I don't know if there or the VC Software forum would be best. Including Apricot on the subject line should attract notice.

The most prolific Apricot fan shows up every few days.

 

[Haemogoblin]

Ok, I've posted in the PC clones section.

BTW I can confirm that my issue with WordStar was solved by booting from a DOS 3.3 floppy and running WS from there. No saving issues, so it was definitely FCB that was causing the problem.