What software do you write with?

[patrick1]

OpenOffice Writer. But I miss WordStar too

P

 

[estragon]

Microsoft Word for Macntosh 2004

Sorry, MacIntosh. Why? Because in almost 11 years at one job, that was the program (or programme) that the boss wanted. And I kept with it, even though I first worked with WordPerfect, and later worked with WordPerfect at another job for three years. Yes, they're designed for business, not creative, documents, and yes, they have bells-and-whistles I don't need and wouldn't know how to use if I did. But Word is what I know, and, faute de mieux, it's what I've got to work with--oops, I mean it's with what I've got to work.

 

[Loring2]

Fiinal Draft professionally but Open Office otherwise

 

[TE999]

MSWord. I have no problems with it.

 

[JRaven]

I used to use WordStar 1512, then WordStar 2000+ until I upgraded my hardware. The original 1512 would run from a single 5.25 inch floppy.

I now use Word 2007 but I would still be happy with WordStar 2000+ except that my contacts couldn't read files from it.

Any basic word processor is a massive advance on a typewriter as long as you learn to use it properly. I'll never use all the facilities that were available in Word 97 and have no use for the "improvements" since then.

Og

From WordStar 1512 to WordStar 2000+ ?
I had no idea you'd been writing for 488 years!
So what was WordStar 1512 like? A quill and a piece of parchment?


I'm one of the those that writes in Notepad to avoid MS Word "correcting" what I type. I do the final edit in MS Word. Then I copy it back to Notepad before posting it. Although, I haven't done that last step in a while.

Jenny

 

[Carl East]

MSWord 2010 and it's by far the best incarnation of all the word programs. It helps me edit, which is all I want from a good word program anyway.

Carl

 

[jehoram]

Notepad.

No distractions, no delays. Just me and my keyboard.

Then I c&p into OpenOffice Writer for spellcheck.

Me, too, except that I use MS Word for the spell-check.

When I started using word processors, it was WordStar on a Kaypro II. I sure like what the modern programs do, but Notepad still does the best job of staying out of the way when I'm on a creative streak.

 

[daceymathers]

Well I use literal software its quite good and provides distraction free writing.It is specially designed for writing long pieces of text.It has various advanced features like binder,split screen etc.Article jockey is also a good software.It is a free writing software tool that creates SEO optimized content.

 

[Kurokami]

Even though it hates the way I write, I still use Word 2010, just with the grammar checker turned off. There's only so many demands to rectify perfectly good sentences because they're apparently sentence fragments I can take.

 

[oggbashan]

From WordStar 1512 to WordStar 2000+ ?
I had no idea you'd been writing for 488 years!
So what was WordStar 1512 like? A quill and a piece of parchment?


...

Jenny

I've been writing for over 5,000 years as King Og and for hundreds of years as King Henry VIII.

Wordstar 1512 was a cut-down version of Wordstar designed for the Amstrad 1512, which itself was a simplified version of the IBM XT. The Amstrad 1512 was about 25% of the cost of the IBM XT and was used in many UK offices.

The basic 1512 used a single 5.25" floppy drive without a hard drive. It was amazing what could be done on 360K. I could have about 50 stories as .txt files on a 360K floppy.

Og

PS: From History of Wordstar

WordStar Express & WordStar 1512
1986
MicroPro Easy was also released as WordStar Express. It also saw light of day in an OEM version called WordStar 1512, sold to the British computer company Amstrad (Alan M Sugar Trading) to use on its low-cost 1512 PC. This IBM PC clone, which cost a fraction of the price of its competitors, and used only around a tenth of the component count of its IBM equivalent, single-handedly kick-started the PC revolution in Britain and much of the rest of Europe.

The Amstrad PC 1512 SD and DD (with 512Kb of RAM and Single or Dual 5.25" floppy Disk drives) and the PC 1640 (with 640Kb of RAM) were launched in 1986. The Amstrad PCs had an Enhanced CGA graphics mode and colour or monochrome monitors (which housed the power supply). The operating system was either MS-DOS 3.2 or Digital Research’s DR-DOS Plus 1.2 (an MS-DOS clone). It also came with the Digital Research GUI (Graphical User Interface) called GEM (Graphical Environment Manager, which was also used by Atari computers), and GEMPAINT and GEM BASIC - GEM didn’t survive for long once Microsoft’s Windows 3.0 hit the marketplace. Amstrad WordStar Express and Amstrad WordStar 1512 were not included in the basic package.

WordStar 2000 Plus Release 3.5
Nov 1987
Because reviews of WordStar 2000 panned it as too slow to be used, Doug St. John, VP of development at MicroPro in early 1987, decided to focus Release 3 primarily on performance. WordStar 2000 Release 3 advanced further on the speed improvements made in Release 2.
WordStar 2000 Release 3 also included improvements in the printer drivers, the Star Exchange file format conversion program, new operating modes, and some other minor feature additions. WordStar 2000 Release 3 was a milestone for WordStar 2000 in that it was transformed into one of the fastest products in its category.

From the What’s New Guide for WordStar 2000 Plus, Release 3:
Lightning speed You can move between menus and through documents at a speed that will amaze you. Take a look at these performance comparisons of WordStar 2000, Release 1.01, release 2, and the new Release 3. These tasks were performed on an 8-page file, using an IBM XT with 640K RAM

Task Time in minutes:seconds % faster than Rel. 2

Rel. 1.01 Rel.2 Rel.3
Locate text at end of file 1:56.4 0:37.9 0:08 + 370%
Scroll to end of file with down arrow key 2:30.4 1:51.7 0:34.9 + 220
Move block from top to bottom of file 1:12.9 0:43.7 0:03.1 + 1300
Move cursor to end of file 0:57.2 0:15.1 0:01.3 + 1060

Mid - 1988

WordStar 2000 release 3 hit the streets in November 1987. A review in InfoWorld, dated January 11, 1988 (pp 59-61), ranked WordStar 2000 Release 3 as being among the best. It was too late; WordPerfect had a vastly superior marketing strategy and Microsoft’s Word was rising quickly. By mid-1988 MicroPro threw in the towel on WordStar 2000 (despite continuing development of a version for OS/2 that lasted until Microsoft and IBM parted ways). The last version of WordStar 2000 sold was WordStar 2000 Plus Release 3.5.

 

[Col66]

Hey...

I use Script Smart Gold for my movie scripts. It is a set of templates that runs on word. I find it very useful, easy to use and it is free. There are different versions including a UK and US one. Hope that helps anyone looking for writing software.

Col.

 

[Mrtouf]

OpenOffice Writer for me. I can create a master document that pulls its text and formatting data from subfiles and then edit the subfiles. It's nothing too fancy though.

 

[Alex De Kok]

Depends which machine I'm working on. On the Windows laptop, either Rough Draft or Open Office, even though I have Micro$oft Office 2007 installed - I like free software! (I'll use Word if I'm commenting/editing on someone else's work.)

On my main PC, running Linux Mint, either Open Office or Libre Office.

On both machines, I'm experimenting with FocusWriter, as it gives a really uncluttered screen - just me and my words.

Once the Linux version of Scrivener is out of beta, I'll give it a whirl.

Alex

 

[estragon]

And to think Cervantes, Moliere, Shakespeare and John Milton did it with quill pens and inkhorns on rag paper.

 

[Col66]

And to think Cervantes, Moliere, Shakespeare and John Milton did it with quill pens and inkhorns on rag paper.

Just think! What could they have written if they had decent software?

 

[oggbashan]

And to think Cervantes, Moliere, Shakespeare and John Milton did it with quill pens and inkhorns on rag paper.

Or used scriveners.

Didn't Milton dictate most of his work to his wife?

Og

 

[HeyAll]

I use MS Word 2003. The 2007 version is packed with unecessary stuff which makes it more confusing.

 

[LettersFromTatyana]

This seemed appropriate to post here:

The end of the line: Last typewriter factory left in the world closes its doors

Sad.


For my actual contribution to this thread, I usually write in Word, but I do have a statistical programming file devoted to random scribblings that I make while at work. Fingers crossed that I never accidentally run it while my advisor is looking over my shoulder!

Hmmm... that makes a nice plot bunny.

 

[dohbuoy]

Wow, I find it awesome that so many people mention Open Office/Libre Office. As a linux guy just getting started at writing, it is comforting that the most popular word processor on that platform is accepted and widely used.

It is also quite nice that a lot of the tools mentioned here have linux versions. So much software, so little time, though.......

 

[jomar]

Word.

 

[sr71plt]

I use MS Word 2003. The 2007 version is packed with unecessary stuff which makes it more confusing.

I have Word 2007 on the computer where I do most of my composing (and mainstream publisher editing), but I have to step it down to Word 97/98 if I have to send it anywhere--to ensure the recipient can open and work with it. So, I just save everything in Word 97/98.

 

[Darkniciad]

Latest version of Wordperfect to write in now, though I started in Wordpad, evolving to Word. My editor works in WP, so I migrated that way ( He encouraged it by sending me a copy he found on the cheap, and then sending the latest version when he stumbled across it as well )

I then do my spell/grammar check in Word, because WPs grammatik seems even more technical oriented, and finally run it through grammatik anyway, because it seems to catch some little things that Word misses.

 

[autoplot]

FocusWriter. I like writing with no distractions. No formatting, no toolbar, no wordcount, just text.

 

[Handley_Page]

I'm a programmer. I don't write my stories like programs. And you wouldn't find Scrivener to your liking either.

As all the software is written by programmers, I don't understand your complaint.

The guy who created, designed and programmed yWrite would consider himself an author first, a programmer second, I would bet.

It wasn't a complaint.
I was reading the notes by the author of y-Write. He considers himself a programmer first (understandably).
And yes, programmers write software; to do a task of some sort. People who use that programme do so to execute the task for which the programmer wrote the programme.

I just used whatever software I was given (I used to be a Technical Author). I never got the hang of Word Perfect until it's last edition. These days, Word 97 or 2003, and I'm not keen on the latter; too many pseudo bells and whistles for my taste (so far).