WordStar was my favorite word processor at the time, and I can still use it, in a fashion. The nano text editor for Linux/Unix has a WordStar mode that lets one use the same keyboard shortcuts.
The placement of those shortcuts was designed with touch typists in mind. I can type pretty well so it seems like something worth learning...if I ever write anything anyway :). I've always preferred light text on a dark background. I don't know why modern mainstream word processors don't give you that option (that I am aware of anyway...you can change the colors but then it will print that way too.)
I imagine that's one reason George R. R. Martin continues to use it, outside of the lack of distraction from the internet. Once you got the shortcuts down, it was pleasant to use.
Man, the fact that 5 1/4" disk worked at all is a miracle, considering many of those older disks were not built to store magnetic information for that long. Awesome to see it still usable in 2017. :)
I've been pleasantly surprised. I've tried a few dozens disks and all have seemed to work. I don't know if they would be stable enough for regular use but I've been able to read everything. This disks are mostly from the mid 1980s. I also have a bunch of disks for my Commodore 64 that still work or still did a couple of years ago when I transferred them all to a PC to be able to use them in an emulator. As long as they are stored in a reasonable environment, it seems like they have a pretty long shelf life. I've had much newer CD-Rs and digital 8mm tape go bad more than 5.25" floppies.
WordStar was a nice word processor.
I still used it until well after Word and Wordperfect went to GUI.
(and I preferred Wordperfect because it had a mode to reveal all the code so you could fix everything)
Not directly but I might do a post on the TRS-80 Model II sometime in the future and it used 8-inch floppies. I never had any or a machine that used them.
The only machine that I had personal experience with that had an 8" floppy was a word processor. Yes, the whole, desk sized computer (it was a desk all by itself) was a word processor that the school used to make a newspaper.
I noticed that this particular copy of WordStar says "WordStar Professional Release 4". Do you (or anybody else) know if there is a difference between "regular" WordStar and WordStar Professional? Is WordStar Professional Release 4 just version 4 of WordStar or is there something special about it being "Professional"?
No, I don't remember. I don't even remember if I used WordStar or WordStar professional. Or even if there was no "regular" version. Names and my brain do not work well together.
WordStar was my favorite word processor at the time, and I can still use it, in a fashion. The nano text editor for Linux/Unix has a WordStar mode that lets one use the same keyboard shortcuts.
The placement of those shortcuts was designed with touch typists in mind. I can type pretty well so it seems like something worth learning...if I ever write anything anyway :). I've always preferred light text on a dark background. I don't know why modern mainstream word processors don't give you that option (that I am aware of anyway...you can change the colors but then it will print that way too.)
I imagine that's one reason George R. R. Martin continues to use it, outside of the lack of distraction from the internet. Once you got the shortcuts down, it was pleasant to use.
Man, the fact that 5 1/4" disk worked at all is a miracle, considering many of those older disks were not built to store magnetic information for that long. Awesome to see it still usable in 2017. :)
I've been pleasantly surprised. I've tried a few dozens disks and all have seemed to work. I don't know if they would be stable enough for regular use but I've been able to read everything. This disks are mostly from the mid 1980s. I also have a bunch of disks for my Commodore 64 that still work or still did a couple of years ago when I transferred them all to a PC to be able to use them in an emulator. As long as they are stored in a reasonable environment, it seems like they have a pretty long shelf life. I've had much newer CD-Rs and digital 8mm tape go bad more than 5.25" floppies.
WordStar was a nice word processor.
I still used it until well after Word and Wordperfect went to GUI.
(and I preferred Wordperfect because it had a mode to reveal all the code so you could fix everything)
Are you going to do a post about 8" floppies?
Not directly but I might do a post on the TRS-80 Model II sometime in the future and it used 8-inch floppies. I never had any or a machine that used them.
The only machine that I had personal experience with that had an 8" floppy was a word processor. Yes, the whole, desk sized computer (it was a desk all by itself) was a word processor that the school used to make a newspaper.
I noticed that this particular copy of WordStar says "WordStar Professional Release 4". Do you (or anybody else) know if there is a difference between "regular" WordStar and WordStar Professional? Is WordStar Professional Release 4 just version 4 of WordStar or is there something special about it being "Professional"?
No, I don't remember. I don't even remember if I used WordStar or WordStar professional. Or even if there was no "regular" version. Names and my brain do not work well together.
Nice, I learned a long time ago to use wordstar, good times.