A BYTE SHORT TAKE: PC Write
 
PC Write Lightens Up
 
Microbytes Daily News Service
Copyright (c) 1989, McGraw-Hill, Inc.
In this age when word processor companies strive to create the
longest features checklist, at least one company has taken a
step back and delivered a word processor with fewer features
than its previous version. Quicksoft is targeting PC-Write Lite
for programmers, academics and creative writers who don't need
advanced formatting, and anyone who doesn't have a lot of
system memory to spare.
 
PC-Write Lite doesn't have a number of features you'd expect to
find in a word processor, such as mail merge, proportional fonts,
and support for columns, but this is a calculated omission by the
company: the program is aimed at the student or professional who
wants a fast cursor to crank out memos, reports, and other prose.
Once I got used to the menu, which took only a few minutes, I
found myself quickly moving in and out of files.
 
I tested the beta version of PC-Write Lite against XyWrite, a
full-featured word processor with a reputation for having a fast
cursor. First, I did a search and replace operation in a
131732-byte file. It took XyWrite (version 3.51) 41.72 seconds
for 533 occurrences; PC-Write Lite breezed in at 13.72 seconds.
Then, I did a word count (an especially important feature in the
collegiate atmosphere) on the same file, a BYTE listings index.
XyWrite took 24.50 seconds, PC-Write Lite 4.34 seconds. While
Lite won't stack up to a XyWrite or WordPerfect in a features
slugfest, it's obvious this word processor is built for speed.
 
Two features, page preview and sending footnotes to its own file,
were not implemented in my beta version, but the company says
they'll be in the shipping version. Two other features, jump to
line number and parentheses matching, are for programmers.
 
If you've got a plain old IBM PC or clone and fairly
straightforward word-processing needs, I'd recommend PC-Write
Lite. It's got speed, and for less than $50, it won't burn a
hole in your pocket.
 
 
The Facts:
PC-Write Lite, $49.
 
Requirements:  IBM PC with 384K bytes of RAM, 256K bytes
without the spell checker.
 
QuickSoft, Inc.
219 First Ave. North, Suite 224
Seattle, WA 98109, (206) 282-0452.
 
On BIX, join the 'pc.write' conference.
 
 
                              --- David Andrews
 
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