Review:
AmigaWriter v2.2
One of the biggest issues with using an Amiga NG system for me when I
discovered the Amiga in 2010 was the lack of productivity applications
-- or rather, the lack of productivity applications written in the
modern era. Maybe folks these days aren't in great need of the
old-fashioned word processor, but I still prefer writing in such an
environment. On my little SAM I do occasionally fire up AbiWord
in AmiCygnix when I need to edit a massive Word document, but the
sluggish speed and non-native GUI means it isn't something I want to
use on a regular basis. So late last year I spent some time with three
word processors from the classic Amiga era to find what works for me:
AmigaWriter, FinalWriter, and Wordworth. All have their plus
points; most Amiga NG users prefer the latter two, but for me,
AmigaWriter was the best fit.
For starters it's actually still available for sale and is still
supported, something not be taken lightly by an Amiga newbie such as
myself. Sold by
Alinea Computing, this title -- which actually saw
an update this century -- was previously developed by Haage and Partner
in the 1990s and certainly is the 'newest' of the classic Amiga word
processors out there. For only e15 including a printed manual you
can hardly go wrong.
And unlike FinalWriter, with its rather complex user interface, or
Wordworth, with its rather dated user interface, AmigaWriter looks and
feels like a word processor you'd find on any other platform even
today. The rulers are easy to use, the toolbar makes sense, the
menu structure is well thought-out, and the dialog boxes are not
unfathomable. There's excellent help facilities, such as floating
'bubbles' that appear over every GUI element or dialog field telling
what it does.
Figure 1: Screenshot of
AmigaWriter v2.2
I quite like the text handling features as well: I like that I can
easily create, save, and edit styles for characters, paragraphs,
individual pages, chapters, etc. I like that I can export them
and import them into other documents. I like the support for
TrueType fonts and that I don't have to futz with the settings for it
to pick up the fonts already installed by the OS. I especially
like the easy font substitution features when I try and open something
created with fonts I don't have installed. And the chapter
management abilities are quite nice. Generating a table of
contents automatically rather than by hand is a terrific feature.
Lastly I like how easy it is to set up margins and page options for
later printing, which by the way is rather speedy and delivers superb
output with the native printing system.
Some things, though, I don't like. Editing footnotes may be
simple and straightforward, but if I remove the text I'm annotating I
need to manually 'update elements' for the accompanying footnote to
disappear. That should be automatic. The search and replace
features are a touch rudimentary and if you're planning on doing
much page layout, you can forget it: you can insert graphics and
textboxes, but PageStream this isn't. Yes you can create free layouts
in AmigaWriter, but you wouldn't want to if you have another option,
despite the 'box-based interface' being an advertised feature.
FinalWriter especially is much more capable in this respect. I'd
also like the ability to automate things, such as bulk conversion or
re-layout or parsing fields from an XML file and inserting the results
in a pre-defined template. The absence of support for AREXX is a
real shame.
Then again neither Finalwriter nor Wordworth advertise the ability to
import documents created by Microsoft Word on mainstream platforms
whereas AmigaWriter does and can. You can't import modern formats
-- such as the DOCX format from recent versions of Word -- but you can
from Word 95/97/2000, and that's good enough for me. The font
substitution features come in handy here as well. Exporting is
only ASCII and RTF, I'm afraid, but you won't find much better among
the competitors.
But if Wordworth is has better search/replace and layout facilities,
and an extensive AREXX interface, why would you want to spend money on
AmigaWriter? Well AmigaWriter is frankly just easier to use and
has a much more pleasant GUI. With Wordworth you have to install
the program somwhere, apply a patch, alter tooltypes, create a custom
screen with just the right attributes. With AmigaWriter you
insert the CD, install, and enjoy. It integrates better with the
OS, too -- no futzing about with fonts, everything is automatic -- when
it comes to text handling, it has support for native datatypes, and has
excellent (and fast) print output using the native printing system and
can do even better if you have TurboPrint installed.
If you need more extensive page layout facilities, FinalWriter is your
best bet, but good luck trying to find a copy; Wordworth is terrific
and has greating scripting capabilities; and it also has been released
into the public domain but again locating a copy isn't terribly easy
unless you already have it. Besides for real page layout work,
Pagestream 5.0 is much, much, much better. And neither
FinalWriter nor Wordworth have Word import capabilities, neither are
supported by any developer, and neither are especially easy to
use. I know AmigaWriter has taken a bit of a bashing from folks
in the fora over stability and speed, but on my SAM, I've never had it
crash and I find it more responsive than its two competitors.
Lastly it just feels more 'modern,' and that's something I
appreciate. Give it a shot: there is a free
demo version available from Alinea.
And hey, if you don't like it, FinalWriter and Wordworth are excellent
choices as well. And admittedly more powerful ones.
To comment on your favored word processor(s) on Amiga NG systems,
please visit the
comment thread on AmigaWorld.
Written by:
Eldee Stephens (a.k.a. 'eliyahu')
01/03/12
