Re: Appleworks GS

[tarage <no_spam_tarage@microsoft.bellsouth.net>]

*nods* It did. I found several things of interest. Reason I asked is
that there was a chance to pick up AWGS relatively cheap and I wanted to
compare it with the AW 3.1 that I have currently. Thanks.

---Tarage
To respond, remove the no_spam and the microsoft from my email. Thanks!

Use-Author-Address-Header@[127.1] wrote:

> In message <38E981C6.89722A46@microsoft.bellsouth.net>
> no <no_spam_tarage@microsoft.bellsouth.net> writes:
>
> >Hey, what do you guys know about Appleworks GS?
>
> Some of us know quite a bit.
>
> >Does it recognize usual Appleworks files? Does it write them,
> or store them in a different format?
>
> It definitely does not write them as classic Appleworks files.
> It stores them in it's own format. There is a File Type note
> from Apple that describes the AWGS word processing
> file layout on disk. None of the other modules' formats
> were published. My understanding is that the data base,
> spread sheet and the other modules do a memory dump to disk
> and therefore aren't really formatted. I am not familiar
> with classic Appleworks after version 2.0 so I'll let
> others tell you about recognition of Appleworks files
> directly but I do know that spreadsheets saved as tab
> delimited text files can easily be imported, as can
> delimited text data bases and of course text word
> processing files. I did this for many years to move
> spread sheets between MS-Excel and AWGS.
>
> >How about improvements/benefits of GS vs usual Appleworks?
>
> The most notable "improvement" is the GUI interface.
> Long time classic Appleworks users will probably
> dispute this as an improvement (which is why I put
> it in quotes). The Page Layout Module is the
> biggest improvement over classic Appleworks,
> next would probably be the addition of a Paint module.
> It is not the top of the line paint module ever made
> for the IIGS but it is quite adequate, in spite of
> it's dithered colors.
>
> Keep in mind also that classic Appleworks continued
> to be developed long after AWGS was taken off
> the market so AWGS doesn't have features like
> a relational database that classic Appleworks 5.x
> has. Texas II could tell you more about the
> newer versions of classic Appleworks.
>
> One other thing to mention, AWGS tends to be a
> little buggy and can corrupt files if great care is
> not taken. The more memory you have in the
> IIGS the less chance you will have of corrupted
> files. Supertimer has reported he has 8MB
> of memory and has no problems with AWGS.
> I ran AWGS for years with 4MB and never
> lost a file, but I was careful to shift-boot when
> I used it to keep as much memory free for
> it as possible. Another way to be safe is to
> never, ever pre-load the modules. Also,
> it is prudent to always "Save as..." rather
> than to "Save" a file and to "Save as..." often.
>
> I liked AWGS much more that classic Appleworks
> but others will have liked classic Appleworks
> better. It's a personal thing, I think.
>
> If you have any specific questions on how
> to use the program just ask here or on delphi. Joe Kohn
> of Shareware Solutions II is an expert on
> the Page Layout Module and he visits
> here occasionally. My expertise was in
> the Spreadsheet and Data base modules and
> I visit here occasionally too. I'm sure others
> know a lot also, as it was a pretty popular
> program in it's day (although the user base
> was much smaller than classic Appleworks).
>
> Hope that helps,
>
> --
> Eric  <chippys@earthlink.net>