Re: AppleWorks

[Bill Robbins <mfumu@alphalink.com.au>]

In article <20021113193252.21158.00000706@mb-cu.aol.com>,
 jwolf6589@aol.comnospam (JWolf6589) wrote:

> I am looking for AppleWorks for the IIgs.  I have a IIgs emulator on my Mac.

There are two flavors of AppleWorks which will run on the IIgs, the 
classic AppleWorks originally written for pre gs Apple //s, although the 
latest versions run best on a //gs, and the //gs only AppleWorks GS (or 
//gs).  The latest version of the former is a very powerful program with 
an incredible scripting language, and which pushes the limits of that 
machine in terms of 3D data base management and powerful spreadsheeting.  
The data base management still probably exceeds the capabilities of Mac 
AppleWorks 6 offering.  Classic Appleworks also has few if any obvious 
bugs for so complex a program, having been around and widely used for 
most of a decade.  (For a number of years (pre Windows) I understand it 
was the most sold software application, bar none.)  It's deficiencies 
are in the area of all those neat things you can do when working from a 
graphics interface and have complete control of everything your printer 
can do.  It does operate from a text based interface and has limited 
printer support.

AppleWorks GS is a completely unrelated program designed to run from the 
//gs's gui.  The hype makes it look like a real competitor to 
Claris/AppleWorks for the Mac.  To illustrate the reality however, 
sometime in the early nineties a company, Scantron Quality Computers, 
purchased the rights from Apple Computer to develop both AppleWorks 
flavors.  Classic went on to become the program mentioned above.  More 
than one team of crack //gs programmers had a go at AppleWorks GS and 
eventually threw up their hands in frustration and defeat.  The program 
had always had the reputation of being rather buggy, and these 
programmers attempts to improve the situation and upgrade the program 
met with a lack of adequate documentation and very sloppy "hacking" of 
the code, as I understand it.  Quality Computers lost their rather 
substantive investment which may have contributed to the eventual demise 
of the company.  Unless you already know what you're getting into, it 
might be wise to see if you can get comment from those who have used the 
program before encountering what could be a very unsatisfactory 
experience.