CFOG's PIP, March 1987, Volume 5 No. 5, Whole No. 53, page 1

The Last Issue of PIP?

Actually, this is not scheduled to be the last issue of PIP, but it will be your last issue if you don't renew your membership in CFOG for 1987. Get your check in the mail to Jon Shimberg, %CFOG, Box 1678, Chicago, IL 60690. Send the postcard notice you got late last year if you can find it.

Your renewal is important to the continuing health of CFOG and PIP. If we don't have a lot more members renewing than we have had to date, we'll probably have to cut back on the number of pages. Get your check in the mail today!

CFOG's PIP, March 1987, Volume 5 No. 5, Whole No. 53, page 1

NewWord Becomes WordStar Release 4.0

by Jim Bottom

[I found this article on Sun Valley RTDS -- bhc]

NewWord (Newstar Software, Inc, 1601 Oak Park Blvd., Pleasant Hill, CA 94523) will soon be no longer, but that's not necessarily bad news for CP/M and ZCPR3 users.

With the recent Newstar Software purchase by MicroPro International Corp. in an attempt to improve its WordStar line, the NewWord folks will soon all but close offices, though that hasn't actually happened as of this date. MicroPro won't continue NewWord, a product that is almost everything WordStar failed to be. (AND, it comes with a very readable, almost enjoyable, manual.)

All NewWord versions are still available, at least for the next few weeks, and possibly longer. Future user support for current NewWord users are suppose to come under the MicroPro support programs. The two software producers are negotiating a deal that might allow NewWord to be sold as is (at least for CP/M users) for months to come. Any deal will be announced before the end of February, according to a spokesperson at the Pleasant Hill location. You can reach that office at 800-932-2526. You may want to, since the proposed improvement for CP/M WordStar isn't expected until "later this year," as mentioned in a recent MicroPro flier sent to registered owners (See below). You'll find Cheryl Hanley, Retail Accounts Manager, and other personnel very helpful and pleasant to deal with. Fortunately these folks will be part of the MicroPro team.

NewWord is reasonably priced at $249 for CP/M-80, $349 for MS-DOS. You can do better than that, if you hurry. [Don't overlook last month's article about NewWord and the price and source listed there. -- bhc]

$45 NewWord!

Silicon Valley Surplus (4401 Oakport, Oakland, CA 94601; 415-261-4662; BBS, 415-261-4513) has copies of the original Morrow Designs' bundled WordStar with the great spelling checker, "Correct-it" (Aspen Software) as well as NewWord (ver. 1.32). If you have an older version of WordStar you might want to upgrade to WS version 3.0 (with manuals) for $9.99 from SVS. Better yet, they sell NewWord with manuals for the same price (And that price also applies to Correct-it). Both word processors use essentially the same commands and their files are 99 percent interchangeable.

You can purchase the Morrow-bundled NewWord from SVS's limited supply then call NewStar Software and ask to upgrade to release 2.17 -- the last CP/M version produced. The upgrade cost is only $35. So, your investment is only $45 plus shipping costs. Another plus: When you register as a NewWord purchaser, you will be put on the MicroPro mailing list and will receive information about WordStar updates and other company products. But don't expect immediate MicroPro support for NewWord. (On the other hand, the NewWord Pleasant Hill office will remain open, perhaps for several months, to refer calls to MicroPro, and some phone support for NewWord could be available there.)

Of course, you may get along fine without the NewWord upgrade. I needed it because it was less memory-hungry, and therefore usable in my Z-system environment

CP/M to Get WordStar Release 4.0

As you may have read in the computer press, or in a recent promotional mailing from MicroPro, there is a new version of WordStar being shipped late this month to customers using MS-DOS. The new, long-overdue product -- having not been updated for more than three years -- includes such improvements and additions as the Word Finder 220,000-word thesaurus, an "undo" command, "improved printer support," on-screen boldfacing and underlining, and 40 programmable function keys -- many of the options already available on newer word processors.

Now that's all fine and good for Big Blue users, but what about CP/M supporters? Not to worry. MicroPro bowed to the pressure of many letters and the strength of its huge, original user base and will offer Release 4.0 for CP/M later. If you already own WordStar, the update cost is quite reasonable: $89. By comparison, list price for the MS-DOS version is $495, which includes the thesaurus and a spelling checker. [The upgrade price for MS-DOS versions is also $89, plus $5 shipping charge. You can, it seems, upgrade your CP/M edition of WordStar to the Version 4. 0 MS-DOS edition. -- bhc]

NewWord Code Used for WordStar

According to Hanley, MicroPro is using the code for both the MS-DOS and CP/M versions of NewWord in developing their updates for WordStar. MS-DOS WordStar 4.0 will try to improve on NewWord 3, the "professional" version, which features, among other things, math functions, the ability to produce table of contents and indexes, inprogram spelling checking, support of paths used by MS-DOS (also found in ZCPR3), and "background printing."

The CP/M version -- planned for release before 1988 -- may require additional overlays because of the 8-bit memory restrictions. Hanley says she has no idea how they will go about producing such enhancements for NewWord 2.17, which CP/M WordStar 4.0 will be based on, but "they've hired at least one programmer to do the rework."

She hopes the deal between former Newstar and MicroPro will allow the continued sales and ongoing support of CP/M NewWord, at least until there's a WordStar 4.0 available and perhaps longer.

"It still accounts for a big enough percentage of sales that we don't want to see it disappear," she says. "And the other thing too, is that there is very little such software out there for the CP/M 80 machines -- software, like NewWord, that's powerful, that has been upgraded, that has all the bugs worked out of it."

For more information on this subject, check out the hefty MicroPro article and review in the February issue of Personal Computing, or contact MicroPro (800-227-5609) for an upgrade order form. Not all MS-DOS WordStar functions will be supported in the new version for CP/M; however, you can be sure there have been significant needs identified over the past three LONG years.