WordStar
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WordStar was a word processor application, published by MicroPro, originally written for the CP/M operating system (but later ported to DOS) that enjoyed a massive, and dominant, market share during the early-to-mid-1980s. Seymour I. Rubinstein was the principal owner of the company.
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Description
WordStar made editing of what it called "nondocument" files easy. A ruler was provided above uniformly spaced characters, making it easy to edit data files to be read in to programs such as SPSS. This "non-document" mono-spaced option made it easy in the 1980s to work offline with data from mainframe computers. The "document" file, on the other hand, was its own type of file that kept track of non-break lines with a high-bit code. These were easily translated into another file by using a translator (which could be self-written).
WordStar also featured add-in programs. These included MailMerge, which allowed a "merge printing" for mass mailings of letters. Pertinent data, like name, address, city, state, zipcode, and so on was stored in non-document datafiles. Documents like business letters could be printed in series by inserting data fields in "master documents". These master documents contained "boilerplate" text, like business letters, with data fields in place of addressee pertinent information. By printing "x" number of versions of the master document, for example, letters customized for various recipients could be printed in series by drawing information from the datafiles and inserted in place of the fields. Thus mass mailings could be prepared with each letter being individually addressed. SpellStar, was a spell checker program, later incorporated as a direct part of the WordStar program. DataStar was a program whose purpose was specifically to expedite creating of the datafiles used for merge printing. These were revolutionary features for personal computer users during the early-to-mid-1980s.
WordStar had relative weaknesses, such as an inability to reformat line justification as the text was typed. Thus paragraphs had to be reformatted by command after edits and changes. But a command could be given to reformat the entire document after it had been edited or re-written.
WordStar is still considered by many to be one of the best "writing programs" ever created. It was a "text based" word processor, without direct onscreen "what you see is what you get" or WYSIWYG (pronounced "wizzywig") formatting. Text based word processor forced the writer to concentrate primarily on the words or content of what he/she was writing. Typesetting and layout were secondary or tertiary functions left until after the document was completely written, edited, and proofread. So the writer was not distracted by the endless desktop publishing possibilities available when using MS Word, FrameMaker, or other powerful typesetting programs.
The terms "document" and "nondocument" created confusion in more than one WordStar user. Both were actually text documents. The term "document" referred to WordStar textfiles containing embedded and hidden word processing and formatting commands. The term "nondocument" were simply "pure ASCII" textfiles created using the "Nondocument Mode", and contained no embedded formatting commands. This "Nondocument Mode" was nothing more than a simple "line editor" copied from similar programs used as far back as in mainframe applications. It could be used for creating any type or size of alphanumeric ASCII textfiles. Thus it could be, and often was, used as a basic editing and writing tool for programming. Many programmers preferred this because the Nondocument Mode offered many text editing features not found on other text editor applications.
Thus, though out of production for more than a decade, WordStar left a large legacy. This includes a great many text editor programs running under MSDOS, Linux, and other UNIX variants, which can emulate the WordStar keyboard commands using Ctrl-key combinations. The popular Turbo Pascal compiler used WordStar keyboard commands in its IDE editor. Well-known commands to WordStar users were the Ctrl-S/E/D/X "diamond" for basic cursor movement, plus Ctrl-A/F (word left/right) and Ctrl-R/C (page up/down).
This "WordStar Diamond" command sequence was used for basic cursor movement in a day when the "arrow" cursor movement keys did not yet exist on standard computer keyboards.
WordStar is still actively used by several hundred people in the WordStar Users Group Community (see the External Links below). They provide technical support, updated macros and scripts, printer and mouse drivers, and so forth for each other via the long-running WordStar mailing list which started in May 1996 and has continued without interruption (but with one move from Cuenet to WordStar2 in 2002).
It's even possible to download a WordStar Keyboard Command Emulator for current versions of Microsoft Word (2003), but the sensation will not be exactly the same as using WordStar on a mid-1980s PC XT-era keyboard, where the Ctrl key was located where the Caps-Lock key is now — unless, like some diehards from that era, you remap your keyboard to swap Ctrl and Caps-Lock.
The demise
WordStar lost considerable market share in the late 1980s due to a considerably terrible marketing decision by MicroPro International, the then-named creator of WordStar. At the time, WordStar was the most popular word processor in the world. But IBM dominated the "dedicated word processor" market with its "DisplayWrite" application, which ran on machines dedicated to writing and editing documents. There were many dedicated word processing machines at the time, but IBM's main competition then was Wang Laboratories. Such machines were largely expensive and were generally accessed through terminals connected to central mainframe or midrange computers.
When IBM announced it was bringing to market a PC based version called "DisplayWriter", the PC world panicked. MicroPro International made the wrong decision not to upgrade the standard version of WordStar. Instead, they concentrated all efforts on creating a clone of DisplayWriter, which they market as "WordStar 2000". Both were released at the same time. Unfortunately, both were cumbersome programs to use, and the word processing market yawned both of them to death. Their deaths unfortunately lasted long enough to persuade both IBM and MicroPro International to put all their eggs in one marketing basket.
Further damage was caused to MicroPro International with many of its top WordStar programmers quit in disgust, and created their own word processor. This was called "NewWord", and was based on all the planned improvements to the canceled upgrade of WordStar.
During the interim in which WordStar itself was not upgraded, WordPerfect appeared to fill the void, and took much of the word processing application market. Its default setting used a smaller portion of the screen for menus than WordStar, and had a much cleaner, uncluttered look. WordPerfect also used the same key sequences as a popular line of dedicated word processor computers, the Wang systems. This helped it gain favor among secretaries.
After suffering a tremendous loss of market share, and a corporate restructuring of MicroPro International, WordStar reappeared as "WordStar Release 4.0" under the renamed WordStar International. This version was created when the renegade version "NewWord" was purchased, and the renegade programmers rehired by the resurgent company. WordStar then progressed through upgrades of 4.5 to 5.0 to 5.5 to 6.0 -- steadily rebuilding market share in a head on battle with WordPerfect, and MS Word for DOS.
WordStar was selling in the hundreds of thousands of copies in the worldwide market, when it became embroiled in an internal battle between the "Old Timer" programmers (who were working on release 6.5) and the "Young Turks" who had been developing release 7.0 as a separate project. The 6.5 version was aimed mainly at battling MS Word for DOS, while the 7.0 version was intended to battle WordPerfect. During a final showdown, the Young Turks won, the 6.5 release was scrapped in its beta version, and the 7.0 release was pushed to market years ahead of its planned launch.
WordStar 7.0 sold very well, netting large profits for WordStar International. However, management used those profits to go on a software company buying spree -- instead of putting the proceeds into further upgrading WordStar to meet the changing market. At its peak, the corportation purchased "Legacy" an existing Windows based "GUI" interface word processor. After limited reshaping, this was renamed "WordStar for Windows" and released in versions to 2.0 before faltering. Finally, WordStar International tried one software house acquisition too far, and was itself purchased (and liquidated) by its intended victim. Thus WordStar 7.0 and WordStar for Windows ended their days as discount products of a software enterprise which sold applications for as little as $9.99 through software vendors like CompUSA and Egghead Software.
The Negatives
The company that produced WordStar was often notorious for unfriendliness to its established user-base, lack of technical support, and a tendency to simply ignore requests from WordStar fanatics. It also had notoriously difficult to read and understand user manuals -- which were mainly written by WordStar programmers themselves, and by hack writers brought in with little understanding of the fears and needs of a then inexperienced PC computer world. This latter failing created its own world of "after market" user manuals published and available through bookstores. This writer wrote and published manuals for the 4.0 and 7.0 releases, and at one point counted some 26 different titles offering enlightenment on using WordStar.
For many years, a battle royal raged between WordStar users and WordPerfect users, with both sides fiercely claiming theirs was the better, and the other was "simply too klunky for words". In the end, when WordStar died, the WordPerfect world of users claimed they had been the vanquisher. But in fact, it was the aforementioned management fubars of WordStar International, along with the predatory marketing of MS Word by Microsoft, which ended the life of an excellent writing program.
In the end, it was Microsoft who destroyed most of the word processing market, and the original 50+ word processing applications once available. Microsoft did this by creating its cutdown package of "Works", and by then simply giving away millions of copies of Works as part of software packaged on PCs before they were sold. Since then, WordPerfect survives in a Windows version, but its parent company has been purchased and repurchased, and merged finally into the Corel corporation as a subordinate product.
The first DOS version of WordStar was a direct port of the CP/M version, and therefore only used 64K of RAM even though DOS supported up to 640K. Users quickly learned they could make this version of WordStar run dramatically faster by using the ability of DOS to create a "RAM disk" in memory, and copy the WordStar program files into it. WordStar would still swap like mad, but it would be swapping from memory address to memory address in RAM -- instead of to a floppy disk or hard drive. And when edited versions of a document were "Saved" they were only saved to the memory address in RAM. It was very important when running WordStar in RAM Disk, to remember to "copy" the edited or written textfile to permanent stored on disk. Otherwise, everything would be lost when WordStar was closed.
Notably wordstar was the last commercial wordprocessor supporting the CP/M operating. Release 4, the final CP/M compatible version was sold with 4" floppy disk format as a default, and an 8" version as an option.
Like many other producers of successful DOS applications, WordStar delayed far too long before deciding to make a version for the commercially groundbreaking Windows 3.0. When it finally arrived on October 1, 1991 WordStar for Windows 1.0 was well ahead of the competition in terms of features and usability, and it even included many features normally only found in desktop publishing packages. However, its delayed launch meant that Microsoft Word had already firmly established itself as the corporate standard during the two previous years.
Filename extensions
- DOS WordStar files by default have no extension; some users adopted their own conventions, such as the letters WS followed by the version number (for example, WS3). Backup files were automatically saved as BAKs.
- WordStar for Windows files use the extension WSD
- WordStar for Windows templates use the extension WST
- WordStar for Windows macros use the extension WMC
- WordStar for Windows temporary files use the extension !WS
- WordStar 2000 for DOS and UNIX PC don't have a fixed extension but DOC was common
Note:
- There isn't a WordStar for Windows 2000!
- WordStar for Windows was also released under the name WordStar Personal Writer, and is a development of WordStar Legacy itself developed from a program called Legacy. Xoom also released a version of WordStar for Windows 2.0 called Xoom Word Pro.
Information provided by the WordStar Resource Site (http://www.wordstar.org)
See also
External links
- WordStar & GNU/Linux (http://wordstar2.com) – features lots of support and advice for those migrating their systems to Linux, with particular emphasis on using WordStar, both DOS and Windows releases, under Linux.
- WordStar Mailing Lists (http://wordstar2.com/mailman/listinfo) – information about the main WordStar Mailing List as well as the newer WordStar & GNU/Linux Mailing List
- WordStar Support Site (http://www.wordstar.org) – featuring a full (as far as is known) history of WordStar
- WordStar Users Group Community (http://wordstar2.com/WordStar_Users) – still active, this is the on-line WUG community site and homepages for the longest-running and most active technical support available for WordStar users, with lots of downloads like mouse driversde:WordStar