Professional Write, Version 2.1 Copyright 1989 David W. Batterson WordPerfect 5.0 remains the best-selling word processing software, but many users don't need its advanced features, or want to pay that high price. There are oodles of word processors to choose from at the low end of the software realm. However, these often lack satisfactory features. Software Publishing Corp. has now released Version 2.1 of Professional Write. It plops in nicely in the center ground. Professional Write has the power you need while remaining easy to learn. I've heard WordPerfect users say how difficult it was to master. I've never heard that with Professional Write. The best new feature of Version 2.1 is the graphical page preview. This allows you to see just how pages are going to print, including display of proportional fonts. During page preview, the screen switches to black on white graphics, like what you get in PFS: First Publisher. Professional Write is the "only managerial word processor to offer a preview feature as well as the ability to change fonts in the preview mode." This is significant, as you can make the font and/or style changes, and see how it affects line and page breaks, without having to print a draft first. The previewed pages can be displayed side by side, or you can zoom in to page portions for close detail. For your documents that include a graph, the placement of the graph is represented by a shadow box. Other new improvements to Version 2.1 are added printer drivers (including more laser and page printers), and simplified tab and margin control when using multiple margins/tabs. Since laser printers allow proportional fonts, this can cause problems with your right margins coming out too wide. At print time, Professional Write rewraps lines to preserve the margin you wanted. Professional Write reads files from many popular word processors, so no file conversions are required. You can import files from WordPerfect 5.0/4.2, WordStar, Microsoft Word 4.0, MultiMate, Wang PC and others. You can also save your writing in those formats, or in ASCII. The spell checker (77,000 words) and thesaurus (20,000 keywords) have not been upgraded from Version 2.0. However, you can add up to about 5,000 words to the personal dictionary. The Find & Replace feature searches for words and phrases in your document. However, Professional Write also has the ability to search many documents (in Professional Write format) in other directories/subdirectories for specified words, characters or phrases. Then you can retrieve and insert that file in your document. It's easy to add footers and headers to your documents. Pressing brings up the Format menu. Selecting "Set Header" or "Set Footer" brings up windows where you simply type in the information. It's easy and painless! Form letters can be created using Professional Write's own Address Book, or by using Professional File, dBASE III, or delimited ASCII files. You can also insert a Lotus 1-2-3 worksheet, or include a chart from Harvard Graphics, PFS: First Graphics and similar programs. In some word processing software, creating macros can be confusing. Professional Write has online instructions to help you write macros. You can create as many as 35, with variable lengths. If you forget what key combination it was, there's a handy menu of all your macros. One interesting feature (not new with Version 2.1) is the ability to draw lines. A menu lets you select the drawing style you want, such as ÄÄÄÄÄÄ, ÍÍÍÍÍÍ, or ÛÛÛÛÛÛ. Or you can choose the character you want to draw with, including extended characters. For instance, press -178 (on the numeric keypad) for ², -187 for », or -240 for ð. Then draw lines or boxes with that character: ²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²² ² It's fun to do too! ² ²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²²² Remember, certain printers cannot print these characters, or require DIP switch settings so that they will. Check your printer manual. If your printer doesn't print the high-bit characters, Professional Write substitutes the +, - and | symbols instead. There's a display screen of the extended characters too, as you can't very easily memorize them. Other useful features of Professional Write include a calculator, file encryption, EMS memory support, and the Address Book. The Address Book can hold up to 2,000 names & addresses. You can then insert these in letters, use them for form letters (mail-merge), and print envelopes and mailing labels. The suggested list is $229 but Egghead Software and other discount software dealers sell it for much less, so shop around. The upgrade from earlier versions costs you $39. For more information, contact Software Publishing Corp., P. O. Box 7210, 1901 Landings Dr., Mountain View, CA 94039-7210; (415) 962-8910. # David W. Batterson is a freelance computer journalist/reviewer who doesn't use any of the "Big W" word processing programs. Send your ASCII file e-mail to him via MCI MAIL: DBATTERSON.