START CHART
ST WORD PROCESSORS

PROGRAM	ST Writer	1ST Word	Haba Writer	Final Word	Regent Word	Let's Write	Text Pro
Original System	800	ST	ST	IBM	ST	Mainfr	ST
Feature:
GEM based	no	yes	yes	no	no	no	yes
Protected disk	no	no	yes	yes	yes	no	yes
Handles folders well	yes	yes	yes	no	no	no	yes
Handles hard drives well	yes	yes	yes	no	no	yes	yes
Uses all free RAM for text	yes	yes	yes	no	yes	yes	yes
Text file size limitations	RAM	RAM	RAM	48K	RAM	RAM	RAM
Number  of files in memory	1	4	7	10	1	8	1
Help screens	no	yes	no	yes	yes	no	no
Search for bare carriage return	yes	no	no	yes	no	no	yes
Saves ASCII file	no	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes
Saves unformatted ASCII file	no	no	yes	yes	no	yes	yes
Auto section numbering	yes	no	no	yes	no	yes	no
Auto indexing	no	no	no	yes	no	no	yes
Transpose characters	no	no	yes	yes	no	yes	no
Transpose words	no	no	no	yes	no	no	no
Undo last delete (not cut)	yes	no	no	yes	yes	yes	no
Auto header/footer	yes	no	no	yes	yes	yes	yes
Vary headers/footers each page	yes	no	no	yes	no	yes	yes
Multiline auto header/footer	2	no	no	yes	no	yes	yes
Format disk	yes	no	no	no	no	no	no
Merge files from disk	yes	no	no	yes	yes	yes	yes
Delete file from disk	yes	yes	no	no	no	no	yes
Page wait command	yes	no	no	yes	yes	yes	yes
Set starting page number	yes	no	no	yes	yes	yes	yes
Hide format symbols	no	n/a	yes	no	no	no	yes
Auto footnoting	no	no	no	yes	no	yes	no
Uses mouse	no	yes	yes	no	no	no	yes
Keyboard commands	yes	no	no	yes	yes	yes	yes
Uses function keys	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	no	yes
User-definable function keys	no	no	no	no	no	no	yes
Display 80 cols on screen	yes	no	no	yes	yes	yes	no
Edit>80 columns/ screen	no	yes	yes	no	no	no	yes
Edit>24 lines/ monochrome	yes	no	no	no	no	yes	no
Change display color	some	yes	yes	no	no	no	yes
Variable line spacing	yes	yes	no	yes	yes	yes	yes
Variable paragraph formats	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes
Auto indentation/ variable	yes	no	yes	yes	no	yes	yes
Upper/ lower case toggle	yes	no	no	yes	no	yes	no
Double column editing	no	no	no	no	no	no	no
Math functions internal	no	no	no	no	no	no	no
Save custom print formats	yes	no	yes	yes	no	yes	yes
Multiple fonts or typefaces	no	yes	yes	no	no	no	yes
Word wrap on/off toggle	no	yes	no	yes	no	no	yes
Switch disks while editing	yes	yes	some	no	yes	yes	yes
Sub/superscript commands	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	no	yes
What you see is what you get	no	yes	yes	no	no	no	no
Auto reformat existing text	yes	no	no	yes	yes	yes	yes
Global reformat	yes	no	yes	no	yes	yes	yes
On screen justification	no	yes	yes	no	no	no	no
On screen text alignment	no	yes	yes	no	no	no	no
Insert/replace toggle mode	no	yes	yes	yes	no	no	yes
Hyphenation	no	no	yes	no	no	no	yes
Page/screen up & down	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes	yes
Cursor to line end/start	yes	no	yes	yes	no	yes	yes
Display full character set	no	yes	no	no	no	no	no
Display international character set	no	yes	yes	no	no	no	yes
Display control characters	yes	yes	no	yes	yes	no	yes
Search/replace non-ASCII character set	no	no	yes	no	no	no	yes
Word count	no	no	no	no	yes	yes	no
Character count	no	no	no	yes	no	no	yes
Line count	yes	no	yes	yes	no	yes	yes
Available RAM count	yes	no	no	no	yes	yes	yes
Search/replace in reverse	yes	yes	yes	yes	no	yes	no
Ignor case in search	no	yes	no	yes	no	yes	no
Autosave	no	no	no	yes	no	yes	no
Shows page breaks on screen	no	yes	yes	no	no	no	yes
Shows current page number	no	some	yes	no	no	no	yes
Can read other word-processor files	yes	yes	some	yes	some	ASCII	yes
Can read ASCII non word-processor files	yes	yes	yes	yes	no	yes	yes
Iclude graphics with text	no	no	no	no	no	no	no
Macros	no	no	no	no	no	yes	yes
Set multiple marks in text	no	yes	no	yes	no	no	no
Size of manual	med	med	small	large	small	large	med
Manual indexed	no	no	yes	yes	no	yes	yes
Manual on disk or printed	disk	disk	prtd	prtd	prtd	prtd	prtd
Tutorial included	yes	yes	no	yes	no	yes	yes
Print preview	yes	no	no	no	yes	no	yes
Printer > 80 columns	yes	yes	no	yes	no	yes	yes
Print disk directory	yes	no	no	no	no	no	no
Send special printer codes	yes	no	yes	no	yes	yes	yes
Print selected pages	no	no	yes	yes	no	yes	yes
Print from any page	yes	no	yes	yes	no	yes	yes
Double column printing	yes	no	no	no	no	yes	yes
Variable paragraph spacing	yes	no	no	yes	no	yes	no
User configure printer driver	yes	no	yes	yes	ltd	ltd	yes
Multiple printer drivers	no	yes	2	yes	no	no	6
Separate print program	no	yes	no	yes	no	yes	yes
Printing pre-format required	no	no	no	yes	no	yes	no
Draft print option	no	no	no	yes	no	yes	no
Proportional print support	yes	yes	no	yes	no	no	no
Print formatted file to disk	yes	no	no	yes	no	yes	yes
Include or chain external files at print time	yes	no	no	yes	no	yes	yes

The following rated 1-5 where 5=highest value:

	ST Writer	1ST Word	Haba Writer	Final Word	Regent Word	Let's Write
Ease of learning	3	5	5	2	3	1
Complexity of documentation	3	2	1	5	2	5
Completeness of documentation	5	5	4	3	3	5
Clarity of manuals	4	4	5	2	3	4
Suitable for beginner	3	4	5	1	3	1
Suitable for professional	4	2	3	5	1	3
Ease of use	3	4	5	1	3	1
Price range(5=high)	0	0	2	5	2	4
Use of available memory	5	3	4	2	4	5
Use of disk/drives	5	5	4	3	2	3
Quality of screen display	5	5	5	5	4	5
Display speed	5	3	3	5	5	4
Print flexibility	5	4	3	5	2	5

Editor's Note: Data items for Let's Write provided by Sol Guber. Data for TextPro provided by Arnic Lee, President of Abacus Software. Other data by author. Because items in last chart are subjective, TetPro is not included.