Older wordprocessing software

Ahh, been there though. I did run Linux on this very same laptop for a while - I believe it was AbiWord I used as a basic GUI-based wordprocessor for my scribbles. At the time, one problem was the lack of CDROM drive on the machine for getting any large software onto it. The only parallel-port drive I had access to was a Microsolutions Backpack, and no matter what I tried it refused to work with Linux. No problems there under DOS / Win311. Second problem was one of performance - the linux distributions that were around a couple of years ago tended to be aimed at slightly faster hardware. I do still have old distributions lying around back to around 1994 or so (I remember the days of SLS on 50 or so floppies - it was always guaranteed *one* of the disks would be dead, usually near the end of the pile :) but then I'd have all sorts of compatibility problems with any modern software. Alternately I could trim down a more modern version of Linux - but that's a lot of effort for something that just gets used for casual note-taking now and then. Third problem is also performance-related, and down to the time it takes Linux - or any modern MS operating system - to start up and shut down. If I just want to spend a couple of minutes typing some notes, I don't want to be taking the same length of time waiting for the machine to boot and then shut down again at the end. With DOS / Win311 the startup and shutdown is extremely quick. Maybe there's a version of NetBSD that gets round the second problem, but I bet it still takes a lot longer than DOS/Windows does to boot and shut down. Wordperfect 6.0 I assume, 5.1 not being particularly WYSIWYG as I recall :-) And yes, from memory 6.0 did suck; all these posts have reminded me of all the wordprocessing software I'd forgotten about. I used to use 5.1 a *lot* under DOS until I started running Windows 3 on the PC I had back then. I have a horrible feeling the negative thing I vaguely recall about Ami Pro was its stability, at least in the version I had :-( Maybe there were later releases with the problems ironed out, or it was just some odd problem with the machine I had back then. If I can trace a copy then I'll find out I suppose... Someone mentioned DisplayWrite too - arghh! That had totally faded from my memory. My father's work made it their standard for a while; I should have access to a copy in theory but I have no plans to try and track that one down... :-) cheers Jules ________________________________________________________________________ Want to chat instantly with your online friends? Get the FREE Yahoo! Messenger http://uk.messenger.yahoo.com/