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Date: Sun 17-Dec-1991 21:15:59 From: iclone!ctm@unmvax.cs.unm.edu (Clifford T. Matthews) Subject: Read&Write Macintosh disks and run Microsoft Word (if you have it) Greetings people interested in Macintosh Compatibility After five years of development plus beta testing, gnashing of teeth, bug fixing, more gnashing and more testing, it looks like Executor-MSW and HFS_XFer will be ready to ship on December 23rd, 1991. There is still a little beta testing going on as you read this, but unless a real showstopper is found, we will be able to begin shipping two days before Christmas. I claim this makes Executor-MSW and HFS_XFer a perfect stocking stuffer, but I'm biased. What is Executor-MSW? Executor-MSW is a program that allows you to run the Macintosh version of Microsoft Word 4.00D on your NeXT computer. You must own a copy of Microsoft Word 4.00D in order to use it; Microsoft Word 4.00D does not come with Executor-MSW. Executor-MSW is actually a full-blown Macintosh emulator, except we have prioritized the bug fixing and fixed all the bugs pertaining to Microsoft Word 4.00D so that we can sell this version now to people who want it. If you're not planning on running Word, you probably don't want to buy this version unless you're purchasing it for HFS_XFer or you just think we deserve your or your company's money on principle. What doesn't Executor-MSW do? Reverse engineering the Macintosh is a difficult task. There are some pieces of the software yet to do. Executor-MSW reflects this by having the following Desk Accessories and No Script Manager (i.e. no non-US localizations). On the other hand, Executor-MSW does work nicely in the NeXT environment, allowing the use of services and cut and paste of ascii and Rich Text between Executor-MSW and other NeXTstep applications. Because lack of printing is such a glaring problem, if you buy this version of Executor-MSW, you will automatically be entitled to a free upgrade to the first version that supports printing. What is HFS_XFer? HFS_XFer allows you to transfer files between HFS (Hierarchical Filesystem) Macintosh disks and the NeXT, where they're stored in Apple Double format. This allows you to copy files to the NeXT and later back to a Macintosh floppy without having to worry about reassembling the "resource fork". Naturally HFS_XFer and Executor-MSW work well together. HFS_XFer is what you use to load your copy of Microsoft Word onto your NeXT in the first place, but it's good for much more than that because you can use it to transfer any information on a Macintosh disk to your NeXT, and vice-versa. What doesn't HFS_XFer do? HFS only allows you to copy one floppy at a time, so if you have more than one floppy drive you still have to use your disk as a buffer if you want to copy from one floppy drive to the other. The extensions to HFS that were introduced with System 7 are not supported and the files are transferred over directly without any translation in between. HFS_XFer works only with floppies, not with hard drives. How can I order? Right now ARDI accepts checks and money orders. Orders paid for by a personal check may be delayed until the check clears. Orders paid for by a company check or a money order will be filled immediately, starting December 23rd. We hope to be able to accept Visa and MasterCard and Purchase Orders by mid January. Executor-MSW and HFS_XFer are bundled together. The price is $80 for a single machine copy. A network license to allow multiple machines to simultaneously run Executor-MSW and HFS_XFer costs an additional $70 per machine for the second through ninth machine and $60 per machine thereafter. Send check or money order to: Executor-MSW Abacus R&D, Inc. 1650 University Blvd., NE Albuquerque, NM 87102 (505) 766-9115 Our special offer before New Years is that any orders that are received by an express mail service (e.g. Federal Express) will be sent out by an equivalent express mail service at no extra cost, but remember, we don't start shipping until the 23rd of December. Thank you, and stay in touch Clifford T. Matthews President Abacus R&D, Inc. For those of you keeping score: Apple, AppleTalk and Macintosh are registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. Executor, Executor-MSW, and ROMlib are trademarks of Abacus Research and Development, Inc. These are two separate companies. Don't confuse the two. In addition: Microsoft is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation. Coming soon: Executor-XL
Date: Sun 18-Dec-1991 17:27:29 From: bedney@monolith.lanl.gov (William J. Edney) Subject: Re: Read&Write Macintosh disks and run Microsoft Word (if you have it) In article <1991Dec17.211559.8227@unmvax.cs.unm.edu> iclone!ctm@unmvax.cs.unm.edu (Clifford T. Matthews) writes: > What is Executor-MSW? > > Executor-MSW is a program that allows you to run the Macintosh version of > Microsoft Word 4.00D on your NeXT computer. You must own a copy of Microsoft > Word 4.00D in order to use it; Microsoft Word 4.00D does not come with > Executor-MSW. Executor-MSW is actually a full-blown Macintosh emulator, > except we have prioritized the bug fixing and fixed all the bugs pertaining to > Microsoft Word 4.00D so that we can sell this version now to people who want > it. If you're not planning on running Word, you probably don't want to buy > this version unless you're purchasing it for HFS_XFer or you just think we > deserve your or your company's money on principle. > > Send check or money order to: > > Executor-MSW > Abacus R&D, Inc. > 1650 University Blvd., NE > Albuquerque, NM 87102 > > (505) 766-9115 > I saw this product last Saturday (demoed by Clifford Matthews himself, no less) and IT REALLY WORKS!! Buy this program and stop the Apple monopoly!!
Date: Sun 19-Dec-1991 13:34:01 From: evensen@husc10.harvard.edu (Erik Evensen) Subject: Re: Read&Write Macintosh disks and run Microsoft Word (if you have it) My question about this is what's going to happen when MSWord 5.0 hits the streets (which is reportedly RSN)? I know it's asking a lot Abacus but enquiring minds want to know -- I do intend to buy this product but my office is going to 5.0 as soon as possible (the wisdom of such a move given Micrsoft's track record with .0 releases is questionable but the decision is not in my hands...) Thanks... --Erik
Date: Sun 19-Dec-1991 22:10:53 From: andrew@cubetech.com (Andrew Loewenstern) Subject: Re: Read&Write Macintosh disks and run Microsoft Word (if you have it) In article <EVENSEN.91Dec19083401@husc10.harvard.edu> evensen@husc10.harvard.edu (Erik Evensen) writes: > My question about this is what's going to happen when MSWord 5.0 hits > the streets (which is reportedly RSN)? I know it's asking a lot > Abacus but enquiring minds want to know -- I do intend to buy this > product but my office is going to 5.0 as soon as possible (the wisdom > of such a move given Micrsoft's track record with .0 releases is > questionable but the decision is not in my hands...) Thanks... > > --Erik (Word 5 went golden several weeks ago...) Probably won't work. Mainly becuase of the way Microsoft writes code on the Mac (actually, they don't write any CODE! Open up a MS product with ResEdit and check out the absense of CODE resources). andrew
Date: Sun 22-Dec-1991 13:33:54 From: ctm@unmvax.cs.unm.edu (Clifford T. Matthews) Subject: Re: Read&Write Macintosh disks and run Microsoft Word (if you have it) To answer the question about MSW 5.0 support, our policy is: Those purchasing Executor-MSW 1.0 are buying a product that does not yet support printing but the purchase price includes a free upgrade to the first version that does support printing, so we'll try to support Word 5.0 ASAP and either you can upgrade for $20 as soon as we support 5.0 (if you are going to use 5.0), or you can wait until we support printing and get that upgrade for free. I'm assuming we'll support 5.0 before we support printing, so in that scenario you automatically get an upgrade that helps you out two ways for free. As for how well Executor-MSW 1.0 will support MSW 5.0, I honestly can't guess. Microsoft code is scary stuff. You always hear rumors about how Apple has had to put in little hacks to keep Microsoft code working between newer releases of Apple system software. I have no idea whether those rumors are true or false, but at ARDI we have to bend over backwards to accomodate Microsoft code. One good thing abou MSW 5.0 is that presumably there will be significantly fewer cache interactions now that Apple too has an 040 based machine. We were hoping for printing support by late January or early February, but with NeXTworld coming up and with illness savaging productivity at ARDI, It's possible that printing support will slip. However, we are getting much better sales than expected (considering there has been no review of our stuff posted or printed yet) and that should allow us to rehire a couple people we had to idle as our cash ran out. That may allow us to get printing back on schedule; time will tell. One more clarification: Our pricing is $80 for the first copy, $70 for the second through ninth and $60 for any copies beyond that. This applies whether you are buying 20 single copies for $1300 or two ten user site licenses for $1300. In each case you get 20 copies of our cheesy manuals. Happy Holidays to one and all. Clifford T. Matthews iclone!ctm@unmvax.cs.unm.edu Abacus R&D, Inc. 1650 University Blvd., NE Albuquerque, NM 87102 (505) 766-9115 p.s. Thanks for the tremendous interest in our products.
These are the contents of the former NiCE NeXT User Group NeXTSTEP/OpenStep software archive, currently hosted by Marcel Waldvogel and Netfuture.ch.