In man`s long struggle for a better way of life, few things seem to have been more difficult than IBM`s and Microsoft`s efforts to make their computers and software as easy to use as an Apple Macintosh.
Realizing that the Mac`s graphical screen, mouse-controlled pointer, icons and drop-down menus are an easy way for users to run a computer, Microsoft developed a program called Windows.
At the bottom of Windows` problems is the difference-and in some respects conflict-between a ”text-based” operating system and a ”graphical” one. Nearly all computers can generate graphics, but most systems have a standard set of ”text” characters that are built-in.
Text mode is inherently faster-and less memory-hungry-than graphics mode. But graphics mode is necessary for the ”WIMP” interface (windows, icons, mice and pointers) popularized by the Macintosh and also used by the Commodore Amiga and Atari ST.
MS-DOS, the operating system Microsoft developed for the IBM PC and compatibles, is text-based. Microsoft Windows is not an operating system in itself, but a software application that must work with DOS.
Windows will run on a standard PC or XT, but not very well, because all this graphical activity on the screen requires too much processing power. So you really need an AT or 80286-based system to even get the thing running at a comfortable speed.
At that point, all you have is a graphical screen, pointer and some little utility programs, including a clock, calendar, calculator, notepad,
”clipboard” and modest word processor.
This is nice and even sort of fun, but you can`t get much work done with it. What Windows always has needed has been some superior applications, and now there are a couple: Microsoft`s own Excel spreadsheet and the PC version of Aldus` Pagemaker publishing program, initially made famous on the Macintosh. Both are major hits.
But conspicuously absent has been a good word processor. Now comes Ami from Samna, publisher of the popular and powerful Samna Word.
Ami is not so much a word processor as a middleweight desktop-publishing program, with a rudimentary set of word-processing features. If your job involves producing memos, newsletters or leaflets that don`t involve heavy-duty writing but need to look sharp-and you have a laser printer to make them look sharp-Ami might be for you.
Ami has the most basic word-processing features, including search-and-replace and a spell checker. It will do headers and footers but will not do footnotes, making it a poor choice for a college student or anyone writing scholarly papers.
There is a keyboard alternative to using the mouse to execute commands, but the program lacks specific keystrokes to manipulate words, lines and paragraphs.
Tested on a 12-Mhz Kaypro 286 with one megabyte of memory, Ami was slower to execute basic word-processing functions than most text-based word processors running on a basic XT. Scrolling was jerky and sluggish. Once a word had been marked for deletion, there was a noticeable delay between the delete command and the word disappearing.
Part of the problem seems to be that the program is huge-almost 570K. That means not all of it can reside in memory at once.
If you can deal with these limitations, the program gives you a host of desktop-publishing features, including a wide selection of ready-made style sheets that can make a simple memo look sharp or make getting out the office newsletter easy. It`s worth remembering that one of the complaints against a lot of desktop-publishing programs is that they lack word-processing power. By that standard, Ami could be a good friend.
