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| Author | Searching for a Word Processor (Read 39889 times) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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xc68000
4 MB  Posts: 5 System 7 Newcomer! 
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on: August 02, 2025, 20:40
I'd like to do some writing on my SE/30 or iMac G3. I think the best WP I've found that I like is MS Word 5.1. What I would really like to find however, is a word processor that has a distraction free text mode, that is..it would work in true fullscreen (no windows or GUI widgets). I don't think there was ever one developed for MacOS 7/8/9, but thought I would post here to see if anyone knows of one. Thanks, Bart |
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cballero
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1024 MB Posts: 1176 System 7, today and forever
Reply #1 on: August 03, 2025, 00:30
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I installed a few I don't use but came up empty; I know full-screen programs were considered more of a multimedia thing back then 
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MTT
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256 MB Posts: 394 SSW7 Oldtimer
Reply #2 on: August 03, 2025, 03:17
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If you like Word 5, stick with that. I can't think of a classic WP that has full screen editing without a window and menus. With Word 5 you can turn off the Ruler, the Ribbon and the Button Tool bar, set not to open unless you want to see them, giving you a single window and minimum menus at the top of the screen (almost a full screen). On a SE/30 or any mono compact Mac, I would use Word 4. Which is a full WP with almost the same feature set as Word 5 but without the ribbon bar and "3D" buttons. Also highly configurable to make the most of a very small screen. Word 4 for Macintosh was developed at a time when the small screen Mac mono display was the norm.
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cballero
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1024 MB Posts: 1176 System 7, today and forever
Reply #3 on: August 03, 2025, 05:20
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I almost always also suggest to try WriteNow, and depending on your needs you may find it suitable—version four runs on System 6, and possibly earlier systems! This article from 2010 lauds it along with MS Word (I added an IA non-SSL archived link but the article is still available online) and like Mike, I've also been a big fan of the 68k versions of Word, especially version four, the first one I used, then version five, which drew me by its fancy toolbar buttons. On the other end of things, I've also enjoyed ClarisWorks, and I would recommend both versions three and four, since in one application you get a full buffet of programs, my favorites being a built-in visual database, word processing, spreadsheet and drawing/painting tools! I know that sounds like the opposite of what you're asking, but it can be very useful in a pinch, plus it's not really as complex as it sounds at face value. Version three can run in System 6 and four does System 7 and above, so both would work well on an SE/30 
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wove
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1024 MB Posts: 1363
Reply #4 on: August 03, 2025, 14:12
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I have done more writing on the Mac than I have done anything else. I never mastered thinking about formatting at the same time I am thinking about what I am saying so I do not write in a word processor. I use a text editor to do my longer writing and a notepad to do shorter stuff. I used TexEdit on 6/7 for the longer stuff and for shorter stuff I used NewNotePad II. I did install Cassidy and Green’s universal spell checker to assist with my poor spelling abilities. If the writing was for some grander purpose and was to be printed or saved as a more readable pdf I would dump the text into a word processor, which I just used to format the material. I always saved writing as plain text so I could move it easily to whatever system I might be using. Word processors tend to have proprietary formats, which make it harder to move material from one application to another, and very often make it very hard to move on to newer systems and applications. Various snippets of text can be considered as “clip art” for the writer, and keeping them in an organized in a notebook is very very handy. For instance many questions in customer service (or forums) have been asked a hundred times. Rather than answering with “RTFM” or “Use the forum search function” you can more politely grab the answer from your store of “clip art” and provide a possible solution.
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Cashed
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128 MB Posts: 192 System 7 Newcomer!
Reply #5 on: August 03, 2025, 16:01
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Hi @xc68000 Welcome to System 7 today! -Mmm I meant yesterday! Many good alternatives already shared. Quote from: xc68000 What I would really like to find however, is a word processor that has a distraction free text mode, that is..it would work in true fullscreen (no windows or GUI widgets). I uploaded a fullscreen word processor to the Garden back in 2022, or in the early 23's -can't recall the title. Whole screen just simply white -disctraction free. At my old workplace there was an upgraded Original - Bondi Apple iMac G3/233 from 1998, running MacOS 8.1. It had a word processor installed, that I tried out. I remember being awestruck at its funtionality, simplicity, and fullscreen distractionfree text mode -I can't recall which application is was. During one of my night shifts, I made a copy of the HDD. For the time being all my barebones computers are in storage -so can't easily find the title. I also uploaded Notepad Deluxe to the Garden. Think you can choose to go fullscreen in that one too -my memory might be wrong. While you're at it, scribbling on your next project, typing away in anyone of the distraction free writing modes -why not just relax and bring nature indoors! 
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cballero
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1024 MB Posts: 1176 System 7, today and forever
Reply #6 on: August 03, 2025, 17:51
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SimpleText that comes with any Mac OS will work in a pinch too, and it offers a plain text mode as well, so I assume the other format is most likely RTF? That one can be used to add formatting that will open in other word processors—and possibly even read simple RTF docs as well? (kind of like Wordpad in Windows) I just don't know its hidden add graphic feature it has 
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