LocoScript
Developer(s) |
|
---|---|
Initial release | 1985 |
Operating system | Standalone (PCW), MS-DOS (IBM/PC) |
Platform | Amstrad PCW, IBM-compatible |
Type | Word processor |
Website | locoscript-software |
LocoScript is a word processing software package created by Locomotive Software and first released with the Amstrad PCW, a personal computer launched in 1985. Early versions of LocoScript were noted for combining a wide range of facilities with outstanding ease of use. This and the low price of the hardware made it one of the best-selling word processors of the late 1980s. Four major versions of LocoScript were published for the PCW, and two for IBM-compatible PCs running MS-DOS. LocoScript's market share didn't expand with the PC versions, which were not released until after Windows had become the dominant PC operating system.
Background and reception
LocoScript's developers,
LocoScript was regarded as easier to use than
When the PCW product line was discontinued in 1998, The Daily Telegraph said that the range of independently produced add-on software for LocoScript had contributed to the series' longevity.[14]
LocoScript faded into obscurity because its developers were slow to produce a version for IBM-compatible PCs. By the time they released a version that ran under MS-DOS, Windows was becoming the dominant operating system. The developers of WordPerfect made a similar mistake, releasing their first Windows version in 1991, shortly after the second Windows version of Microsoft Word.[10]
As late as 1993, a journalist found "special characters" much easier to produce on LocoScript than on PC word processing software.[15]
Versions and capabilities
LocoScript
LocoScript was the principal software included with Amstrad's PCW 8256 and PCW 8512, both of which launched in 1985.
On start-up LocoScript displayed a
LocoScript supported 150 characters.
LocoScript's menu system enabled users to add, singly or in combination, a range of sophisticated typographical effects:
Users could optionally set up to two page headers and footers, and could tell LocoScript whether to use one header or footer on odd pages and the other on even pages, one header or footer for the first or last page and another for all the rest, or to omit a header or footer on the first or last page. The program provided codes for the current page number and total number of pages, and aligning them to the left, centre, or right, and for decorations such as leading and trailing hyphens (e.g. "-9-").[25] LocoScript automatically avoided widows and orphans, ensuring that, if a paragraph of four or more lines split across pages, at least two lines appeared on each page. Users could also tell LocoScript to keep a group of lines or paragraphs together on the same page, or to avoid splitting paragraphs throughout a document, and could force page breaks.[26]
Users could control placement of text by means of: margins;
LocoScript's
The program did not immediately reflow text after major insertions or deletions, but did this when the user pressed the RELAY key,[17] or automatically if the user moved the cursor through the changed passage.[29]
LocoScript allowed the user to edit one document while printing another, so that the relative slowness of the bundled
The original LocoScript version 1 had no spell checker or mail merge facilities.[3][16] Both were available by December 1986.[31]
Despite the sophistication of the software, the great drawback of the PCWs was the exclusive reliance of the early models (the PCW 8256 and 8512) on a poor quality dot matrix printer, coupled with the eventual introduction (with the 9512) of a high quality daisy wheel printer that could not print any of the wide range of non-alphanumeric symbols which the LocoScript software was capable of producing. The software was seriously hamstrung by the poor quality of the hardware: but this was due in large part to a commercial decision not to provide any support for third-party printers so long as the software remained exclusive to the PCW format.
LocoScript 2
LocoScript 2 was bundled with the Amstrad PCW 9512, introduced in 1987.[32] This version was significantly faster, included the LocoSpell spell checker, and came bundled with a high-quality daisy wheel printer in addition to supporting the original dot matrix printer. The software increased its character set to 400 and allowed users to define up to 16 of their own characters.[3]
It could also
Besides the addition of LocoSpell, LocoScript 2 was also the earliest version to support the optional LocoFile add-on, providing database functionality.[34]
LocoScript PC
LocoScript PC, later known as LocoScript PC Easy, was the first version of LocoScript to be incompatible with the Amstrad PCW, instead targeting
LocoScript Professional
Released in May 1992, LocoScript Professional, or simply Script, was the second major release of LocoScript to run on MS-DOS and included a number of new features and improvements over LocoScript PC.[38]
It supported printers that connected using the then-standard parallel port, such as most HP DeskJets and some Brother HL-series Laser printers (which could be run under DOS using the generic LaserJet4 driver). It did not support printers which required a USB connection or which were labelled "Windows only".[36][39]
Some issues exist as to its compatibility with Windows XP, Vista, 7, 8, and 10 (when run on those systems' DOS mode or using the DOSBox emulator). For example, it loses WYSIWYG functionality. However, version 2.51 can be tweaked to work in Windows 10 under DOSbox MB6 {Set in LocoScript by selecting F9-Settings-F5-ScreenMode-Text Screen Direct-OK F10} (DOSBox MB6 maintains printing via the parallel printer port, running in text screen mode).
LocoScript 3
LocoScript 3 included the ability to print text at any size using scalable "LX"
Four add-on utilities were included: LocoSpell (a spell checker), LocoMail (a mail merge program), LocoFile (a database program), and a Printer Support Pack,[42] but (unlike in the earlier LocoScript versions) these utilities were no longer sold separately.[41]
LocoScript 4
The last major version of LocoScript for the PCW, LocoScript 4, was released in 1996 by LocoScript Software, a new company created by former Locomotive Software employees after the sale of Locomotive to Demon Internet.[43] It added a wider range of fonts, support for colour printing, a label-printing facility, and optional support for hundreds of printers. Version 4 also supported the mail merge program, LocoMail, and the LocoFile database program.[41]
See also
References
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