Apple Writer
| Original author(s) | Paul Lutus |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | Apple Computer |
| Initial release | 1979 |
| Stable release |
2.1 / 1985
|
| Development status | Freeware (1992) |
| Operating system | Apple DOS, Apple ProDOS |
| Platform | Apple II |
| Type | Word processor |
Apple Writer is a word processor for the Apple II family of personal computers. It was created by Paul Lutus and published in 1979 by Apple Computer.
Paul Lutus wrote Apple Writer alone in a small cottage he built himself atop a hill in the woods of Oregon, connected to the electricity grid with 1,200 feet (370 m) of cable strung in trees. The original 1979 version of Apple Writer ran from a 13-sector DOS 3.2 diskette and supported 40-column text display. It displayed text entirely in uppercase, but case could be toggled by pressing the ESC key; characters that the user signified as uppercase appeared in inverse (black on white) capitals, while characters in lowercase appeared as standard capitals. The names of the binary files Apple Writer 1.0 produced began with the prefix "TEXT".
An undocumented feature was its ability to print to printers using a game paddle port as a serial interface. Users had to build their own serial cables; the risk of damage to the computer or printer was why Apple did not publicize the information, but Lutus documented the feature in a letter to BYTE.
Released in 1980, Apple Writer 1.1 took advantage of DOS 3.3 and ran under the newer 16-sector format. It also featured a spellchecker known as Goodspell and some minor bug fixes.
Apple Writer II was released in 1981 and like its predecessor ran under DOS 3.3 on an Apple II Plus. Unlike the original, Apple Writer II could display both upper and lower case characters and, with a Sup'R'Terminal card in slot 3, could support both 40- and 80-column text. It also wrapped text too long to appear on the current line (rather than breaking it mid-word) and included a glossary and the Word Processing Language (WPL), a macro-like resources that allowed certain tasks to be automated. Apple Writer II files saved as standard text files rather than the older binary files.
This program was released in 1982 for the Apple ///, and was able to use the enhanced capabilities of the Apple ///.
Released in 1983, Apple Writer IIe took advantage of the Apple IIe's built-in 80-column display and full keyboard and featured the ability to create larger files, print files to disk and directly connect the computer keyboard to a printer for typewriter-like operation.
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