EasyWriter
| Original author(s) | John Draper |
|---|---|
| Initial release | 1979 |
| Written in | Forth |
| Operating system | Apple II series, IBM PC |
| Type | word processor |
EasyWriter was a word processor first written for the Apple II series computer in 1979, the first word processor for that platform. Published by Information Unlimited Software (IUS), it was written by John Draper's Cap'n Software, which also produced a version of Forth, which EasyWriter was developed in. Draper developed EasyWriter while serving nights in the Alameda County Jail under a work furlough program.
It was later ported to the IBM PC and released with the new computer in August 1981 as a launch title. Many criticized EasyWriter 1.0, distributed by IBM, for being buggy and hard to use;PC Magazine told IBM executives as early as December 1981 that subscribers "wish IBM had provided better word processing", Its poor quality caused others to quickly provide alternatives, such as Camilo Wilson's Volkswriter. while IBM offered a free upgrade to version 1.10 to version 1.0 owners.
IUS released a separate application, EasyWriter II. Completely rewritten by Basic Software Group, IUS emphasized that II—developed with C instead of Forth—"is not an updated version of the original IBM selection or its upgrade".
In an early review of the IBM PC, BYTE stated that EasyWriter for it or the Apple II "didn't seem to be of the same caliber as, say, VisiCalc or the Peachtree business packages", citing the lack of ease of use and slow scrolling as flaws, and advised those who planned to use the IBM PC primarily for word processing to buy another computer until alternative software became available.Andrew Fluegelman wrote in PC Magazine that although EasyWriter 1.0 appeared to be an easy-to-use word processor for casual users, it "contains a few very annoying inconveniences and some very serious traps". He cited several bugs, slow performance, and user-interface issues, and later called it "pretty much a lemon".
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