Computer keyboard problem

I stopped using 'word processors' back in the 1980s (probably, it was so long ago I can't really remember).

Much of my communication is by E-Mail and that *should* be only plain text really, I see no good reason for lots of formatting in an E-Mail.

If you want to emphasise something then *emphasise* it and, if you want a heading:-

A Heading =========

Even letters I write I simply edit some plain text and fire it at the printer, hand written letters don't have big headings so why should simple printed ones?

If I do actually want some formatted text then I use something like reStructuredText (look it up, it's a general sort of markup language) and convert it to HTML or whatever I happen to need.

Big advantage of all this is that I use the same text editor for

That's interesting, but it's rare indeed for me to use anything other than

Ah, thanks for explaining that. Does "running" mean that they have an immediate visible effect, or that they are there, hidden, to be used at need?

I'm very conscious of the fact that I use no more than a tiny (tiny) fraction of what Word can do.

Yes, that's exactly what I mean.

I could of course have been mistaken. When I posted, I was so fed up with the software that it's possible I wasn't seeing straight.

Thanks for your answers.

The Auto- macros run immediately you open, close etc. Whether or not their effect is visible depends on what the macro does :)

Yes, the plethora of options and functions can feel chaotic.

But it's all good training if the day comes when you upgrade to a later version with the monster that is Multilevel lists.

"12pt Courier New" shouts word processor at me! :-)

A text editor doesn't know about typefaces, or sizes or anything, it uses whatever you have set as the default for your system. E.g. in my case (most of the time) it uses the default set in my terminal windows.

I have absolutely no intention of "upgrading" to a later version. Ever!

If I get really upset, Joe's Own Editor (JOE) does a seamless wordstar emulation, albeit in an 80x25 console....

coloredlettrine is a bit of a bastard package :)

Owain

I'm the reverse, don?t do much formatting at all with my own notes which I have a lot of, but do find that colored headings work very well indeed.

You don?t always have a choice on that.

I'm puzzled: what circumstances could force me to change?

Ah, but I work in an industry where exact and precise formatting - especially in the American market - is paramount. I've read of work being rejected out of hand because it was printed with incorrect page margins.

Mostly because some other program you need insists on it

Example. Skype wont now run on my desktop. Skype versions that do are no longer accepted by skype.

All things are possible but Office 97 runs under Windows 10 (64 bit) so MS don't seem to be set on blocking old versions. (I couldn't resist testing in a VM before I threw away my Office 97 disc as part of a clear-out.)

The OS you use is no longer supported and doesn?t get security updates anymore so you have to update the OS and the updated OS wont run that app.

Or something else you decide you would like to use wont run on your older OS.

I'm using Windows 7, which though it's officially no longer supported does receive period security updates.

The only program I've so far come across in that category runs very successfully on my Win10 laptop, so - at the moment, at least - I have things covered.

I take your points, though; thanks.

But that may not be true forever, XP doesn?t anymore.

Not true of Skype for example.

To be honest, my present thinking is that I would sacrifice the latest in security updates if the alternative was having to replace the software I use day in, day out, which I can operate with no conscious thought.

The only time I've ever been hacked (to my knowledge) - and it was a serious business involving my bank account details - I was using a version of Windows 7 which was completely up to date. Since then, Microsoft's assurances about the very latest refinements being absolutely essential tend to ring rather hollow.