There are many things I like to do on a computer. But there is only one thing I must do on a computer: write. My requirements for writing are modest. All I need is a computer that can run a word processing program with a spell checker, and that can handle large documents. These basic requirements are met by a 386 with WordPerfect 5.1 installed. Yes, ancient prehistory to anyone who has come to computers at the dawn of the Internet age, but there is a bit of historical fact for you.
The computer I used for the last several years was better than a 386. I had done my writing work on a Pentium 90 MHz running Windows 95. This worked great for typing in the Dos WP 5.1. It was adequate, but slow, for running Windows 95 software. Only one or two of the earliest Win95 games worked, but I could run an e-mail program, an advanced HTML editor, and a browser, so I could pretty well do any productive thing I needed on my faithful computer.
People would ask me when I would get a new computer, and I would always answer with indifference. There was no question that I would like a better computer, but I certainly didn’t need one. As a starving artist, my funds are better directed in other ways. Watching me use, or using my plodding computer, gave other people pricks of irritation as they knew, and sometimes verbally mentioned, how cheaply I could get a computer ten times faster. They had to suffer with me.
Until now. An uncle has graciously given me an old computer that he picked up for a pittance. It is a sign of how very old my Pentium was that a Pentium II 350 MHz running Windows 98 could be bought for next to nothing. I’m still way, way, behind the technology curve, but this “new” computer has nonetheless made my life much easier.
The Pentium II needed a CD drive, but that didn’t bother me. I am a bit of a computer nerd, so the first thing I did was swap in the hard drive and CD drive from my old computer. Now I have two hard drives in my new computer. If I start feeling really rich, I can buy another piece of RAM for $26 and a CD-rewritable drive for $60. The extra RAM is cheap, the CR-RW is tempting, but what I really need is a laser printer, which is $200. I don’t know what I’m going to do.
This Pentium II enables me to run my old Windows programs faster, and also allows me to run some newer programs. I will be able to do more graphics editing (maybe even download digital pictures), and even play a few more games.
What I am happiest about at the moment is the increased speed in the programs that I am accustomed to using. Anything I previously ran in Windows had a “grind” load time. My poor old computer couldn’t even keep up with the cable Internet connection I used. The new computer has taken much of the lag out of my life, and given me some more computing options.
Of course, this change has also messed up my life. While it was painless and quick for me to move in my old hard drive and CD drive, this was only the beginning. Next, I went to OpenOffice.org and downloaded their software suite. This was a breeze to install, and after only a little effort I had my novel imported into the new word processing program. This completed the mission critical phase.
However, the second half of adjusting to my new computer is the more time-intensive and difficult portion. All the Windows programs I had installed on my old Pentium won’t simply work on my new computer. (If you are knowledgeable about Windows you know why. If not, I won’t bother you with the long explanation.) The process of reinstalling those I intend to reinstall, and porting the data for those I don’t, is a process which I’ve only just begun. I dread it will be very frustrating and time consuming. Right now I am operating with a bare minimum of installed programs and waiting for time to magically free up so I can make further progress. Such grumblings aside, I’m upbeat about the eventual outcome.
The Good Old Days
I feel like I ought to write an ode to the passing of WordPerfect 5.1. You will hear some writers talk about how they loved their old typewriters–I have similar feelings about WP 5.1. I came of age after typewriters, when WP 5.1 was a new, solid, much used word processing program. This modern Windows generation would freak out if they sat down in front of the blank blue screen I so fondly know, a screen which wasn’t the blue screen of death but instead the blissfully empty space on which you were supposed to type.
Yes, I am nostalgic. I’ve spent unnumbered hours typing in that program, and it has served me well. It wasn’t fancy. It did what it was told. Shall I continue the list? It never crashed. It was fast. It saved files smaller than Microsoft Word.
To have such a loyal program pass into the annals of history without a mention seems a shame, so I have spoken up. Now my memory of all those wonderful concise keyboard shortcuts will fade into my distant past, and I too will know nothing more than a graphical user interface. (I’m thinking of getting into Linux to compensate).
The only complaint I could give about WP was the simple fact that it was old. It felt hundreds of times faster than any of these modern so-called word processing programs, but it couldn’t do desk-top publishing, and it knew nothing about the printers of this most recent generation. In the end, printing is what a writer needs most. OpenOffice.org can’t do as well as WP 5.1, but it can do more things, and can do everything good enough. So the time at long last has come for me to move on.
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