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Microsoft Creative Writer (1993)

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Re: Microsoft Creative Writer (1993)

#11

Post by DaiPlusPlus »

makerofspoons wrote: post #8

If this looked familiar to you but isn't quite the program you remember, you might have used Storybook Weaver (1994) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storybook_Weaver I wonder if there's a market for a new word processor for children? When I volunteer in schools students seem to be made to use Google Docs or Office, which I imagine is initially overwhelming.

> I wonder if there's a market for a new word processor for children?

Undoubtedly.

...but not one that the market will pay actual money for, so you'll have to plaster it in ads - but having ads targeting children is unethical and/or illegal.

Re: Microsoft Creative Writer (1993)

#12

Post by bitwize »

Oh, man, McZee. That creepy, purple, Hypnotoad-eyed waste of corporate imagination. Could it get more 90s than that?

...Apparently there was an expansion pack featuring PBS literacy icon, Ghostwriter! So yes, it could and did get more 90s than that.

Re: Microsoft Creative Writer (1993)

#14

Post by blibble »

Theodores wrote: post #9

Not sure this was on sale in the UK. Never heard of it. But I didn't know Bob in period, either. The internet has a great way of revealing entire back catalogues.

I had Creative Writer 1 as a kid in the UK

(supplied with a prebuilt PC)

my neighbours had Bob!

Re: Microsoft Creative Writer (1993)

#15

Post by buescher »

Honestly, I was not a huge fan of 90s Microsoft, and I certainly never used this thing, but I really miss this kind of fun and whimsy and the bicycle-for-the-mind (even if you're only going to ride in circles in front of your house) quality of 80s-90s personal computing and desktop applications.

Re: Microsoft Creative Writer (1993)

#17

Post by Wistar »

buescher wrote: post #15

Honestly, I was not a huge fan of 90s Microsoft, and I certainly never used this thing, but I really miss this kind of fun and whimsy and the bicycle-for-the-mind (even if you're only going to ride in circles in front of your house) quality of 80s-90s personal computing and desktop applications.

Their circa ~1995 3D Movie Maker was pretty cool, though.

Re: Microsoft Creative Writer (1993)

#18

Post by TeaDude »

buescher wrote: post #15

Honestly, I was not a huge fan of 90s Microsoft, and I certainly never used this thing, but I really miss this kind of fun and whimsy and the bicycle-for-the-mind (even if you're only going to ride in circles in front of your house) quality of 80s-90s personal computing and desktop applications.

Microsoft Fine Artist is actually a very good educational tool.

Subtly teaching kids about vanishing points and perspective is genius, hats off to whichever team was responsible for it.

Re: Microsoft Creative Writer (1993)

#19

Post by linguae »

makerofspoons wrote: post #8

If this looked familiar to you but isn't quite the program you remember, you might have used Storybook Weaver (1994) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storybook_Weaver I wonder if there's a market for a new word processor for children? When I volunteer in schools students seem to be made to use Google Docs or Office, which I imagine is initially overwhelming.

Back when I was in elementary school in the 1990s we learned word processing using the ClarisWorks office suite on 68k Performa 575 models running System 7. While nostalgia may be clouding my opinions, I do remember ClarisWorks being easy to use. We also had access to Apple eMate laptops which ran the same operating system as the Newton. They had a word processing application on them, and we'd use these laptops in class to type short reports, which we would later print and give to the teacher to grade. I forgot the name of the word processing application, though; it's been 21 years since elementary school and the last time I saw an eMate.

Re: Microsoft Creative Writer (1993)

#20

Post by nathos »

linguae wrote: post #19
makerofspoons wrote: post #8

If this looked familiar to you but isn't quite the program you remember, you might have used Storybook Weaver (1994) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storybook_Weaver I wonder if there's a market for a new word processor for children? When I volunteer in schools students seem to be made to use Google Docs or Office, which I imagine is initially overwhelming.

Back when I was in elementary school in the 1990s we learned word processing using the ClarisWorks office suite on 68k Performa 575 models running System 7. While nostalgia may be clouding my opinions, I do remember ClarisWorks being easy to use. We also had access to Apple eMate laptops which ran the same operating system as the Newton. They had a word processing application on them, and we'd use these laptops in cl…

It was probably Newton Works: https://www.newted.org/download/manuals/0306284ANWWPUM.PDF (PDF User manual)
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