AppleWorks 6--the Flip Side

Yesterday we posted positive comments on AW6 resulting from minimal usage, including questioning reports that AW6 is very slow. We got a lot of mail stating that AW6 IS very slow, especially with screen graphics redraws. Since I had previously tried out AW6 on computers with G3 and G4 CPUs and graphics accelerators, I installed AW6 on my PowerBook 2400c. It has a 603e CPU and no graphics accelerator. My email is right. Screen graphics redraws are very slow, even in the "Starting Point" window. Furthermore, bringing up the Finder's Navigation Services window in AW6 is also very slow.

In addition, Dana Baggett wrote: "Add me to the list of those bitten by AW 6. I did a simple one page letter this AM. After printing it, I realized I forgot to include some info. So, I reopened the letter, added a paragraph and then did a Select All and changed the margins. I got a message saying I needed to change the page orientation on Page Setup. Huh? I went to Page Setup and found that my paper size was now A4. Another huh? When I changed the paper size back to Letter, I lost everything. I no longer could see any text although the document still contained 16k of data and Spell Checker still worked. After fiddling some more, I trashed the document and wrote a note by hand. Also, I found that the Envelope Assistant doesn't remember to use Envelope for paper size. AW 6 may not be ready for prime time after all."

Clearly, AW6 is not for older Macs with 68K and slower PowerPC CPUs. This limits its use for those in education who still use these older Macs. AW6 looks and mostly works well on G3-equipped Macs but the serious bugs reported elsewhere and experience by Dana Baggett are cause for serious concern. We can not recommend AW6 until an update that fixes these bugs is posted.