<s>
Atari	B-Protocol
Word	I-Protocol
Processor	I-Protocol
is	O
a	O
word	B-General_Concept
processor	I-General_Concept
program	O
for	O
the	O
Atari	B-Device
8-bit	I-Device
family	I-Device
,	O
announced	O
by	O
Atari	O
,	O
Inc	O
.	O
in	O
January	O
1981	O
and	O
shipped	O
that	O
summer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
also	O
quite	O
complex	O
,	O
with	O
a	O
long	O
list	O
of	O
control	B-Device
keys	I-Device
for	O
basic	O
operations	O
and	O
text-based	O
menus	O
for	O
more	O
complex	O
ones	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Technical	O
requirements	O
were	O
demanding	O
;	O
it	O
required	O
48kB	O
of	O
RAM	B-Architecture
,	O
required	O
at	O
least	O
one	O
floppy	B-Device
disk	I-Device
drive	I-Device
,	O
and	O
required	O
an	O
external	O
parallel	B-Device
port	I-Device
adaptor	O
to	O
connect	O
to	O
a	O
dot-matrix	B-General_Concept
printer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
limited	O
machine	O
support	O
and	O
demanding	O
requirements	O
led	O
Atari	O
to	O
release	O
AtariWriter	B-Protocol
the	O
next	O
year	O
with	O
the	O
launch	O
of	O
the	O
XL	O
series	O
machines	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
AtariWriter	B-Protocol
offered	O
most	O
of	O
the	O
features	O
of	O
Word	B-General_Concept
Processor	I-General_Concept
but	O
was	O
much	O
easier	O
to	O
use	O
and	O
shipped	O
on	O
a	O
single	O
16kB	O
ROM	B-Protocol
cartridge	I-Protocol
that	O
ran	O
across	O
the	O
entire	O
lineup	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
members	O
of	O
the	O
Atari	B-Device
8-bit	I-Device
family	I-Device
,	O
the	O
400	O
and	O
800	O
,	O
began	O
shipping	O
in	O
November	O
1979	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
original	O
idea	O
for	O
having	O
two	O
members	O
of	O
the	O
family	O
was	O
to	O
sell	O
the	O
800	O
into	O
the	O
professional	O
market	O
,	O
then	O
dominated	O
by	O
CP/M	B-Application
machines	O
and	O
the	O
Apple	B-Device
II	I-Device
,	O
while	O
the	O
400	O
was	O
aimed	O
at	O
children	O
,	O
education	O
and	O
gaming	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Among	O
the	O
many	O
programs	O
being	O
used	O
on	O
CP/M	B-Application
,	O
word	B-General_Concept
processing	I-General_Concept
had	O
emerged	O
as	O
a	O
significant	O
force	O
and	O
WordStar	B-Application
had	O
become	O
a	O
major	O
market	O
unto	O
itself	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Normally	O
$149	O
,	O
between	O
September	O
1	O
and	O
October	O
31	O
it	O
was	O
offered	O
free	O
to	O
anyone	O
that	O
purchased	O
an	O
800	O
and	O
810	B-Device
disk	I-Device
drive	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
program	O
ran	O
only	O
on	O
the	O
Atari	B-Device
800	I-Device
with	O
48kB	O
of	O
RAM	B-Architecture
and	O
operating	O
system	O
"	O
B	O
"	O
ROMs	O
,	O
which	O
was	O
the	O
vast	O
majority	O
of	O
800	O
production	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
also	O
needed	O
at	O
least	O
one	O
disk	O
drive	O
,	O
and	O
to	O
print	O
,	O
the	O
850	O
Interface	O
Module	O
along	O
with	O
a	O
suitable	O
Centronics-port	B-Device
based	I-Device
printer	O
like	O
the	O
Atari	O
825	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
the	O
introduction	O
of	O
the	O
1200XL	B-Device
in	O
1983	O
,	O
Atari	O
needed	O
a	O
new	O
word	B-General_Concept
processor	I-General_Concept
that	O
ran	O
in	O
the	O
expanded	O
operating	O
system	O
and	O
memory	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Instead	O
of	O
upgrading	O
Atari	B-Protocol
Word	I-Protocol
Processor	I-Protocol
,	O
they	O
hired	O
the	O
author	O
of	O
a	O
well-received	O
3rd	O
party	O
product	O
and	O
introduced	O
the	O
entirely	O
new	O
AtariWriter	B-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
was	O
in	O
the	O
form	O
of	O
a	O
16kB	O
ROM	B-Protocol
cartridge	I-Protocol
that	O
ran	O
on	O
all	O
of	O
the	O
Atari	O
lineup	O
even	O
with	O
as	O
little	O
as	O
16kB	O
RAM	B-Architecture
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
program	O
shipped	O
on	O
two	O
floppy	B-Device
disks	I-Device
,	O
a	O
copy	B-Application
protected	I-Application
one	O
containing	O
the	O
program	O
itself	O
,	O
and	O
another	O
unprotected	O
disk	O
with	O
various	O
document	O
examples	O
for	O
training	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
also	O
included	O
a	O
cassette	B-Device
tape	I-Device
that	O
included	O
a	O
lengthy	O
audio	O
recording	O
used	O
as	O
training	O
aid	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Movement	O
and	O
basic	O
editing	O
were	O
handled	O
using	O
an	O
extensive	O
list	O
of	O
control	B-Device
keys	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Basic	O
cursor	O
movement	O
did	O
not	O
use	O
the	O
cursor	B-Device
keys	I-Device
,	O
nor	O
did	O
they	O
follow	O
the	O
WordStar	B-Application
pattern	O
in	O
spite	O
of	O
those	O
being	O
the	O
de	O
facto	O
standard	O
of	O
the	O
era	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
was	O
triggered	O
by	O
pressing	O
the	O
function	B-Application
key	I-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
48kB	O
RAM	B-Architecture
of	O
the	O
machines	O
,	O
combined	O
with	O
the	O
large	O
size	O
of	O
the	O
program	O
and	O
the	O
need	O
to	O
load	O
DOS	O
,	O
left	O
only	O
about	O
10kB	O
of	O
free	O
memory	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Word	B-General_Concept
Processor	I-General_Concept
did	O
not	O
support	O
any	O
of	O
the	O
daisy	O
wheel	O
printers	O
available	O
at	O
the	O
time	O
,	O
only	O
supporting	O
dot	B-General_Concept
matrix	I-General_Concept
printers	O
like	O
Atari	O
's	O
825	O
(	O
a	O
relabeled	O
Centronics	O
737	O
)	O
or	O
the	O
widely	O
recommended	O
Epson	O
MX-80	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Jon	O
Loveless	O
,	O
writing	O
in	O
the	O
charter	O
issue	O
of	O
Antic	O
,	O
began	O
his	O
comparison	O
review	O
by	O
calling	O
Atari	B-Protocol
Word	I-Protocol
Processor	I-Protocol
"	O
the	O
most	O
sophisticated	O
and	O
powerful	O
of	O
the	O
three	O
programs	O
being	O
compared	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Another	O
comparison	O
review	O
in	O
Creative	B-General_Concept
Computing	I-General_Concept
came	O
to	O
much	O
the	O
same	O
conclusion	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Philip	O
Good	O
introduced	O
:	O
"	O
The	O
Atari	B-Protocol
Word	I-Protocol
Processor	I-Protocol
has	O
the	O
best	O
text-editor	O
of	O
the	O
three	O
full-screen	O
word	B-General_Concept
processors	I-General_Concept
,	O
if	O
you	O
can	O
figure	O
out	O
how	O
to	O
use	O
it.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
later	O
review	O
of	O
its	O
replacement	O
,	O
AtariWriter	B-Protocol
,	O
started	O
by	O
summing	O
up	O
Word	B-General_Concept
Processor	I-General_Concept
by	O
stating	O
"	O
It	O
was	O
a	O
fairly	O
expensive	O
word	B-General_Concept
processor	I-General_Concept
that	O
had	O
an	O
enormous	O
number	O
of	O
functions	O
and	O
features	O
"	O
but	O
while	O
it	O
"	O
was	O
very	O
versatile	O
,	O
 [ it ] 	O
was	O
also	O
rather	O
cumbersome.	O
"	O
</s>
