<s>
ST	B-Protocol
Writer	I-Protocol
is	O
a	O
word	B-General_Concept
processor	I-General_Concept
program	O
for	O
the	O
Atari	B-Device
ST	I-Device
series	O
of	O
personal	B-Device
computers	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
is	O
a	O
port	O
of	O
Atari	O
's	O
AtariWriter	B-Protocol
Plus	I-Protocol
from	O
the	O
earlier	O
8-bit	B-Device
computer	I-Device
series	I-Device
,	O
matching	O
it	O
closely	O
enough	O
to	O
share	O
files	O
across	O
platforms	O
unchanged	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ST	B-Protocol
Writer	I-Protocol
did	O
not	O
use	O
a	O
graphical	B-Application
user	I-Application
interface	I-Application
(	O
GUI	B-Application
)	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Atari	O
said	O
it	O
was	O
intended	O
as	O
a	O
stop-gap	O
until	O
a	O
GUI	B-Application
word	B-General_Concept
processor	I-General_Concept
was	O
available	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
When	O
this	O
became	O
available	O
at	O
the	O
end	O
of	O
1985	O
in	O
the	O
form	O
of	O
1st	B-Protocol
Word	I-Protocol
,	O
ST	B-Protocol
Writer	I-Protocol
stopped	O
being	O
distributed	O
with	O
new	O
machines	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
continued	O
to	O
be	O
supported	O
through	O
multiple	O
major	O
updates	O
until	O
1992	O
,	O
when	O
it	O
was	O
known	O
as	O
ST	B-Protocol
Writer	I-Protocol
Elite	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
1981	O
,	O
Atari	O
introduced	O
Atari	B-Protocol
Word	I-Protocol
Processor	I-Protocol
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
required	O
an	O
800	O
with	O
48kB	O
and	O
a	O
810	B-Device
disk	I-Device
drive	I-Device
,	O
and	O
left	O
memory	O
for	O
about	O
one	O
page	O
of	O
text	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
a	O
year	O
on	O
the	O
market	O
,	O
Atari	O
replaced	O
Word	B-General_Concept
Processor	I-General_Concept
with	O
the	O
AtariWriter	B-Protocol
in	O
1982	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
shipped	O
on	O
a	O
ROM	B-Protocol
cartridge	I-Protocol
that	O
allowed	O
it	O
to	O
run	O
on	O
any	O
machine	O
in	O
the	O
Atari	O
lineup	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
AtariWriter	B-Protocol
sold	O
an	O
estimated	O
800,000	O
copies	O
of	O
the	O
US	O
version	O
,	O
not	O
including	O
sales	O
of	O
the	O
international	O
versions	O
or	O
any	O
of	O
the	O
later	O
disk-based	O
releases	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
updated	O
version	O
followed	O
;	O
AtariWriter	B-Protocol
Plus	I-Protocol
added	O
80-column	O
typing	O
using	O
horizontal	O
scrolling	O
,	O
a	O
feature	O
of	O
the	O
earlier	O
Word	B-General_Concept
Processor	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
Under	O
new	O
management	O
,	O
Atari	O
sold	O
existing	O
stock	O
of	O
the	O
8-bit	O
series	O
cheaply	O
while	O
developing	O
a	O
new	O
16-bit	O
machine	O
,	O
developing	O
into	O
the	O
Atari	B-Device
ST	I-Device
series	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Lacking	O
a	O
word	B-General_Concept
processor	I-General_Concept
,	O
the	O
company	O
decided	O
to	O
port	O
AtariWriter	B-Protocol
Plus	I-Protocol
to	O
the	O
new	O
platform	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
screen	O
editor	O
,	O
whose	O
performance	O
would	O
be	O
critical	O
,	O
was	O
ported	O
directly	O
in	O
assembler	B-Language
language	I-Language
by	O
Dan	O
Oliver	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
less	O
critical	O
portions	O
,	O
like	O
the	O
menu	O
operation	O
and	O
disk	O
handling	O
,	O
were	O
ported	O
to	O
C	B-Language
by	O
John	O
Feagans	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
resulting	O
program	O
was	O
so	O
similar	O
to	O
the	O
original	O
AtariWriter	B-Protocol
that	O
it	O
could	O
share	O
files	O
unchanged	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
memory	O
of	O
the	O
ST	O
was	O
much	O
larger	O
than	O
the	O
8-bits	O
,	O
allowing	O
long	O
documents	O
to	O
be	O
edited	O
and	O
saved	O
on	O
the	O
larger-capacity	O
3.5-inch	O
floppies	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Atari	O
had	O
always	O
said	O
that	O
ST	B-Protocol
Writer	I-Protocol
was	O
being	O
released	O
as	O
a	O
stop-gap	O
while	O
true	O
GUI	B-Application
word	B-General_Concept
processors	I-General_Concept
emerged	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Atari	O
purchased	O
the	O
rights	O
to	O
1st	B-Protocol
Word	I-Protocol
and	O
distributed	O
it	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Many	O
users	O
preferred	O
ST	B-Protocol
Writer	I-Protocol
over	O
1st	B-Protocol
Word	I-Protocol
due	O
to	O
its	O
speed	O
and	O
powerful	O
features	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
speed	O
was	O
a	O
side-effect	O
of	O
the	O
program	O
using	O
a	O
special	O
text	O
console	O
mode	O
that	O
was	O
intended	O
for	O
rapid	O
output	O
,	O
but	O
it	O
lacked	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
work	O
with	O
the	O
mouse	O
and	O
other	O
event-driven	O
parts	O
of	O
the	O
GUI	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
broke	O
the	O
program	O
into	O
two	O
,	O
the	O
original	O
editor	O
using	O
the	O
same	O
text	O
mode	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
second	O
GUI-based	O
program	O
that	O
allowed	O
some	O
GUI-based	O
control	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Pressing	O
in	O
the	O
editor	O
switched	O
to	O
the	O
original	O
text-based	O
menu	O
screen	O
,	O
while	O
clicking	O
the	O
right-hand	O
mouse	O
button	O
switched	O
to	O
the	O
new	O
GUI-based	O
version	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
other	O
feature	O
of	O
the	O
GUI	B-Application
was	O
the	O
ability	O
to	O
left-click	O
in	O
the	O
editor	O
to	O
send	O
the	O
string	O
of	O
cursor	B-Device
key	I-Device
commands	O
that	O
moved	O
the	O
cursor	O
to	O
the	O
clicked	O
location	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Noonan	O
continued	O
improving	O
the	O
new	O
version	O
,	O
and	O
starting	O
with	O
2.3	O
renamed	O
it	O
ST	B-Protocol
Writer	I-Protocol
Elite	O
to	O
distinguish	O
it	O
from	O
the	O
original	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ST	B-Protocol
Writer	I-Protocol
was	O
very	O
similar	O
to	O
AtariWriter	B-Protocol
,	O
the	O
main	O
difference	O
being	O
the	O
always-on	O
80-column	O
support	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
These	O
appeared	O
in	O
inverse	B-General_Concept
video	I-General_Concept
in	O
the	O
document	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
menu	O
mode	O
offered	O
commands	O
to	O
list	O
the	O
files	O
on	O
the	O
currently	O
inserted	O
floppy	B-Device
disk	I-Device
,	O
create	O
,	O
delete	O
,	O
load	O
and	O
save	O
files	O
,	O
format	O
the	O
disk	O
,	O
and	O
print	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
After	O
loading	O
TOS	B-Application
and	O
ST	B-Protocol
Writer	I-Protocol
,	O
a	O
520ST	O
had	O
about	O
180kB	O
free	O
,	O
enough	O
for	O
well	O
over	O
100	O
typical	O
pages	O
of	O
text	O
,	O
about	O
1500bytes	O
each	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
ST	B-Protocol
Writer	I-Protocol
was	O
well	O
received	O
by	O
its	O
users	O
and	O
reviewers	O
,	O
both	O
for	O
its	O
features	O
and	O
,	O
in	O
particular	O
,	O
its	O
speed	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
a	O
comparison	O
review	O
of	O
seven	O
word	B-General_Concept
processors	I-General_Concept
for	O
the	O
ST	O
in	O
STart	O
magazine	O
,	O
Ian	O
Chadwick	O
called	O
ST	B-Protocol
Writer	I-Protocol
"	O
a	O
capable	O
and	O
mature	O
outgrowth	O
of	O
the	O
successful	O
AtariWriter	B-Protocol
for	O
8-bit	B-Device
Atari	I-Device
's	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
He	O
notes	O
that	O
it	O
is	O
free	O
,	O
and	O
points	O
users	O
to	O
the	O
Atari	O
special	O
interest	O
group	O
on	O
CompuServe	O
or	O
Atari	O
's	O
own	O
bulletin	B-Application
board	I-Application
system	I-Application
to	O
download	O
it	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Writing	O
in	O
ST-Log	O
magazine	O
,	O
David	O
Plotkin	O
says	O
"	O
I	O
suspect	O
ST	B-Protocol
Writer	I-Protocol
's	O
popularity	O
surprised	O
Atari	O
"	O
due	O
to	O
its	O
lack	O
of	O
a	O
GUI	B-Application
and	O
its	O
use	O
of	O
"	O
variety	O
of	O
arcane	O
codes	O
in	O
your	O
document	O
"	O
and	O
other	O
annoying	O
features	O
like	O
only	O
opening	O
a	O
single	O
document	O
at	O
a	O
time	O
and	O
the	O
need	O
to	O
run	O
a	O
separate	O
program	O
to	O
change	O
printers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
He	O
notes	O
"	O
The	O
trade-off	O
for	O
these	O
shortcomings	O
is	O
speed	O
,	O
and	O
many	O
people	O
swear	O
by	O
ST	B-Protocol
Writer	I-Protocol
because	O
it	O
is	O
so	O
fast.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
and	O
that	O
it	O
includes	O
numerous	O
features	O
not	O
seen	O
in	O
most	O
word	B-General_Concept
processors	I-General_Concept
,	O
like	O
"	O
double	O
column	O
printing	O
,	O
headers	O
and	O
footers	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
While	O
reviewing	O
a	O
three-in-one	O
product	O
that	O
contained	O
a	O
word	B-General_Concept
processor	I-General_Concept
,	O
Matt	O
Loveless	O
noted	O
that	O
"	O
I	O
use	O
ST	B-Protocol
Writer	I-Protocol
for	O
long	O
documents	O
that	O
do	O
n't	O
require	O
sophisticated	O
formatting	O
;	O
it	O
's	O
fast	O
and	O
makes	O
major	O
editing	O
a	O
simple	O
job.	O
"	O
</s>
