<s>
WriteNow	B-Operating_System
was	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
two	O
original	O
word	B-General_Concept
processor	I-General_Concept
applications	B-Application
developed	O
for	O
the	O
launch	O
of	O
the	O
Apple	B-Device
Macintosh	I-Device
in	O
1984	O
,	O
and	O
was	O
the	O
primary	O
word	B-General_Concept
processor	I-General_Concept
for	O
computers	O
manufactured	O
by	O
NeXT	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
WriteNow	B-Operating_System
was	O
purchased	O
from	O
T/Maker	B-Application
by	O
WordStar	B-Application
in	O
1993	O
,	O
but	O
shortly	O
after	O
that	O
,	O
WordStar	B-Application
merged	O
with	O
SoftKey	O
,	O
which	O
ultimately	O
led	O
to	O
its	O
discontinuation	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
WriteNow	B-Operating_System
was	O
written	O
for	O
Apple	O
Computer	O
,	O
Inc.	O
,	O
by	O
John	O
Anderson	O
and	O
Bill	O
Tschumy	O
in	O
Seattle	O
,	O
separate	O
from	O
the	O
Macintosh	B-Device
computer	I-Device
and	O
MacWrite	B-Operating_System
word	B-General_Concept
processor	I-General_Concept
development	O
teams	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Steve	O
Jobs	O
was	O
concerned	O
that	O
those	O
programming	O
MacWrite	B-Operating_System
were	O
not	O
going	O
to	O
be	O
ready	O
for	O
the	O
1984	O
release	O
date	O
of	O
the	O
Macintosh	B-Device
;	O
Apple	O
Computer	O
therefore	O
commissioned	O
a	O
team	O
of	O
programmers	O
,	O
friends	O
of	O
Apple	O
engineer	O
Bud	O
Tribble	O
,	O
to	O
work	O
independently	O
on	O
a	O
similar	O
project	O
,	O
which	O
eventually	O
became	O
WriteNow	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
Members	O
of	O
the	O
WriteNow	B-Operating_System
team	O
knew	O
about	O
MacWrite	B-Operating_System
,	O
but	O
members	O
of	O
the	O
MacWrite	B-Operating_System
team	O
did	O
not	O
know	O
about	O
WriteNow	B-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
Ultimately	O
,	O
MacWrite	B-Operating_System
was	O
completed	O
on	O
schedule	O
and	O
shipped	O
with	O
the	O
Macintosh	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
This	O
left	O
WriteNow	B-Operating_System
in	O
limbo	O
until	O
Jobs	O
left	O
Apple	O
to	O
form	O
NeXT	O
and	O
bought	O
Solaster	O
Software	O
which	O
was	O
started	O
by	O
John	O
Anderson	O
,	O
Bill	O
Tschumy	O
and	O
Christopher	O
Stinson	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
John	O
and	O
Bill	O
,	O
the	O
authors	O
of	O
WriteNow	B-Operating_System
,	O
joined	O
NeXT	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
WriteNow	B-Operating_System
marketing	O
rights	O
ended	O
up	O
being	O
owned	O
by	O
NeXT	O
,	O
and	O
WriteNow	B-Operating_System
released	O
for	O
the	O
Macintosh	B-Device
in	O
1985	O
,	O
published	O
by	O
the	O
T/Maker	B-Application
Company	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
October	O
1988	O
,	O
WriteNow	B-Operating_System
2.0	O
was	O
released	O
on	O
Macintosh	B-Device
,	O
adding	O
dictionaries	O
,	O
character	O
/	O
word	O
/	O
paragraph	O
count	O
,	O
import	O
and	O
export	O
of	O
RTF	O
and	O
MacWrite	B-Operating_System
files	O
,	O
and	O
updated	O
compatibility	O
with	O
recent	O
system	O
enhancements	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
WriteNow	B-Operating_System
improved	O
on	O
some	O
of	O
the	O
limitations	O
of	O
MacWrite	B-Operating_System
through	O
the	O
better	O
handling	O
of	O
large	O
documents	O
and	O
the	O
addition	O
of	O
features	O
such	O
as	O
spell	B-Application
check	I-Application
and	O
footnotes	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
"	O
lean	O
and	O
fast	O
,	O
"	O
being	O
written	O
entirely	O
in	O
assembly	B-Language
language	I-Language
,	O
and	O
it	O
was	O
suited	O
for	O
Macintosh	B-Device
users	O
with	O
only	O
400	O
KB	O
floppy	B-Device
disk	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
WriteNow	B-Operating_System
went	O
through	O
several	O
versions	O
culminating	O
(	O
in	O
1993	O
)	O
with	O
version	O
4.0.2	O
,	O
which	O
continued	O
the	O
"	O
lean	O
and	O
fast	O
"	O
reputation	O
while	O
adding	O
features	O
such	O
as	O
tables	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
the	O
opinion	O
of	O
many	O
of	O
its	O
users	O
,	O
WriteNow	B-Operating_System
represented	O
the	O
ideal	O
Macintosh	B-Device
application	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
had	O
a	O
simple	O
,	O
intuitive	O
graphical	B-Application
user	I-Application
interface	I-Application
(	O
GUI	B-Application
)	O
,	O
no	O
copy	B-Application
protection	I-Application
,	O
and	O
it	O
worked	O
in	O
practically	O
every	O
revision	O
of	O
the	O
Macintosh	B-Device
operating	O
system	O
,	O
including	O
in	O
the	O
Mac	B-Device
68k	I-Device
emulator	I-Device
on	O
PowerPC	B-Architecture
Macs	B-Device
and	O
in	O
the	O
Classic	O
Environment	O
under	O
Mac	B-Operating_System
OS	I-Operating_System
X	I-Operating_System
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
written	O
in	O
assembly	B-Language
language	I-Language
(	O
Motorola	B-Device
680x0	I-Device
)	O
by	O
a	O
group	O
of	O
developers	O
who	O
had	O
a	O
reputation	O
for	O
producing	O
extremely	O
efficient	O
code	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
user	B-Application
interface	I-Application
was	O
unusual	O
in	O
that	O
,	O
while	O
the	O
typical	O
word	B-General_Concept
processor	I-General_Concept
had	O
a	O
ruler	O
embedded	O
in	O
the	O
main	O
document	O
window	O
,	O
WriteNow	B-Operating_System
used	O
a	O
separate	O
,	O
fixed	O
window	O
that	O
could	O
be	O
sent	O
into	O
the	O
background	O
,	O
freeing	O
screen	O
space	O
on	O
the	O
compact	O
Mac	B-Device
's	O
small	O
nine-inch	O
screen	O
to	O
display	O
an	O
additional	O
line	O
or	O
two	O
of	O
text	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Early	O
on	O
WriteNow	B-Operating_System
was	O
ported	O
to	O
the	O
NeXT	O
operating	O
system	O
and	O
was	O
subsequently	O
bundled	O
with	O
NeXT	O
workstations	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Due	O
to	O
concerns	O
of	O
third-party	O
publishers	O
such	O
as	O
WordPerfect	B-Application
over	O
the	O
issue	O
of	O
competing	O
with	O
a	O
free	O
word	B-General_Concept
processor	I-General_Concept
,	O
it	O
was	O
unbundled	O
1st	O
October	O
1991	O
and	O
ownership	O
transferred	O
to	O
Appsoft	O
,	O
which	O
sold	O
it	O
as	O
shrink-wrapped	O
software	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
From	O
that	O
time	O
,	O
NeXTSTEP	B-Application
shipped	O
without	O
a	O
full-featured	O
word	O
processing	O
program	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
WriteNow	B-Operating_System
for	O
NeXT	O
became	O
available	O
for	O
sale	O
on	O
October	O
15	O
for	O
$199	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
WriteNow	B-Operating_System
was	O
written	O
in	O
Motorola	B-Device
68k	I-Device
assembly	B-Language
language	I-Language
,	O
upon	O
which	O
the	O
NeXT	O
hardware	O
was	O
based	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
'	O
s	O
Apple	O
Applications	B-Application
in	O
1987	O
wrote	O
that	O
"	O
WriteNow	B-Operating_System
is	O
the	O
Pegasus	O
of	O
Macintosh	B-Device
word	B-General_Concept
processors	I-General_Concept
—	O
swift	O
,	O
easy	O
to	O
learn	O
and	O
use	O
,	O
and	O
packed	O
with	O
power	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
MacUser	O
gave	O
WriteNow	B-Operating_System
2.0	O
for	O
Macintosh	B-Device
a	O
4	O
mice	O
(	O
out	O
of	O
5	O
)	O
in	O
the	O
August	O
1989	O
issue	O
,	O
pitting	O
it	O
against	O
MacWrite	B-Operating_System
II	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
WriteNow	B-Operating_System
won	O
MacUser	O
's	O
Editor	O
's	O
Choice	O
Award	O
for	O
Best	O
New	O
Word	B-General_Concept
Processor	I-General_Concept
in	O
1986	O
and	O
1988	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Around	O
1993	O
,	O
rights	O
to	O
WriteNow	B-Operating_System
(	O
for	O
both	O
Macintosh	B-Device
and	O
NeXT	O
operating	O
systems	O
)	O
were	O
purchased	O
by	O
WordStar	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
Shortly	O
after	O
that	O
,	O
WordStar	B-Application
merged	O
with	O
SoftKey	O
,	O
and	O
WriteNow	B-Operating_System
was	O
later	O
discontinued	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
lifecycle	O
of	O
computers	O
using	O
the	O
680x0	B-Device
architecture	O
was	O
coming	O
to	O
an	O
end	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
architecture-specific	O
assembly	B-Language
language	I-Language
code	O
that	O
made	O
WriteNow	B-Operating_System
so	O
much	O
faster	O
than	O
its	O
competitors	O
also	O
made	O
it	O
much	O
more	O
difficult	O
to	O
port	O
to	O
the	O
new	O
PowerPC	B-Architecture
processor	I-Architecture
than	O
competing	O
word	B-General_Concept
processors	I-General_Concept
written	O
in	O
high-level	B-Language
languages	I-Language
such	O
as	O
C	B-Language
.	O
</s>
