[conclusion of Barker article at top of this page]

WORDSTAR 3.0 and 3.3 both have built-in delays for 2MHz terminals and micros. These involve everything from the sign-on message to the menus.

On a Big Board microcomputer or any micro with a central processor that runs at 4+MHz, like the Xerox 820-II, these delays can be reduced to next to nothing. The result is that WORDSTAR runs much faster. As dramatic as the changes are for the eight-bit microcomputer, like the 820-II, they are even more dramatic for the much slower 16-bit micros with 4+MHz central processors.

The speed-up changes can be made with either DDT.COM (WORDSTAR 3.0 is a SAVE 96--see special note for WS with the RANDOM HOUSE THESAURUS below*) or with WORDSTAR's patcher. For those who don't think 3.3 has a patcher type "+" ( even though it's not listed) in screen 1 of WINSTALL. You'll be delighted by what you find: A UNDOCUMENTED "CUSTOM MODIFICATION ROUTINE." While the HEX values in 3.3 are different than those in 3.0, to date, it appears that the labels still work. Here are the labels and the HEX values for the changes with the new values **:

	 --WS 3.0--  	--WS 3.3--

 	LABEL	HEX 	LABEL 	HEX 	NEW VALUE

 	DEL1: 	02CF 	:DELI 	2CFH 	01**
 	DEL2: 	02D0 	:DEL2 	2DOH 	01**
 	DEL3: 	02D1 	:DEL3 	2D1H 	01**
 	DEL4: 	02D2 	:DEL4 	2D2H 	01**
 	DEL5: 	2D3H 	:DEL5 	2D3H 	01**
      DELCUS: 	02AE 	:DELCUS 2AEH 	00
      DELMIS: 	02AF 	:DELMIS 2AFH 	00

*If you're running the RANDOM HOUSE THESAURUS modification to WORDSTAR 3.0 (to date, it's not available for 3.3), you must use DDT to make the changes (WINSTALL for 3.0 will not change a THESAURUS-installed WORDSTAR). The save for it is "SAVE 105." If you'd like to get the delays out of a WS-THESAURUS, change locations 4798 and 4799 to 01.

**The manual for WORDSTAR 3.0 (p. E-16), recommends changing these in proportion. The proportion from DEL1 to DEL5 is approximately 1, 3, 6, 12, 3. However, I have had no problems with the values above as long as the Help Level is zero. For slower micros, like the IBM-PC, it will be necessary to use higher values for more pause. For the IBM-PC, you might try 01, 04, 20, 00. 00

One of the features WORDSTAR has always seemed to lack is page scrolling. However, by using the control QF command (FIND), you can scroll any number of lines. When asked for FIND?, type control N (carriage return) and type return. When asked for OPTION?, type the number of lines you'd like to scroll (a page is 55) and type return. With a little in-head addition, you can move easily to various pages. To move backwards, add the B option to the number.