The IBM Personal Computer has trapped itself a mouse. Chasing the Lisa bandwagon, Microsoft has released a mouse-compatible word-processing package.
Microsoft’s mouse only works with its new Multiword package, and only on the IBM PC, but the company plans a Mouse Mark Two, which will fit an RS232 interface on any MS/DOS machine.
There will also be a new version of Multiplan, Microsoft’s other package in its Multitools range, which the mouse will be able to operate quite happily. Multiword will sell for $375 in the US, or $475 with the mouse thrown in, while the mouse alone will cost $195. But Microsoft is not saying how much it will be charging in this country, or when shipments will start.
The package will work either with or without the mouse. It’s compatible with Multiplan, the Microsoft spreadsheet, so data can be passed between the two. It features on-screen formatting, and the mouse can be used to point to chunks of text, then select the appropriate command from the bottom of the screen to underline, copy, put into bold face, and so forth.
Multiword supports foreground and background processing, and different character fonts can be displayed on screen if the micro has the graphics capability. It also features the window concept beloved of Apple, with the option of having several editing windows on different parts of a single document, or onto another document to copy parts of it.