Nearly two years ago now, back in December 2007, I blogged about Protext. Protext is a word processor that started out life on the Amstrad CPC range of 8 bit micro computers, but also found homes on the Amstrad PCW, Atari ST, Acorn Archimedes, Commodore Amiga and PC running DOS. It also appeared on the Amstrad NC series of portable computers.
Anyway, the primary reason for that post was to provide a link to the new home for the website as I’d had a little fun tracking it down since Google links hadn’t updated (likely due to the site not having been removed by the ISP!).
There are two reasons for this follow up. Firstly to provide a track back to the original post and a link to the new location, since it has moved once more. I’ve been in touch with Mark Tilley again (who provided the link for me) and the Wikipedia page has been updated, which should help Google find it.
The second one is to make note that it is now a free download. It isn’t open source, but as a nostalgia point, and for those that still enjoy using it, the last version for the PC, Atari and Amiga is available as a binary download.
Oh, and again, I guess I should put the link in:
I’ve just tried (11.7.17) the link you gave above in 2009 – http://www.tigerteam.co.uk/protext/ – and got this: “You do not have permission to view this directory or page.” However, here’s an alternative: https://web.archive.org/web/20140825104412/www.tigerteam.co.uk/protext/
One unusually good feature of Protext is the option to create and use your own spelling “dictionary”, or several of them, in addition to OR INSTEAD OF that supplied, and the option (when using the supplied dictionary) to have a list of unwanted words as an “exclusion dictionary”.
One example of how useful this can be is if you are writing simple texts for anyone learning a language. You can create “user dictionaries” including only the words learners can be expected to know or learn at different stages, and use these to check the texts accordingly.
Do you know, please, of any Windows or Linux word processor that offers similar flexibility?
Would be great to get hold of Prodata too. I have the Amiga version but would love to have the PC version too.