Can I expect Appleworks DRAW to be upgraded? I have Ataxia and it's an absolute gem for me - but it's getting sticky.

Question

Cwk DRAW is a winner! But it's getting sticky. I have Pages as well but tryiing to do illustrations with it laughable. Or cryable. Why does't Apple see the chance to polish up their wonderful DRAW.V6.cwk?

Answer 1

I too LOVE AppleWorks Draw element.  I never much used any of the other parts including Paint.  I now have over a thousand draw documents and continue to create more to this day.  I get complements for the graphic qualities of flyers I've made with AW6.  I use it to create forms for business and personal needs, electrical schematics, floor plans, charts, business cards, brochures.  The list is endless.  A great 'sidekick' to AW6 is Graphic Converter.  It's a Shareware product out of Germany that works great for many tasks AW can't do.  And I only use maybe 5% of the functions GC is capable of doing.
I love Pages as a MS WORD replacement.  It is a joke to try to use it to replace any graphic program. I tried EasyDraw and found it may be a good replacement for someone to use starting out but impossible to convert my many AWDraw documents as doing so imports the entire document as single (ie: grouped) graphic object.
My solution: I spent $215 for a used but in great condition flat screen iMac running on OS10.5.8.  That is the most current OS that can run AW6 without problems. It is fast (ie: building a graphic font menu to select from) and free of deterioration.  Using Printer Sharing, I can print wirelessly via my MacMini running Mtn Lion.
On 10.6.8, AW falls apart quite rapidly.  Auxillary windows fail after only a few minutes to a half hour if I am lucky.  For instance, the font size window will open with the size field blank instead of with the size of the selected text shown.  Entering a number fails.  At that point, I can still use the [command-> or command-< to enlargen or shrink by one point size] so there are workarounds for many of these bugs.  At that point, I usually save the document, quite AW and then restart it for a few more minutes before problems arise.  My MBPro runs 10.6.8, so I still use it for mobile convenience then move my creation over to the iMac for permenant storage.
And I agree with the idea of Apple putting in the time to evolve the Draw element of AW into a program that runs on the new OS's.  All the other parts have fine replacements: Pages, Numbers, Keynotes, Filemaker/Bento, etc. Draw stands out as the sole element left behind by "Progress".