GitHub - nampara-ai/wordstar: The original, unmodified MicroPro WordStar Professional Release 4 from 1987. Desktop version consists of original binaries wrapped in DOSBox staging to run on any modern computer. WebAssembly version runs in any browser.

This is not a clone, a tribute, or a rewrite. The files in ws4/ are the original, unmodified MicroPro WordStar Professional Release 4 binaries from 1987. When you press Ctrl‑K X, the exact machine code that ran on an IBM PC/AT saves your file.

WordStar is a 16‑bit MS‑DOS program, and no modern OS will run it directly (Apple dropped 16‑bit code, 64‑bit Windows refuses DOS apps, Linux never spoke DOS). So this repo wraps the originals in DOSBox Staging — already bundled, for all three platforms — and gives you a single icon to click. No install, no setup, no internet required.

Both run the same WordStar binaries.

⬇️ Install in 30 seconds

Get the files: clone this repo, or download the ZIP and unzip it. Then:

The first launch creates your personal drive/ folder (that's your WordStar disk — the program plus everything you write) and drops you at WordStar's Opening Menu. After that, it just opens.

Then: press D to create a document, type a name like LETTER.DOC, and start writing. Press Alt‑Enter for full screen. Save early and often with Ctrl‑K S — WordStar doesn't autosave.

That's the entire setup. No DOSBox to install — a private copy for your OS is already in this folder. Everything runs completely offline, forever. (Got dosbox-staging or dosbox on your PATH already? The launcher quietly uses it instead.)

⌨️ The 30‑second crash course

WordStar predates the mouse — it's driven by Ctrl‑key commands (written ^ here, so ^KS means Ctrl‑K then S):

^KS   save, keep writing        ^KX   save and exit WordStar
^KD   save, back to the menu     ^KQ   quit WITHOUT saving
^Y    delete the whole line      ^T    delete the next word
^U    un‑erase (undo)            ^B    re‑flow a paragraph
arrows move the cursor           ^J    help        Alt‑Enter  full screen

From the Opening Menu, D opens or creates a document; P prints; X exits to DOS. The bundled WELCOME.DOC walks you through the rest — and the full manual has ten lessons, every command, mail merge, and troubleshooting.

New here? → Read the manual. It's genuinely good, and you'll be fluent in half an hour.

🌐 The browser version

The truly zero‑install way — WordStar running in a web page:

cd web && python3 -m http.server 8000
# now open http://localhost:8000

WordStar boots straight into its Opening Menu. Your work autosaves inside the browser automatically. To save copies to your computer, save in WordStar first (Ctrl‑K S), then click ⬇ Download files in the top bar and pick the documents you want — they're saved as clean, readable text files. (The site needs a small local server rather than a file:// double‑click, because browsers won't load WebAssembly off the bare filesystem.) Every Ctrl‑key works here too — they're captured before the browser sees them.

📂 Where your writing lives

Everything you write is a real file in the drive/ folder next to the launcher (inside WordStar, that folder is drive C:):

drive/LETTER.DOC      ← what you wrote (WordStar's own format — see below)
drive/LETTER.BAK      ← WordStar's automatic backup of your previous save

Deleted something you wanted? Your last save is sitting in the matching .BAK file. File names are DOS‑style 8.3 (up to 8 characters, a dot, up to 3 — CHAPTER1.DOC).

One thing to know: WordStar's normal "document mode" saves in its own 1980s format — it flags the last letter of each word and each word‑wrapped line break by setting a high bit, so the file looks subtly garbled in Notepad or TextEdit (thE quicK browN foX). Two easy ways to get clean modern text:

• scripts/convert-drive.sh (macOS/Linux) or scripts/convert-drive.ps1 (Windows) — converts every .DOC in drive/ to plain UTF‑8 text in drive/doc-to-txt conversions/. Originals are never touched; re‑run any time.
• Or write in nondocument mode in the first place (press N instead of D at the Opening Menu) — that saves ordinary plain text, at the cost of WordStar's word‑wrap/formatting features.

🔋 Zero dependencies, fully offline

The desktop launchers use DOSBox Staging, and you never install it — a copy for every OS is committed right in this repo under native/bin/. Three ways it can get there:

1. Already bundled — clone or unzip and go; nothing to download.
2. scripts/fetch-dosbox.sh / .ps1 — re‑stage or bump the version.
3. Build offline bundle GitHub Action — produces WordStar-4-portable.zip with DOSBox for all three OSes inside, for a download‑unzip‑doubleclick experience with no internet at all.

🚀 Publish the browser version (optional)

For a permanent, shareable URL:

1. Push this repo to GitHub.
2. Settings → Pages → Source: GitHub Actions.
3. The included pages.yml workflow deploys web/ to https://<you>.github.io/<repo>/.

🗂️ What's in here

ws4/                     Original WordStar 4 binaries (the real thing)
docs/MANUAL.md           ★ The full user manual — lessons, commands, troubleshooting
docs/QUICK-REFERENCE.md  One-page printable keyboard cheat sheet
docs/WELCOME.DOC         Friendly starter document (opens inside WordStar)
config/                  DOSBox configs (web + desktop)
web/                     Browser version (js-dos / DOSBox-WASM) + index.html
WordStar.command         macOS launcher        (double-click)
WordStar.bat             Windows launcher      (double-click)
wordstar.sh              Linux launcher        (terminal)
WordStar.desktop         Linux launcher        (file managers that allow it)
native/lib/              Launcher internals (find/fetch DOSBox, boot WordStar)
native/bin/              Bundled DOSBox per OS  (committed, runs offline)
scripts/                 convert-drive.* (DOC→txt), fetch-dosbox.*, build-web.sh
.github/workflows/       bundle.yml (offline zip) + pages.yml (browser site)

Rebuilt the browser bundle after changing ws4/? Run scripts/build-web.sh.

📜 Notes & licensing

• WordStar is the property of its respective rights holders. These binaries are widely distributed as abandonware; this project adds only the wrapping to run them and claims no ownership of WordStar itself.
• DOSBox Staging is GPL‑licensed and bundled from its official releases.
• The browser version uses js‑dos (DOSBox compiled to WebAssembly), also GPL‑licensed; its files live under web/.
• The wrapper code in this repo (launchers, scripts, web glue, docs) is MIT-licensed — free for you to use and adapt. Bundled WordStar and DOSBox Staging retain their own licenses (noted above).