Lazy Web, I invoke thee. I bring this question from the forum up to the front page because I have the same need. With all the apps out there that do the rest, is there something that does just this? I mean, there’s programs like AppleWorks and Word, but those are hardly minimalist.

Many writers (including me) have for years been looking for a simple app to do the following:

1. Use the built-in OS text-editing functions to compose, edit and spell-check articles.

1. Format the resulting doc for printing in standard manuscript format: double-spaced, indented, with one-inch margins, a header identifying the document, and page-numbering in the footer.

That’s it. No frills, no bloat, no “intelligent” features. In essence, an updated MacWrite v.1, with OSX Services compatibility.

codepoetry forums – View topic – Quest for the minimal word processor

The commenter goes on to explain why various apps don’t fit the bill, and it’s mainly the lack of good header/footer functionality that the smaller apps lack.

[More answers at: LazyWeb