I downloaded MiKTeX and got TeXworks. A document in TeXworks can be typeset with several alternatives: LaTeXmk, pdfTeX, pdfLaTeX, pdfLaTeX + MakeIndex + BibTeX, XeTeX, XeLaTeX, XeLaTeX + MakeIndex + BibTeX, ConTeXt (LuaTeX), ConTeXt (pdfTeX), ConTeXt (XeTeX), BibTeX, MakeIndex.
But I miss AMS-TeX, and this is what I need. I have a ten-year-old preprint written in AMS-TeX which I need to update and send to a journal for publishing, but I no longer work at a university and I don't have access to the TeX facilities I used to have. All I could do was to download MiKTeX to my home computer (with Windows).
So I wonder: is there any possibility for me to get AMS-TeX to work within any of the alternatives above? And is the command file amsppt.sty
available somewhere and possible to use, with some of the above alternatives?
Maybe AMS-TeX today is considered obsolete, but that is what I once learned. I never learned LaTeX despite that it quickly became standard, since it used to be possible also to use AMS-TeX. Anyway, my preprint has 100+ pages, and I don't want to rewrite it completely with LaTeX or something else. I hope this won't be necessary.
Best Answer
Here is a step by step description.
Make sure the
amstex
package is installed in MiKTeXOpen TeXworks and choose the "Preferences" menu
Go to the "Typesetting" tab and this window will appear; click on the "+" button in the lower half
Fill the window as follows
In order to add the lines in the "Arguments" field, click on the "+" button.
Click OK in this window and in the Preferences window.
Choose "amstex" from the drop down menu
Click the "Typeset" button (the green one).
Enjoy AMS-TeX in flamboyant PDF format.
Here's the final picture