MO: What specifically are you hoping to achieve there?
MR: I've really improved it considerably. I can't possibly tell you all here. But I've posted some files on my BBS detailing what has been done. There's 7 text files describing it all.
MO: Comments on gateWay & other previous mods?
MR: gateWay might still work, but there's a whole new Desktop.
MO: Care to upload them here? We'd certainly all be very interested.
MR: Sure I might do that. Some of it gets a little technical. But it's not too bad for reading. It's sort of a development history.
MO: We have some VERY technical folks here! What's the main difference in the new Desktop?
MR: The Desktop can handle 16 windows, movable and resizable. Each can have a separate directory (subdirectories). Color is in the kernal now.
MO: So it's more like Windows File Manager?
MR: Sorta, but maybe looks more like an Amiga. The windows can have text mode or icon mode in each one. You can also move your drive icons wherever you want them. It's very customizable. When you run an app and then return to the Desktop, the windows are still open.
MO: Does it have a LIR sector to record window size and positions or something like that?
MR: The window info is stored in the REU. The system now uses the first 64K bank and also the last 64K bank.
MO: Oh, OK. So the REU is vital for this version then?
MR: Yes, REU is mandaroy.
MO: Both RAM units usable?
MR: ANy REU will work. Configure works with all of them. It's automatic. geoRAM, 1750, RANLink. And it supports up to a 16MB REU if ever there is one. You can have a native ramdisk just like native partiions on the HD ith subdirectories and all. And there is a driver that turns the 1581 into an FD-1000 with native mode. You can format an FD disk in the 1581. Much of the new kernal is in the REU. Also, much of the old kernal has been improved considerably. You can now switch to different partitions and subdirs from the apps. Even from geoWrite, you have access to the whole HD.
MO: IYO, what was the worst of the old kernal?
MR: There was a lot of little bugs here and there. It's all in those doc files. You can also swi h between 1581 and native partitions freely now. From the Desktop, if you are in a 1581 disk on the FD and you put a native disk in it, it is recognized and opened properly. It works with or without the SuperCPU. No patching required. Also Turbomaster. Ramdisk run full blast at 20MHz. No slow down ever. All printing to geoCable is at 20MHz. GeoPublish is extremely fast now. Stuff is much faster under GEOS with SuperCPU now than in GEOS 2.0. DA no longer save and restore from the floppy. The memory goes to he REU. They are much faster now. You can load a DA from a full disk or a write=protected one now. As you can see, this is not just a little patch job. The file requestor can handle 255 files now. The Desktop can handle 2040 file per directory. No 144 limit anymore.
MO: Both 64 & 128?
MR: The 128 will come later. After the SuperCPU128 is out. I'll drop in again soon and upload that stuff.
