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- Path: cs.ruu.nl!usenet
- From: wsldanke@cs.ruu.nl (Wessel Dankers)
- Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga.misc,comp.sys.amiga.programmer
- Subject: Re: What I want from new Workbench
- Date: 08 Mar 96 19:18:20 +0100
- Organization: Dept of Computer Science, Utrecht University, The Netherlands
- Message-ID: <5897.6641T1158T1049@cs.ruu.nl>
- References: <DnyC0M.8A0.0.-s@cs.vu.nl>
- NNTP-Posting-Host: anx1p11.cc.ruu.nl
- X-Newsreader: THOR 2.22 (Amiga TCP/IP)
-
- Irmen de Jong <irmen@cs.vu.nl> wrote>
- > On Fri, 8 Mar 1996 11:21:21 GMT Ariel Magnum (arielmag@actcom.co.il) (Ariel
- > Magnum) wrote>
- >> Hello there all Amigans !
- >> Just spent hours trying to debug several comodities to work together
- >> and i ended up with nothing!Thsese programs used by most of us are written
- >> in such system unfriendly manner that just made me wanna jump platform!
- > Commodities should be written systemfriendly. If they don't work, blame
- > the commodity, not your platform!!!
- MultiCX claims to be OS-friendly.
-
- >> But after thinking a moment (or two) i found out that the blane is not
- >> with the programmers that release software that make all our lives easier
- >> but with this lame OS which needs so much patching to make it usable by
- > ^^^^^^^ Aiiiieee! Blasphemeous!
- (was it meant like this?)
-
- >> todays standarts.Therefor I have compiled a wishlist of OS4 (3.2?) features
- > "needs so much patching" ??? Do you know how many different linux kernels
- > circulate? Better still; AmigaDOS can be patched "on the fly" and doesn't
- > have to be recompiled.
- So Linux has to be patched once and AmigaOS every time you boot. I know which
- way I would choose.
-
- >> 1. Workbench Multithreaded - now im not sure everyone knows what that means
- >> but adding child tasks to open window so that we may engage wb while
- >> opening a drawer , letting it close after launching a program and not
- >> making the menu stop wb isnt really too much to ask is it?
- > No. True.
- Especially because WB already does this for Information dialogs etc.
-
- >> 2. Workbench Arexx port - For playing sounds (UDP,MSD), managing Commdities,
- >> launching programs , and managing public screens.
- > Can come in handy. Not urgent.
- No, it should have been there long time ago IMHO.
-
- [snip 3]
-
- >> 4. NewIcons patch to be implimented.
- > Never seen it. What does it do?
- NewWhat?
-
- [snip 5]
-
- >> 6. Impliment Font densetive gui routines preferably MUI.I know its painfully
- >> slow at times but perhaps written in assembler and using RTG will
- >> become faster.A tottaly configurable GUI engine could push the Amiga
- >> far ahead of its competitiors.I must say that most gadgtools guis look
- >> very bad best examples are the preferences programs.
- > Rewrite MUI in assembly? Ugh!!! Besides, I doubt it will improve the speed
- > very much. CPUs and Graphics cards get faster all the time.
- > I wont comment on the choice of MUI. Enough threads on that subject already.
- Parts of MUI are in ASM already. If you MUI would be put in ROM that would
- certainly put an end to an important counter-argument: memory usage.
-
- >> 7. Impliment Datatypes more into the workbench so that programs likedeficons
- >> would not be needed.Also this will cut back on executable code.All
- >> object loading should be done via datatypes.Perhaps object saving as
- >> well.
- > Would be nice but the filetype recog must be done different. Say put the
- > filetype INTO the icon.
- Say put the filetype (IFF/exe/lha/...) as a 32-bit ID in the fib? Just an idea.
-
- [snip 8-10]
-
- >> 11. A format command that works (how lame!)
- > Huh? Whats wrong with system/format?
- CLI usage is lame. Otherwise I see no problems.
-
- >> 12. Improve locale so that catclogs wont need to be compiled.
- > Minor. Only a slight nuisance to developers.
- Did you ever realize what percentage of Amiga-owners is programming? My guess
- is >50%. Why do you think AT want to *sell* their docs, not hand them out :-)
-
- [snap 13]
-
- >> 14. Distribute Java with the OS , along with Arexx.
-
- > AREXX is a must. Java would be nice too, but just "would be nice to
- > have it". Check out Python also (see my port on Aminet).
- Isn't Java under development already?
-
- > Popular "trends" should not be part of the OS.
- Wrong. Popular trends are what makes an OS (and computer) sell well. But make
- them easy to remove once they are not trendy anymore :-)
-
- >> Im sure you'l agree such an OS will not have to prove itself and would
- >> graetly improve the machines usability.
- The usability already is great.
-
- > My own additional wishes>
-
- > 1. Resource tracking and memory protection.
- This I would like very very much. With the possibility like in UNIX to remove a
- task just like that with no problems.
- > 2. Virtual memory support.
- > 3. Networking support. (TCP/IP)
- Doesn't an external stack suffice? Like AmiTCP or something.
- > 4. Better filesystem. (AFS?) (Possibility to mount a device on a directory,
- > like unix?).
- Yes this would be very interesting. Why was "Fast FileSystem" called 'fast'
- anyway? It sux when compared to AFS.
- > 5. Applications should ALL be able to run in WINDOWS not custom screens
- > (selectable).
- No! Screens are perfect. I like having a Super72 800╫600 8-color WB and a Euro72
- 640╫400 256 drawing program at once.
- > 6. Virtual desktop, like X.
- What do you mean with Virtual Desktop? BTW, X is slower on a HP RISC at 60MHz
- than MUI on my A1200 EC020 at 15MHz!
- > 7. Low-level safe direct access to the display & audio hardware, for action
- > games!
- Didn't OS3.1 have something for that? lowlevel.library or something?
-
- > Hmm looks like Unix doesn't it? ;-)
- Unix has its pros and cons.
-
- Some advice to make the Amiga sell (cosmetic things):
- sysihack as a default
- same for MagicWB
- 800╫600 as a default
- Very important: get rid of that stupid ancient 640╫200 look!
-
- Do not be mistaken by the importance of the above: it's incredibly important to
- be able to show things off in the shop if you want to sell Amiga's -- which is
- precisely what AT needs.
-
- --
- Wessel Dankers _\\|//_ <wsldanke@cs.ruu.nl>
- ///|\\\
- ----------------------------oOO--(_)---OOo----------------------------
- `Never imagine yourself not to be otherwise than what it might appear
- to others that what you were or might have been was not otherwise than
- what you had been would have appeared to them to be otherwise.'
-
-