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1995-02-27
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THE
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STANDARDIZED AMIGA SHAREWARE GROUP
-------------------------------------
PRESENTS
MagicWB v2.0
============
The definitive WB-Enhancer no Amiga can do without. MagicWB is a full
replacement for the graphic user interface of the Workbench and has be-
come the standard on the Amiga. MagicWB 2.0 is completely restructured on
a new color-allocation scheme which more than doubles the speed of the WB
and reduces chip-consumption to only a third compared with all previous
versions and also features a highly improved color palette. MWB 2.0
introduces a never-before-seen standard for over four dozen of new
image-drawers to achieve a more diversified look on your WB. More icons,
dock-brushes, a dozen of new patterns, fonts and a AA-support complete this
special product.
This is version 2.0, a major update (upgrade) to version 1.5.
NEW FEATURES
------------
o MagicWB is an SASG product.
o The conception of MagicWB has completely changed. Color allocation,
management and display of the patterns and the color palette have been
significantly altered and improved. It is highly recommended to update any
older MagicWB version for the new color allocation system paves the way for
all forthcoming MagicWB versions, also for the conceived 16-color-WB (of
which the realization is dependent on the amount of registrations for this
current version 2.0). Besides, many other program packages are already
supporting the new color system.
o A "demon" (a special utility) is now working in the background and
watches over the correct color palette display under any resolution, screen
depth and on any graphics board. He takes care of the palette
re-allocation when a new screen is opened and checks which patterns have to
be remapped or not. (OS3.x) Furthermore the user can now again define his
own colors for the cursor without getting in conflict with the MagicWB
palette.
o Due to the new color system MagicWB has become 2-3 times faster than any
previous version, nearly as fast as the original Commodore 4-color-WB! At
the same time it needs 67% less chip memory and over 50% less diskspace on
the system partition. The increase of speed is enormous. Also the
patterns are displayed much faster without getting dithered anymore.
o The MagicWB palette has been considerably improved, especially AA- and
graphics board users will benefit from this new palette. Because of the
fine increments of the 8-bit palette (8 bits per gun) the MagicWB palette
could be optimized to the maximum of perfection. The palette is a little
bit darker now to compensate for the old imperfection to manually decrease
the black-level (brightness) of the monitor (since the old palette has
always been too bright and resulted in a loss of the 3-D-effect of
MagicWB's icons and patterns). Furthermore the gradient's 3-D-effect was
improved by increasing the difference of the brightness level between the
colors halfshine and halfshadow. This results in a strong 3-D-effect of
the brown and gray gradients. Finally, the saturation of all colors is
increased which leads to a far more vivid workbench with richer colors.
o As a foretaste of the planned AA-version, MagicWB already offers a
AA-support: Some new patterns exploit the possibilities of the AA-Chipset
by using the copper in a way which results in a workbench background with a
24-bit color-gradient. This smashing workstation-look just needs a
16-color workbench in conjunction with MagicWB and its new utility
'MagicCopper'.
o The patterns (in a new format now) will also work under OS2.x without
having to be converted.
o A dozen of new patterns in the MagicWB-style were added: Wonderful
backgrounds like, for example, various stone structures, marble effects,
sand, paper, rain, leather and gradient logos like IntelOutside, MagicWB
etc.
o All third-party icons which were displayed in a distorted color look
before are now correctly displayed by the new 'MagicWB-Demon'.
o 'IconUpdate' features a new and powerful workbench-mode: Old icons can
now easily be converted to MagicWB-style icons by dragging the specified
icons over an app-window and dropping them onto it (drag&drop). This
guarantees a quick processing of many icons in only a few minutes.
o MagicWB 2.0 invents a new standard for the Amiga workbench: Image-
Drawers! This provides the user with a far more diversified look of the
workbench. Each drawer gets its own specific imagery which shows the
content of the drawer. The complete System-partition will be equipped with
the new image-drawers by default with the Installer. Altogether over 50
different image-drawers are being supplied with the new MagicWB 2.0. This
should be complete to cover all different categories. The placing of these
special drawers is carried out by the new drag&drop feature of 'IconUpdate'
which makes this task a piece of cake. All your partitions are set up
within minutes to achieve this refurbished and decent look of your Amiga.
o 'UpdateDrawers' recognizes these new image-drawers and skips them while
performing its update on the normal drawer icons. This feature saves you a
lot of time since you won't need to place the image-drawers again.
o The default icons have been reworked (new trashcan, drawer etc.). New
default icons for other programs have been added (def_KingCON, def_MUI
etc.)
o The device icons have been strongly improved and now do have the same
standardized height to ensure a perfect horizontal alignment on the
workbench screen. New device icons have been added (CD, Network,
Cartridge, etc.)
o A new XEN-font was added: XEN/11. This font now features all characters
and is perfectly suitable for higher resolutions as a fixed system font.
o New dock-brushes were added, some old dock-brushes were improved and
redesigned from scratch.
o The style of all MagicWB-Icons has been improved: The annoying blue
border has disappeared and was replaced by the color halfshadow.
o Many old MagicWB-Icons have been improved and redesigned (i.e. Prefs) and
various new icons have been added.
o The Installer was considerably improved. Installations and updates are
both performed by the Installer now and the system analysis is far more
precise. There shouldn't be any problems by now.
o A bonus directory can be found in the new MagicWB 2.0. It carries a
couple of presets in the MagicWB-style for other programs.
o MagicWB features a very special "goody". It's a hidden gag! Let's see
when you will brace yourself for the real kick... :-)
o Various bugfixings were applied on the different MagicWB utilities.
REQUIREMENTS
------------
MagicWB needs at least Kickstart/Workbench 2.04.
MagicWB runs on all Amigas with a harddrive. A monitor which is able to
display square-pixel-screenmodes (like 640x480, 640x512, 800x600, 1024x768
etc.) without flicker is recommended.
PRICE
-----
A registered version of MagicWB 2.0 can be ordered for US$ 20,- or DM 30,-
(or any other currency supported by the SASG registration program) with the
help of the SASG registration program. The SASG registration program is
available everywhere: BBSs, german magazine's extra disks (AMIGA-Magazine,
AMIGA-Plus) and of course on Aminet.
Over half a year of development was invested in MagicWB 2.0. It is a major
update (upgrade), which means that it is a bigger update for which you have
to pay. All registered MagicWB users can obtain MagicWB 2.0 for only half
the price of the standardized SASG registration fee, i.e. US$ 10,- or DM
15,- (or any other currency supported by the SASG registration program).
Of course, the SASG registration program can also be found in the MagicWB
package 'MagicWB20d.lha' which is available on Aminet:
wuarchive.wustl.edu (128.252.135.4)
directory: utils/wb
Have fun!
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Martin Huttenloher | Bank Account:
Am Hochstraess 4 |
D-89081 Ulm | Ulmer Volksbank
| BLZ: 630 901 00
Germany/Europe | Konto: 165 548 002
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