Note for users of earlier versions of Finder Windows: Please remove the Finder Windows 1.0 extension from your extensions folder or previous versions of the Finder Windows control panel from your control panels folder before installing Finder Windows 1.2.2. You may also wish to read the "What's New?" section of this Read Me file for information on the latest features.
Contents
•About Finder Windows
•System Requirements
•Usage Notes
•What's New?
•Why Register?
•Price
•How to Register
•Legal Notice
•How to Contact the Author
•Questions and Answers
•Known bugs and conflicts
•Non-English versions
•Version History
•Other Programs by Quadratic
About Finder Windows
Finder Windows, by Quadratic Software, is a control panel that adds a window menu to the Finder. The new window menu has a list of all the currently open windows in the Finder. If you choose a window name from the list in the menu, the corresponding window in the Finder is brought to the front. You can also stack windows by choosing "Stack," and you can arrange windows (space them out) by choosing "Arrange."
System Requirements
Finder Windows requires System 7 or higher. To see the About Box, you should have a color monitor although it isn't required.
The code that controls the Finder Windows menu is "fat" which means that Finder Windows runs on 680x0 Macs and native on PowerMacs.
Usage Notes
I have always wished that Apple's Finder had a simple Window menu like most other applications. Sometimes my desktop gets very cluttered and I want to find a window that's under a bunch of other windows without having to move them all around. That's why I wrote Finder Windows. If you have had similar problems, I hope you find that Finder Windows helps solve them.
I added the ability to "Stack" and "Arrange" windows to improve window organization. "Stack" puts all the windows in a nicely ordered stack, while "Arrange" spaces them out on the desktop as much as possible.
Some other extensions add "S" and "T" command-key shortcuts to the Finder. If you find that Finder Windows' shortcuts conflict with another extension, you can change them in the control panel. (Thanks to Landon Ross for alerting me to this situation.) To turn off command-key equivalents altogether, uncheck the box next to the menu item name. To change the command-key equivalents, type the one you want next to the name and make sure the box is checked. To go back to the default setting, press the "Use Default" button. Hint: Other command key shortcuts not in use by the Finder include H, J, K, L, R, U, numbers, and various punctuation marks (e.g. command \.)
The menu created by Finder Windows has a small icon in place of a text title. If you'd rather have the menu use the word "Window" as a title (like previous versions of this program) you can change that in the control panel.
If you don't want Finder Windows to display a little icon when your Mac is starting up, you can also change that in the control panel. Sometimes the startup icon can be useful. If Finder Windows experiences any problems during startup and has to abandon its own installation, it will display an icon with a red X through it.
If you get lost in the control panel for some reason, turn on balloon help. Then point to the item you're having trouble with and the balloon will tell you what it does.
What's New
Finder Windows 1.2.2 fixes a couple bugs, has simplified and more stable code, and adds a new feature. More specifically:
• The bug that interfered with the printing mechanism in WordPerfect is now definitely fixed. (Despite my claims, it wasn't truly fixed in version 1.2.1).
• A cosmetic bug that caused windows with names starting with a dash ("-") to be improperly displayed in the menu is now fixed (thanks Florian Dejako).
• The startup code (68K and PPC INIT code) has been reduced by about 20% (from 19230 bytes in version 1.2.1v2 to 15518 bytes in version 1.2.2).
• The windows in the menu are now shown in alphabetical order.
• The "Desktop" window is no longer put into the menu.
• The number of patched system routines has been decreased from 5 to 3. This should lead to increased stability and fewer conflicts.
Previous users of Finder Windows may notice that I now have a name for my shareware business: Quadratic Software.
Why Register?
There are several reasons to register: First, because you like Finder Windows and find it useful. Second, because the price is reasonable. Third, to support my efforts to write more good software for the Macintosh. Fourth, an annoying shareware notice that appears every once in a while won't appear any more! Once you register, as detailed below, I'll send you a registration number that will disable the annoying shareware notice.
Price
Finder Windows has the following pricing:
• Single User License: US$10
• Site License: US$150
• World-Wide License: US$750
A single user license applies to one person. A site license covers all locations for your organization within a 160 km (100 mile) radius of your site. With a site license you don't need to keep track of how many people at your site are using the software. A World-Wide license covers all locations for your organization on the planet.
How to Register
There are two ways to register. If you want to pay with a credit card and have world-wide-web access, you can register online. (A secure, encrypted form is available if your browser supports it). For more information about online registration, go to the Quadratic web site at
<http://www.quadratic.com/>
You can also pay using a variety of other methods with the Register program that accompanies Finder Windows. Open the Register program. Enter your name, your e-mail address, and the number of single user licenses you desire (or site or world-wide licenses). Save or Copy or Print the data from the Register program and send the data and payment to Kagi Shareware. Kagi Shareware handles my payment processing.
If paying with credit card or First Virtual, you can email or fax the data to Kagi Shareware. Their email address is <shareware@kagi.com> and their fax number is +1 510 652-6589. You can either copy the data from Register and paste into the body of an e-mail message or you can save the data to a file and attach that file to an e-mail message. There is no need to compress the data file; it's already pretty small. If you have a fax modem, just print the data to the Kagi fax number.
Payments sent via e-mail are processed within 3 to 4 days. You will receive an e-mail acknowledgment when it is processed. Payments sent via fax take up to 10 days.
Please note: You must provide a correct internet e-mail address to receive an e-mail acknowledgment of your payment as well as a registration number.
If paying with cash or US$ check you should print the data using the Register application and send it to the address shown on the form, which is:
Kagi Shareware
1442-A Walnut Street #392-HG
Berkeley, California 94709-1405
USA
You can pay with a wide variety of cash from different countries but at present if you pay via check, it must be a check drawn in US dollars. Kagi Shareware cannot accept checks in other currencies. The conversion rate for a non-US$ check is around US$15 per check and that's not practical considering that Finder Windows only costs US$10.
The invoice option is for companies with purchasing departments. If that's you, then enter all the data, print three copies of the form, and send it to your accounts payable people. They must include a copy of the form with their payment.
Please do not fax or e-mail forms that indicate cash, check, or invoice as the payment method. These need to be sent through the postal mail with payment. Payments sent via postal mail take time to reach Kagi Shareware and then up to 10 days for processing.
Legal Notice
You may copy and distribute unregistered copies of Finder Windows but you may not sell them for profit. If you want to include Finder Windows in a shareware/freeware collection, contact me at <support@quadratic.com>. If you distribute unregistered copies in any way, you must include this "Read Me" file and the Register program in the distribution. You may not distribute registered copies of Finder Windows except in the following two cases:
1. If you hold a site license for Finder Windows, you may distribute registered copies within your organization within a 160 km (100 mile) radius of your site.
2. If you hold a world-wide license for Finder Windows, you may distribute registered copies within your organization.
Use Finder Windows at your own risk. Graham Herrick and Quadratic Software make no warranties as to performance, merchantability, or any other warranties whether expressed or implied. No warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose is offered. Neither Graham Herrick nor Quadratic Software will be liable for direct, indirect, special, incidental, or consequential damages resulting from the use or misuse of Finder Windows. Some of these exclusions or limitations may not apply in all jurisdictions.
In other words, if the program does something weird, like damages a file or disk, I am not legally responsible. However, if it does do something weird, I'd like to know so I can try to fix it in future versions. Please send bug reports to <support@quadratic.com>.
How to Contact the Author
My name is Graham Herrick and the name of my shareware company is Quadratic Software. If you find a bug, have comments or suggestions, or just want to say hi, my e-mail address is <support@quadratic.com>.
The Quadratic web page is located at:
<http://www.quadratic.com/>
The Finder Windows page, which will always contain the latest information and links for downloading the latest versions, is located at:
<http://www.quadratic.com/FindWind/>
My Kagi e-mail forwarding address is <gherrick@kagi.com>. The reason for the Kagi email forwarding address is that if my other email addresses change, the Kagi address will still be valid. So if you can't get through to <support@quadratic.com>, try <gherrick@kagi.com>.
Questions and Answers
Why don't you have a "tiling" option?
Unfortunately, because of the way the Finder resizes its windows, it is exceedingly difficult to write an extension that properly changes the windows' sizes and thus I haven't been able to implement a window "tiling" option in the menu. I tried very hard to do this but it came down to a choice between buggy tiling and clean arranging. I thought users would rather have a clean and stable control panel rather than one which was infested by bugs. And the "arranging" option actually does most of the work of tiling anyway -- especially if you don't have lots of windows open.
Update on this question (April 1997): I have now discovered a way to safely tile the Finder's windows. I am working on a new version of Finder Windows that will incorporate this as well as several other new features.
Known Bugs and Conflicts
There may be an incompatibility with a control strip module called "Internet Control". There may also be a keyboard shortcut conflict with versions of the Conflict Catcher control panel before version 4.0.
Non-English versions
Finder Windows is available in several languages besides English. As of now, there are versions available in Japanese, German, French, and Swedish.
You can download and find out about these different versions at the Finder Windows web page: <http://www.quadratic.com/FindWind/>.
Version History
May 1997
Finder Windows 1.2.2 improves stability, fixes a couple bugs, and adds a new feature. Specifically, the WordPerfect bug (mentioned in the Feb. '97 version history below) is now truly fixed. A cosmetic bug relating to windows whose names begin with a dash has been fixed. The windows in the menu are now put in alphabetical order. And, the size of the startup code has decreased by almost 20% and the number of patched system routines has decreased from 5 to 3.
Thanks to Hans Arktoft, David Bassin, Gilles Berkovitch, Elizabeth Buie, Florian Dejako, Bo Engelbrecht, Curt Fielder, Jon Gotow, Mark Hannah, Ray Lindsey, Sanders McNew, John Mole, Steve Morris, Mike Schon-Hegrad, Brent Sleeper, Bruce A. Stewart, Ed Thome, Marcel Vermeulen, Maurice Volaski, Bernd Weisshaar, Charlie Whitaker, Adam Wunn, and many others.
February 1997
Finder Windows 1.2.1 improves stability and fixes several bugs in Finder Windows 1.2 including: A shut-down bug, a bug that interfered with the printing mechanism on certain versions of WordPerfect, and a cosmetic bug in which window name in the menu weren't updated properly. It also consolidates PowerPC-native and 680x0 "INIT" code into fat INIT code and removes PowerPC-native control panel (cdev) code. This was made necessary on the advice of Apple Computer, Inc. due to a conflict between the Finder and PowerPC-native control panels. This conflict was most common under System 7.5.5.
Thanks to Nathan Banek, Robert Cooper, G. Curt Fiedler, Andreas Frick, and Anthony P. Meyer for bug reports and help with this version.
December 1996
Finder Windows 1.2 includes a native PowerPC version, an optional icon for the menu title, an optional startup icon, balloon help, and the opportunity to personalize one's copy.
In addition, I have fixed several bugs including a conflict with some FAX software, some miscellaneous start-up problems, a bug in which Finder Windows would stop recognizing windows after using balloon help, and a bug having to do with Finder Windows not recognizing the "Desktop" window at startup.
I also fixed the text of an alert box saying that there are duplicate copies of the control panel. Duplicate copies haven't caused errors since version 1.1 so I changed the text to reflect what was really happening.
The code has also been cleaned up considerably and several changes were made to make the control panel more stable in general.
Many people have contributed suggestions and bug reports. For going beyond the call of duty, I'd like to thank Anthony P. Meyer. Several other people have contributed including (in alphabetical order) Forrest R. Blackburn, James Edward Davis, Christopher Li, Myron T. MacLeod, Joseph McLean, and Michael B. Pawluk. If I've forgotten someone who's made a great suggestion or reported a serious bug, let me know and I'll put you in the next release notes.
May 1996
Finder Windows 1.1.3 fixes a couple more bugs having to do with dialog boxes that occurred on a few machines. Thanks to Ellen, G. Curt Fiedler, Robert Jagitsch, JeanaC, Sanders McNew, Tim Moore, and Scott Tregear for bug reports.
May 1996
Finder Windows 1.1.2 fixes a couple bugs that were found in previous versions. It is now compatible with Now Utilities and Novell Client software as well as solving an "unimplemented trap" error that sometimes happened at startup on some machines. Thanks to Erin Dalzell, Jim Isaac, Jim Richardson, and Bradley Yi for helpful bug reports.
April 1996
Finder Windows 1.1 is now a control panel (instead of an extension). It is now compatible with Glidel (versions 2.9 and above). It also allows you to change the command-key equivalents of the stack and arrange menu items. In addition, the "Window" menu no longer disappears when you restart the finder without restarting the computer and you can rename the control panel without any problems.
March 1996
Finder Windows 1.0 is the first public release of Finder Windows.
Other Programs by Quadratic
Here are a few of the other programs released by Quadratic. They are all available at the Quadratic web site, InfoMac, and other Macintosh shareware archives. Check the Quadratic web site to find out about the most recent versions.
•Sloop: Sloop is a MacOS extension that implements a unique window navigation strategy: cursor focusing. With cursor focusing, whatever window or application the mouse is over comes to the foreground without the need to click the mouse button.
•ClipAppend: This is a simple control panel that extends the normal functionality of cutting and copying text to the Macintosh clipboard. Usually, when you cut or copy something to the clipboard, you replace whatever is stored there. But with ClipAppend installed, you can add text to the clipboard instead of replacing text.
•KeyCommander: Don't you hate it when applications don't have command-key equivalents for some frequently-used menu items? KeyCommander is a control panel that lets you fix that problem by allowing you to add command-key equivalents to applications. And it does all of this in RAM without directly modifying the applications themselves. It features a snazzy user interface.
•File Merger: This is a small drag-and-drop utility that merges together the data forks of files such as text files. It is useful if you download binhexed segments off of Usenet, work with large text-based data files, and other things.
•Sokoban 3D: This computer game, based on the classic Sokoban game, puts you into a 3-D puzzle from the first-person point-of-view.
•Addiction Manager: This is a program that helps people manage their addictions to computer games or other stuff (like the internet).
Apple, ResEdit, Power Macintosh, Mac, and Macintosh are registered trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. MacOS, Finder, Balloon Help, and System 7 are trademarks of Apple Computer, Inc. PowerPC is a registered trademark of International Business Machines Corporation. Quadratic, and the Quadratic Software logo are trademarks of Graham Herrick. Other brand names, software titles, company names or products mentioned in this documentation are registered trademarks, trademarks, or tradenames of their respective holders.
