Floppyshop 2/Floppyshop - 2.zip/Floppyshop - 2.iso/diskmags/0022-3.564/dmg-0107/merryst.txt

Text File | 1997-04-16 | 6KB | 106 lines

NOTICE: This article originally appeared in the February issue of Atari
Interface Magazine and may be freely distributed or reprinted in non-profit
User Group publications as long as the article's author and Atari Interface
Magazine are credited AND this notice is reprinted with the article.  All
other publications must obtain written permission from Unicorn Publications,
3487 Braeburn Circle, Ann Arbor, MI 48108, Phone: [phone] before using
this article.

Me and My Husband's ST by Merry Iverson (FACCS)

Since becoming the FACCS editor, I have been trying to learn how to use the
ST -- my husband's computer.  I thought I should read the manuals, but
Norman said it's easy to use so you don't need the books.

Doing November's newsletter was the first time I had used the ST all by
myself.  In the past Norman always loaded in the program and had it all set
up
and ready for me to type in my articles.  Then, when I was done, he would
come
and save it to the disk for me.  All I had to do was send it to the editor,
but this time it was different.

I ran into my first problem when I tried to load in the word processor -- on
my XE you just load the disk in and it's ready to use -- not so on the ST.
When you put the word processor disk in the ST drive and turn on the ST you
are only loading in the menu.  [Ed. Note: "Loading in the menu" = booting to
the ST desktop.]  This is where the challenge began -- I had to guess which
file I needed by looking at the abbreviated file names on the disk.  When I
found the one that sounded closest to what I needed, I didn't know how to
load it in.

That's when I first used the MOUSE.  It was just terrible -- I had one
problem
after another trying to get that program loaded in.  (I think I would rather
have been playing with a real mouse -- they're easier to get along with.)  It
was very difficult for me to move my finger fast enough for the double click
needed to load in programs, and when I finally did click fast enough the
mouse
had moved and I loaded in the wrong program.  Norman just sat there trying to
tell me what I was doing wrong, laughing every time something went wrong.  By
the time I had finished the newsletter I still could not use the mouse very
well.  (I think I spent more time trying to load in programs and saving
articles than I did typing in the articles.)  I just couldn't seem to get the
hang of it -- or my fingers couldn't.

I was very thankful Norman did the publishing program.  I told him where to
place the articles and he set up the publishing program and placed the
articles where I told him.  We did have a couple of problems, but Norman was
able to resolve them.

The next problem came about when we went to print the newsletter.  We just
bought a new Panasonic wide carriage 24-pin printer.  We thought it would
make
it easier with the wide carriage to print the newsletter.  But, the program
did not have a printer driver for our printer and it did not allow for
a wide carriage printer, only a narrow one.  Fortunately, last summer we were
also able to purchase a Panasonic 1124 printer, and by doing landscape, the
printer was able to print the newsletter sideways.  This surprised me, as my
Gemini 10x would never have been able to do that.  I had never seen a printer
print sideways like that.

As you know, we did finally get it finished and mailed, but personally I
prefer my little XE.  It's what I am use to, and I enjoy using it.  I started
with an old 800 and worked up to an XE.  All these machines were basically
the same, they all ran the same programs more or less.

I find it real hard to change, and the ST is a new and completely different
computer.  I could have been using an IBM or MAC and not have known the
difference.  My nerves would have been just as shot.

I'll use the ST for the newsletter because the publishing programs on the ST
are far superior to those on the 8-bit side, but for everything else I think
I
would just as soon stick to my 130XE.  I'm comfortable with it and it does
everything I enjoy doing on my computer very well.

My 14-year-old son bought an ST with his own money saved from doing his paper
route because he likes the games on the ST.  But he still has his old 800 set
up to play the games he likes in the 8-bit section.  He has also bought a
Nintendo for the games he likes that are not available on either of the
Ataris.  My point is that every person who buys an Atari -- 8-bit or 16-bit
--
does so for their own reasons, and I do not think that one machine is any
better than the next.  It just depends on what the computer was going to be
used for.  This is the only reason one is picked over another.  As long as
the
computer you are using does what you need it to do, that is all that is
important.  I do not care for the grudge matches I have seen and heard, where
everyone says "my computer is better than yours," when a computer is only as
good as the person using it.

I wrote this article about my trials and tribulations on the ST so other
first time users don't get frustrated when it seems that nothing is going
right with that new computer you just bought.  You go the user group in your
area and everyone there seems to know how to do everything on the computer
and
you might get intimidated.  But just stop and think, they were first time
users once.  Practice and asking questions is the best way to learn more
about your computer...don't be afraid to ask.  No matter how dumb you feel
about asking questions, this is the only way to improve your skills and uses
of your machine.  Who knows, in a year or so the person you asked the
questions of may be asking you the questions.  Learn all you can or need
about your computer.  Only you can set the limits on yourself.