home *** CD-ROM | disk | FTP | other *** search
-
-
- l
-
- l
-
- åLimitations
-
-
-
- You may occasionally find an application which does not work well with
-
- Virtual Desktop, perhaps putting windows in places where you can’t see
-
- them, or not redrawing them when you scroll the desktop.
-
- See the section entitled “Sensitive Applications” for more information on
-
- how to recognize and deal with incompatible applications.
-
-
-
-
- Here is a list of applications whose users have reported problems (not all
-
- verified):
-
- • Data Desk Professional [version 2.0] — sporadic crashes when using
-
- doors
-
- • Brown tn3270 [version 2.3d28 or earlier] — crashes if terminal
-
- window goes entirely off-screen
-
- • ColorSwitch [?] — ?
-
- • SmartCom II [version 3.3A or 3.4A] - crashes if Virtual Desktop
-
- Extension is installed
-
- • Mathematica [version 2.2 Student Edition] - crashes if virtual desktop
-
- is scrolled while calculating
-
- • StuffIt Deluxe [version 3.0.7] - Magic Menu feature gets confused
-
- about what to stuff
-
- • Metrowerks CodeWarrior Debug 68K [?] - crashes while
-
- single-stepping through code
-
-
-
- The Trash can may not always end up where you put it, because its
-
- position is stored in the Finder Preferences file, not like the rest of the
-
- desktop icons. This is under investigation.
-
-
- Having the ability to scroll the desktop, it would be nice if users could
-
- keep an eye on a specific part of the virtual desktop at all times.
-
- Currently, you have the option to exempt an application’s windows from
-
- scrolling, which you can use to keep its windows in view at all times. The
-
- proposed “watch windows” scheme would let you select any rectangular
-
- section of the virtual desktop and keep it in view in a floating window.
-
-
- Another common request is for a miniaturized Full View floating window
-
- which would offer a bird’s-eye view of the changing virtual desktop
-
- situation. The current Full View window design forces you to block out
-
- the desktop view to use it.
-
-
- If you change the door to which an application’s windows are anchored
-
- using the Application Preferences dialog, the windows should be moved
-
- automatically. Currently, they are not.
-
-
- Virtual Desktop does not compensate if a multi-sync monitor’s resolution
-
- is switched “on the fly.” I’m still trying to figure out how to do this.
-
-
-
-
-
- –
-
- –
-
- åAcknowledgements
-
-
-
- One big hug to Toni and the family for enduring a LOT of late nights.
-
-
-
- Special thanks to the nearly 200 fine people who beta-tested this
-
- software, and to others who provided useful information.
-
- Click here to thank somebody personally!
-
-
-
-
-
- 4
-
- 4
-
- åRevision History
-
-
-
- Click on any underlined item in this listing to read more about the revision
-
- it describes.
-
-
-
- 1.8 (October 17, 1994)
-
- • Public AWOL Utilities 1.2 release.
-
- • Added the optional Door menu, allowing easy access to doors from any
-
- application, even if the Virtual Desktop application is not running.
-
- • Added the “Virtual Desktop Doors” Control Strip module.
-
- • Added the Shove Mouse usage option, a much-wanted bit of mimicry.
-
- • Enhanced the usage options for more flexible selection of modifier keys.
-
- • Added a usage option to suppress the scroll bar windows.
-
- • Added a usage option to choose between half- and full-screen scrolling.
-
- • Added a door option to open an arbitrary item via Finder when the door
-
- is opened.
-
- • Added a door option to change the color depth when the door is opened.
-
- • Changed minimum virtual desktop padding from half a screenful to zero,
-
- allowing more detail in Full View mode.
-
- • Corrected a bug which could cause white-on-white or black-on-black
-
- printing of names in door icon windows.
-
- • Corrected a bug which left an unusable extension file in the Extensions
-
- folder if installation failed due to virus protection.
-
- • Corrected a bug in the Door Preferences dialog which could cause a
-
- crash on Macintoshes without Color QuickDraw.
-
- • Added the “Quit Virtual Desktop” application for use in the Shutdown
-
- Items folder to assist Virtual Desktop by making it quit before all other
-
- applications.
-
-
- 1.7 (March 28, 1994)
-
- • Public AWOL Utilities 1.1 release.
-
- • Corrected a bug which could cause keystrokes normally trapped by
-
- other system extensions to reach the active application.
-
-
- 1.6.1 (March 27, 1994)
-
- • Added choice of door arrangements to the “New Door…” dialog.
-
- • If the Virtual Desktop application crashes and is re-opened, it does not
-
- lose track of the true home location, and refrains from moving other
-
- applications’ windows as it normally would.
-
- • Corrected a bug which could cause a switch to another application when
-
- placing a new door.
-
- • Added an optional confirmation alert to the “Trash Door” menu
-
- command.
-
- • Corrected a bug which could misplace desktop icons if the Exempt
-
- Application’s Items From All Scrolling option were selected for desktop
-
- icons.
-
- • Improved performance of the Use Key Combination option.
-
-
- 1.6.0 (March 13, 1994)
-
- • Corrected a bug which caused disk drives to access periodically while
-
- Virtual Desktop Extension was installed.
-
- • Corrected a bug which could cause the About dialog to crash on
-
- Macintoshes without Color QuickDraw.
-
- • Added a Help button to the alert which asks for permission to install
-
- Virtual Desktop Extension.
-
- • Prevented Full View from using white as the color for an application’s
-
- item images and radio button.
-
- • Added the “Rename Door…” menu command and dialog.
-
- • Added disabled item to the pop-up menu in the Application Preferences
-
- dialog if the selected door no longer exists.
-
- • Corrected a bug which prevented default application preferences set by
-
- the user from overriding the built-in defaults.
-
- • Prevented visible shifting of anchor and scroll bar windows when
-
- opening, due to non-default layout preferences.
-
- • Added the thank-you hot button under Acknowledgements.
-
-
- 1.5.2 (February 27, 1994)
-
- • Corrected a Virtual Desktop Extension bug which sometimes prevented
-
- other applications from finding files.
-
- • Corrected an incompatibility with SpeedyFinder7’s Help menu removal
-
- option which prevented help display.
-
- • Virtual desktop growth is limited to 32,767 pixels in each direction.
-
- • Added support for virtual desktop scrolling using the Home, End, Page
-
- Up, and Page Down keys.
-
- • Improved messages given when Virtual Desktop Extension is missing or
-
- is out of date.
-
- • Added protection against loading duplicate copies of the extension.
-
- • Allowed the application to operate without a preferences file (for
-
- example, when startup disk is locked).
-
-
- 1.5.1 (February 7, 1994)
-
- • Added virus protection removal advice to extension installation alert.
-
- • Corrected a bug which could cause a crash on exit immediately after a
-
- version check or extension installation alert.
-
- • Corrected a bug which sometimes caused desktop icons to end up in the
-
- wrong place.
-
- • Desktop icons are properly handled in Systems whose language is other
-
- than English.
-
- • Increased minimum and preferred memory sizes to accommodate
-
- PowerBook computers.
-
-
- 1.5.0 (January 30, 1994)
-
- • Added Virtual Desktop Extension to improve compatibility with other
-
- programs.
-
- • If the Shift key is pressed on startup, the extension will not be loaded.
-
- If the Help or Command-? key is pressed, the extension will delay up to
-
- one second to let the user release the key(s).
-
-
- 1.4.1 (January 19, 1994)
-
- • If the help server is absent when Virtual Desktop requests help, and the
-
- user agrees to save the help file as a TeachText document, the file is split
-
- into two parts small enough for TeachText to handle.
-
- • Improved handling of desktop icons.
-
-
- 1.4.0 (October 2, 1993)
-
- • Initial AWOL Utilities 1.0 release.
-
-