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The Atari Compendium (Toad Computers) (1994).iso
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1993-01-01
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Falcon Desktop Screen Shots
40-column mode
Several weeks ago, a sysop friend asked me to capture my
Falcon desktop and upload it for the enjoyment of all. No
problem, I thought, and I asked Bill Rehbock's permission to
make these shots available. Bill provided me with a nifty
Falcon-compatible screen-grabber, and I set about the task.
The nifty screen-grabber would save out in certain formats,
and I could view some of these on my ST and STe -- but not
very well. I don't know why, but I was hell-bent on taking
the shots in true-color mode. This is silly at this stage;
the desktop still limited to 16 colors because no icon editor
yet supports true-color modes. (I understand such editors
are in the works, however.) Thanks to Bill, I finally
realized that a current Falcon desktop in true-color mode is
identical to a current Falcon desktop in 16-color mode, and
have, therefore, provided snapshots of the Falcon's desktop
in 16-color 40-column resolution, which looks mightily like
low resolution on the ST. And when you show these pictures
on your color ST, it will look _just_ like my Falcon's
desktop in true-color 40-column mode. Trust me on that. ;-)
This is not to say that _every_ Falcon's desktop looks like
mine. Those not familiar with more recent developments in
the ST world may not realize that the Falcon's desktop can be
customized in all sorts of ways. You can modify the palette
to excess, you can change the colors and patterns of each
section of each window (including the background behind the
filenames), you can assign built-in icons to specific
filenames, and, with the help of an icon editor, you can
design your own window and desktop icons. Some of these
modifications are available to all ST and/or STe users, some
only to owners of recent TOS versions, and some only to
Falcon owners. If you don't have XCONTROL from Atari, get
it! I've had all sorts of fun messing up my desktop on my
STs and my Falcon.
I didn't succeed in catching any "movement" shots, but I'm
still trying. The Falcon's windows and "buttons" have a 3-D
effect, such that when you drag a scroll bar, for example, it
seems as though you are picking up a box rather than a flat
rectangle. None of these shots shows that well, so I'm
working on it.
The snapshots included in this archive are in Lexicor's Prism
Paint format and can be viewed with a variety of picture
viewers. I recommend, for its simplicity, PNTVIEW from
Lexicor. I have taken care that these files can be be viewed
on any ST in low resolution.
A few notes:
MultiTOS was not installed during the screen capturing.
I could have taken the same shots in 80-column mode, which
resembles (but is not identical to) medium resolution on the
ST. I didn't, because medium resolution doesn't on the ST
doesn't support enough colors to allow viewing an identical
screen.
I used only built-in icons.
A key to the files:
40_DSKTP.PNT -- The basic desktop with filenames in the
directory window.
40_ICONS.PNT -- The basic desktop with icons in the directory
window.
SETCOLOR.PNT -- The View menu.
SETVIDEO.PNT -- Selected from the Options menu, this dialog
allows you to change resolutions.
SET_MASK.PNT -- The File menu.
SAM.PNT -- The System Audio Manager dialog; this memory-
resident accessory allows the user to link digitized
sounds to system events. When my computer boots up, I
hear "Ta-da!", a squealing "Whee!" replaces the system
bell, etc.
I hope you enjoy this peek at the future! -- D.A. Brumleve