Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!ncar!husc6!mit-eddie!mit-amt!mjkobb
From: mjkobb@mit-amt.MEDIA.MIT.EDU (Michael J Kobb)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: System 7.0 speculations - Feature wishlist
Summary: What Apple's really doing, and what I think
Keywords: System 7.0
Message-ID: <391@mit-amt.MEDIA.MIT.EDU>
Date: 30 Jul 89 21:46:58 GMT
References: <587GDAU100@BGUVM>
Reply-To: mjkobb@media-lab.media.mit.edu (Michael J Kobb)
Organization: MIT Media Lab, Cambridge MA
Lines: 63

In article <587GDAU100@BGUVM> GDAU100@BGUVM.BITNET (Jonathan B. Owen) writes:
>As any other Mac user, I too have my views on how to improve the finder.
>I have not really orginized my thought in the matter, but the following
>comes to mind:
>
>    o I would like to see a standard Control Device for setting the port
>      used for communication (read Modem) with all it's relative parameters,
>      such as speed, parity, etc.  Maybe even a modem setup string sent to
>      the modem at boot.  This would eliminate the need for each comm.
>      program to have it's own implementation.

Nice idea, but I've not seen any mention of it anywhere.
>
>    o I think each application should have it's own menubar within it's
>      window (possibly scrolling the menubar, for small windows) instead
>      of todays menubar.
>
It's a thought, but which menubar gets things like SuperClock, On Cue, etc?
All of them would be a processor hog, but one of them, obscured, would be a
hassle.  If you go with a general one as well, then you're getting really
redundant.  I think scrolling the menubar would be a _big_ annoyance.
(also, no mention from Apple)

>    o Desk Accesseries should "float" like Hypercard's tools menu.  How
>      many times did YOU have to bring back the Notepad each time
>      you switch to anoter application?  I can't count that much :)

I don't use HyperCard (because I can't afford the disk/RAM space), so I don't
know what its tool menu does.  At least the DA's shouldn't shut down if you're
running MultiFinder, just be obscured.  (They get obscured because the DA's
run within the DA Handler's partition, and it acts sort of like an application.
When you bring up a new application, MultiFinder assumes that you want to have
that application on top (not necessarily a valid assumption)).  It would be
nice if you could tell one to stay raised until you lower it, though.  With
System 7.0, MultiFinder is ON. Period.
>
>    o The finder should include a tree structure view of an HFS volume.
>
Would be nice...

>    o Having a pull down menu from a window's title bar of the enclousing
>      folders would be great (like in MacTools) for navigation (this is
>      one step futher of double clicking in the title bar in system 6.03 -
>      once enables with Layout 1.7).
>
Try the init WindowList.  It's shareware (I think) and it does just that, and
not just for the Finder. (It doesn't give _every_ application's windows, just 
the active one's).

>    o The ability of temporarly making a window into an icon ("iconization")
>      is a good solution for working with many applications/windows/DAs
>      at once.
>
Apple comes close to this with MultiFinder 6.1.  I've seen a copy of 6.1a2, and
it has a nifty feature called "Set Aside" under the Apple menu.  You invoke it
and all of the selected application's windows are hidden.  You bring it back
by choosing it from the apple menu again.  (They're at the top of the menu, by
the way).
>                                   Any thought?
>
There you have it.

--Mike