Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!clyde.concordia.ca!uunet!brunix!rca From: rca@cs.brown.edu (Ronald C.F. Antony) Newsgroups: comp.sys.next Subject: Re: NOT (click to type) in NeXTStep? Message-ID: <56054@brunix.UUCP> Date: 12 Nov 90 03:23:52 GMT References: <1990Oct28.165341.6949@cs.cmu.edu> <2955@lectroid.sw.stratus.com> Sender: news@brunix.UUCP Reply-To: rca@cs.brown.edu (Ronald C.F. Antony) Organization: Brown University Department of Computer Science Lines: 54 In article purtill@morley.rutgers.edu (Mark Purtill) writes: >jmann@angmar.sw.stratus.com (Jim Mann) writes: >>It is NOT just a vestige of non-multi-tasking systems. In saying this, you >>seem to be making the assumption that everyone would prefer the >>non-click-to-type method of activation. I disagree. > Irrelavent. This thread started with someone asking for the >OPTION to not have to click to type. No one has suggested that >everyone be forced to use non-click to type, and indeed X allows both >click to type and not. > And if you would find it horrible to have pointer-focus, >that's exactly how I feel about click-to-type. Different people have >different preferences, and NeXT won't make any sales by telling people >that their preferences are wrong. NeXTStep should provide an OPTION >for pointer focus, and, yes, this *is* a significnat factor in which >machine I buy (Sparc vs. Next). Although I hate to repeat myself, I think I have to post this again since this discussion about click to focus or point to focus is getting out of hand and starts being boring. There is a BIG difference between a window server (Xwindows) and a user interface (NeXT's Workspace manager). The WS is designed to help people with on of the problems of GUIs i.e. cluttered screens. In order to do so the WS hides certain sorts of windows (i.e. panels and menues) while an application is not in focus. Thus switching focus is sort of an strong function performed by the user. It involves hiding all the menues and panels of the currently focused application and exposing the panels and menues of the to be focused application. This results in a sometimes heavy change in the layout of the screen and takes also quite some cpu cycles. In order to save your (i.e. the users) eyes and the performance of the cpu, the WS requires you to click on a window of the application you want to focus on. Without this, a slight move of the mouse could result in 10 focus changes in half a second and thus you would see all the panels and menues flashing over your screen. Do you really want to option to hurt your eyes? The only thing that would be useful is if there was a way to alt-click to a window such that switching focus could be done without an auto-raise to click. (How about that NeXT?) Yes, X gives your more flexibility in this respect, but you have to do also all the work yourself to keep a screen on which you are able to work, NeXT does a lot of this for you without that you really notice. A little click may be annoying in the beginning, but as you have to move the mouse anyway, it does not hurt either. Ronald ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man." Bernhard Shaw | rca@cs.brown.edu or antony@browncog.bitnet