Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!sun-barr!olivea!mintaka!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!usc!wuarchive!uunet!mcsun!ukc!edcastle!ecwu61
From: ecwu61@castle.ed.ac.uk (R Renwick)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.acorn
Subject: Suggestions
Message-ID: <8454@castle.ed.ac.uk>
Date: 12 Feb 91 14:37:57 GMT
Sender: ecwu61@castle.ed.ac.uk
Organization: Edinburgh University
Lines: 98


In article <1991Feb11.124128.2990@cns.umist.ac.uk> vanaards%t7@uk.ac.man.cs writes:
>
>     There seems to be a trend in these discussions as to what we'd like
>  to see in a new Archimedes machine. Well I'll add to this :
>
>  Presently there is NO way of undeleting a file - this is a MAJOR mistake.
>  If you're in business & you accidently delete your current work file 
>  you've no way of recovering it other that hacking the disk. But with
>  DOS based systems there's no hassle, I've seem many undelete programs.

	Well I ain't ever used an OS that has a built in 'undelete'
facility.  I have seen programs such as undel for MS-DROS and Unix boxes
and Recover for the Archi though.

>  Why place the Econet roms in the machines OS as standard ? How many users
>  actually use Econet. As Acorn consider schools,etc as their main market
>  this may seem good policy - but why not move them off to a podule ?

	Maybe I am just being particularly dense, but what difference
does it make whether the roms are in the machine or on a podule???

>  The MEMC chip needs to be replaced, I believe that the current page size
>  is far too large - this is apparent on UNIX boxes.
>
>  I'd like to see faster screen updates regardless of mode. Now I haven't
>  any sound ideas on how this should be done - perhaps a second bus and
>  screen memory, or a BLITTER chip ?

	Blitter would be nice.

>  I'd like the TASK manager icon to display the Tasks window without having
>  to go through that menu - perhaps by pressing select only. What about a
>  facility of killing modules from the desktop too ?
>
>  Some time ago several modules appeared to change the current directory
>  from the desktop, and display the current directory name alongside the
>  OS prompt. These should be incorporated in the new system.
>
>  A larger string size should be made available to system variables, having
>  a limit to 255 characters for <run$path> tends towards a broad disk
>  heirarchy, either introduce several run$paths, or  increase the limit.
>
>  Group selection of icons within a window would be useful. If you're familiar
>  with the Atari machines you'll know what I mean. Being able to have a rubber
>  banded selection area would make things a lot simpler when operating upon
>  a lot of files.

	Yuch!!!!!!!   Windows 3 on the PC allows you to do this and it
make the overall appearence of the desktop look terrible.  I like to see
the files in nice neat lines and in alphabetical order so I know where
in a window to look for a particular file.

>  What about passing parameters to programs from the desktop. Select a program
>  and using the menu, enter the command line parameters you want to use.

	Surely this is down to the application itself.  ie Pascal and C
compiler front ends allow this.  This shouldn't have anything to do with
the OS.

>  From the few dealers I've been to, they seem to concentrate upon desktop
>  publishing on the Archimedes, perhaps they should be encouraged to promote
>  the business advantages as well. Why use the Archimedes as a DTP machine
>  only, a DOS machine does that, and everyone knows that it's a business
>  machine, thus having everything needed by a prospective business user.

	Have you ever used a PC for DTP?  If you had, I'm sure you would
understand why PC people get excited when they see what the Archi can do.

>  If I have any more ideas I'll send them too.
>
>PS has anyone noticed that if you hold down the SHIFT key, press the CapsLock
>   Key - the light comes on (as expected) but if you then try to turn CapsLock
>   off whilst holding down SHIFT the light doesn't go off !

	This is supposed to happen.  It even happened on the good old
beeb.  The idea is that SHIFT+CAPS means than pressing a key on it's own
give uppercase while SHIFT+key gives lowercase.  This state is reached
as soon as SHIFT+CAPS is pressed regardless of the state of CAPS
beforehand.

Rik


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    ############	Richard Renwick		ecwu61@uk.ac.ed.castle
   #            #	Computer Science 4	OR rlr@uk.ac.ed.lfcs
  @   ~~~  ~~~   @	University of Edinburgh
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