Xref: utzoo comp.sys.mac.misc:10417 comp.windows.ms:11045
Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!samsung!uunet!lotus!lotus.com!robertk
From: robertk@lotatg.lotus.com (Robert Krajewski)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.misc,comp.windows.ms
Subject: Re: give me solid facts: why is the mac better than MeSsy DOS/WINDOWS
Message-ID: <ROBERTK.91Apr1171818@lotatg.lotus.com>
Date: 1 Apr 91 22:18:18 GMT
References: <1991Mar24.065427.16198@nntp-server.caltech.edu>
	<1991Mar26.011127.28302@amd.com> <1991Mar26.063111.3133@cs.uoregon.edu>
	<1991Mar27.061300.7636@nntp-server.caltech.edu>
Sender: news@lotus.com
Organization: /homes/robertk/.organization
Lines: 49
In-Reply-To: woody@nntp-server.caltech.edu's message of 27 Mar 91 06:13:00 GMT

In article <1991Mar27.061300.7636@nntp-server.caltech.edu> woody@nntp-server.caltech.edu (William Edward Woody) writes:

   In article <1991Mar26.063111.3133@cs.uoregon.edu> akm@obelix.cs.uoregon.edu (Anant Kartik Mithal) writes:
   >On the mac, if you double click on the (greyed) icon for Word, you get
   >back to the running copy. Also, on the Mac, double clicking on a
   >second word doc gets you into word with the document, with Word for
   >Windows, you will get the error message. This is only in part because
   >of the way word is written, it is also because the FileManager,
   >Program Manager and Desktop are seperate entities in Windows, but all
   >parts of the same thing in the Macintosh Finder.
   >
   >The seperation makes a different to users. I had a user who kept going
   >back to the icon in the program manager (that was the one that she new
   >about because that is the one she used to start Word with), and double
   >clicking on it, which resulted in her repeatedly getting the same
   >message. Finally, in frustration, she said "Yes I KNOW!! So RUN it!!"

Exactly. The computer knows what's going on, so why can't it remedy
the problem and help her get work done ?

	   Strictly speaking, the problem your friend is experiencing is a
   problem with Word.  Window has many mechanisms for running an application;
   each of these pretty much funnel down to the same routine which actually
   runs the application.

The real problem is that Windows does not define higher-level
mechanisms for things that the Macintosh does already.  See, the way
it ought to work is that the File Manager ought to notice that an
instance of Word (or another other MDI application) is already
running, and then sends a DDE message to it (with standard semantics
and a standard interface) to open up a new file.  I actually submitted
on OnLine SR about this a long time ago, but it never showed up in
Windows 3.0.  Basically, it would involve extending the currently
anemic file association mechanism.

Actually, the way the Mac actually implements the equivalent functions
is gross: it involves faking out a *dialog box call* after searching
down the application's menu for the File:Open item. On the other hand,
at least there *is* a standard call to get a file on the Mac.

As a developer, I find that Windows, especially Windows 3.0, has a
somewhat more robust and clean API, especially in terms of memory
management and dialog boxes.  (Some of the difference is surely due to
the fact that Microsoft could learn from Apple's mistakes.)  On the
other hand, the coolest stuff still appears on the Mac.  Many Windows
programs betray DOS lineage: ugly or gratutious use of color, lack of
direct-manipulation interfaces, and deviation from Windows/CUA user
interface guidelines are much more common than in corresponding
Mac applications.