Xref: utzoo comp.sys.mac:13615 comp.windows.misc:199
Path: utzoo!mnetor!uunet!husc6!cmcl2!phri!lonetto
From: lonetto@phri.UUCP (Michael Lonetto)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac,comp.windows.misc
Subject: Re: A/UX window systems, Mac tool...( Hum Interface)
Message-ID: <3172@phri.UUCP>
Date: 8 Mar 88 00:59:54 GMT
References: <4129@hoptoad.uucp> <283@rhesus.primate.wisc.edu> <1710@ssc-vax.UUCP> <7523@apple.Apple.Com> <1719@ssc-vax.UUCP> <241@eos.UUCP> <884@daisy.UUCP>
Reply-To: lonetto@phri.UUCP (Michael Lonetto)
Organization: Public Health Research Inst. (NY, NY)
Lines: 30
Keywords: It works.
Summary: please look before speaking

I hope that all of the Unix types who are talking about how task
switching can't possibly work right if the menu bar at the top of the
screen has to switch for each application will avail themselves of the
chance to play around with multifinder, preferably on a machine with
enough memory to run a few things at once.  

While the description sounded pretty dubious to me, it WORKS incredibly
well.  Any open application can have windows on the screen.  If a
program is capable of doing output in the background (spreadsheet
recalculation, graphing program, etc) you can passively watch it.( While
most mac programs don't do this now, I don't think it will be that long
before they do.)  If you click on an open window, that application
becomes the "active" application:  all of its windows come to the front
and it gets the menu bar.  This happens very fast and it is quite easy
to select, cut/copy, click on an open window from another application,
and paste.  The whole operation is faster than getting from one
directory to another in Unix.  

As far as being a system for small screens, with 2.5 meg and
multifinder, the screen is way too small.  Navigating something 2-4
times larger doesn't make getting to the menubar much harder.  If you
put menus in the windows, which windows do you put them in?  All of
them?  Even for applcations that can have 7-8 windows open at once?
Sounds pretty wasteful of the screen to me.  

Well that's enough for me...
-- 
Michael Lonetto    UUCP:(allegra!phri!lonetto) 
Dept of Applied Genetics
Public Health Research Institute, 455 1st Ave, NY, NY 10016