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From: blair@pt1.Wichita.NCR.COM (Brian Lair)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc,comp.windows.misc
Subject: Re: DOS & MS-windows Vs. Unix & X experience + MS-windows Flame
Message-ID: <149@pt1.Wichita.NCR.COM>
Date: 23 May 88 13:39:43 GMT
References: <10799@apple.Apple.Com>
Organization: NCR Corporation, Wichita, KS, USA
Lines: 91

MS-Windows isn't THAT bad...

In article <10799@apple.Apple.Com>, jrg@Apple.COM (John R. Galloway) writes:
> the whole thing has left me with a great desire to vomit on
> my keyboard.
Really, now, let's not be melodramatic!
 
> Comments on Micro Soft Windows 2.1
> POOR COMMAND INTERACE. Yes it is graphical, but only in that DOS like
> commands can be "typed" with the mouse.  i.e. to delete a file your
> choices are:
>         via mouse
> 		- click on the filename (optional)
>         - click on the FILE pulldown menu
>         - drag to the delete entry
>         - get a dialogue box which has either an empty filename or
>         if you have selected (by clicking on) the name of a file
>         before pulling down the FILE menu, then that name is in
>         the filename spot in the dialogue box.
>         - edit the filename with cursor keys, etc. if needed
>         - click on the OK (or perhpas it says YES) box

You make this sound worse than it is...
In most cases, this involves only four mouse clicks: Filename, File Menu,
Delete menu item (you don't have to drag to it, just click on it), and OK
button.  I think that's fairly efficient (but maybe not like the trash can
concept on the Macintosh).

>         via keyboard
No arguments here... Windows with a keyboard is unruly.

The main advantage of the MS-DOS Executive Window is that it puts all the
filenames on the screen for you to choose from.  "rm filename" is only more
efficient if you already know exactly how "filename" is spelled.
 
> 
> POOR APPLICATION ENVIRONENT.  
> The biggest hit seems to be a lack of [ability of the user to specify]
> position and size info (ala standard X geometry specs).

I agree -- this is annoying.  I think applications CAN provide such a
feature, but most don't.
 
> POOR WINDOW MANAGEMENT.  
> To see other applications you have to always resize or iconify.

Also annoying.  However, you can press ALT-ESC or ALT-TAB to hop from one
window to another without moving or resizing.
 
> MICRSOFT WRITE.  Any supposedly WYSIWYG window oriented editor that does not
> allow multiple rulers is a toy.  enough said.

OK, enough said.
 
> FILENAME EXTENSIONS.  MS-windows keys off of filename extensions to chose
> what application to run.  Thus you can click on foo.wri which was written by
> MS-write to run MS-wite with foo.wri opened.  Well it sounds good but the
> applications do not "see" files without their extensions.  So for example if
> importing a raw text file into MS-write, you must give it a .wri extension

You can specify other "default" extensions to Windows by changing the
[extensions] section of the WIN.INI file.  For instance, I added the line
"c=notepad.exe ^.c" so that I can just double-click on JUNK.C and the file 
is brought up automatically under NOTEPAD.

> Even if a good word processor was available (WinText from Palantir looks
> interesting ...)

By the way, has anyone else used WinText?  Any comments?

> Perhaps novice users find MS-windows
> appealing (I have been in computers for about 18 years now)  ...

Only 9 years for me :-(
I don't think I'm a novice, but I find Windows to be a very good
productivity tool.  Sure, it has plently of problems (consider the clunker
it's built on top of), but the advantages outweight the drawbacks.  I get a
lot of use out of the MS-DOS Executive, cutting&pasting, multiple windows,
not to mention the pretty colors on my VGA (Although Windows doesn't use
all available colors *sniff*).

> Some of the applications are very nice on the inside,
> but the world they live in is a slum.

I don't agree, but that's kind of a clever analogy.

-- 
Brian R. Lair            NCR Corporation, E&M Wichita, Advanced Development
 Brian.Lair@Wichita.NCR.COM
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