Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!lll-tis!helios.ee.lbl.gov!pasteur!ames!decwrl!ucbvax!UCONNVM.BITNET!SEWALL From: SEWALL@UCONNVM.BITNET (Murph Sewall) Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple Subject: Re: SOFTSWITCH Message-ID: <8806100851.aa03496@SMOKE.BRL.ARPA> Date: 10 Jun 88 13:32:40 GMT References: Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU Organization: The Internet Lines: 39 >So you feel limited by ProDOS. So what is your OS of choice? DOS 3.3? CP/M? >I kinda like ProDOS myself. Now that the quit code has been humanized by Glen Bredon, Don Elton, Dave Lyons, and others (who've I left out?), I think ProDOS is OK. However, as a user, I see little advantage other than the hierarchical file structure makes it MUCH easier to keep things organized on large (over 256K) storage devices. The problem IS so much worthwhile software isn't upward compatible (ProDOS doesn't have a "DOS box" the way OS/2 will in the IBM world). I have quite a bit of software that still does what I bought it to do quite nicely AND I'm used to it (no reason to change) BUT it's NEVER going to be ported to ProDOS (in many cases the original publisher has gone bankrupt or merged into another firm that's abandoned it, in a few cases it's just been abandoned - example: Apple made Quick File part of AppleWorks and doesn't sell a free standing version for ProDOS). I don't have a Z80 in my //e, but I know quite a few folks that do. dBase II retains all the power it ever had. Is there REALLY enough extra advantage to ProDOS (ProDOS 16 may be another matter, but the software library at the moment looks more like "gee whiz" stuff than something with REAL advantages over in-place systems) to merit starting over from scratch? dBase II is "expertware," and I'd hardly recommend anyone starting up invest in it, but once even complex software is learned and often used, then new stuff which is prettier (color, icons, etc.) and easier to learn may not offer much real advantage. In fact, for many tasks of modest size dBase II in the hands of an experienced user runs circles around most of the newer stuff (CP/M coprocessors have run 3MHz and faster for years and dBase doesn't generate the overhead that ease of use often requires). --------------------- Disclaimer: The "look and feel" of this message is exclusively MINE! (subject to change without notice; void where prohibited) ARPA: sewall%uconnvm.bitnet@mitvma.mit.edu Murphy A. Sewall BITNET: SEWALL@UCONNVM School of Business Admin. UUCP: ...ihnp4!psuvax1!UCONNVM.BITNET!SEWALL University of Connecticut