Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!lll-tis!ames!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!bloom-beacon!apple!dgold
From: dgold@Apple.COM (David Goldsmith)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: using a mac2 with 2 monitors
Message-ID: <16047@apple.Apple.COM>
Date: 24 Aug 88 17:19:03 GMT
References: <6774@potomac.ads.com> <8020@cup.portal.com> <8089@cup.portal.c <8296@cup.portal.com> <15876@apple.Apple.COM> <574@esquire.UUCP>
Reply-To: dgold@apple.com.UUCP (David Goldsmith)
Distribution: na
Organization: Apple Computer Inc, Cupertino, CA
Lines: 43

In article <574@esquire.UUCP> sbb@esquire.UUCP (Stephen B. Baumgarten) writes:
>In article <15876@apple.Apple.COM> lsr@apple.com.UUCP (Larry Rosenstein) writes:
>>You may be able to change this.  If you hold down the option key while
>>selecting Monitors in teh Control Panel, you will get a little face on the
>>startup monitor.  (This is the one that displays the Welcome to Macintosh at
>>boot time.)  You can drag this over to another screen if you wish.
>
>Boy, I wish developers would stop all this option/command/tab/caps-lock
>nonsense.  The standard Apple interface seems to be becoming more and
>more like Microsoft Word every day.
>
>I could sort of understand the rationale behind command-option for
>rebuilding the desktop file, and command-option-shift-caps-lock (or
>whatever) for zapping PRAM, since these aren't things that the average
>user is going to be doing very often.  But what would be wrong with
>having an icon or button in the Monitors CDEV that does what the secret
>option key does?  Now only technical users will be able to change the
>default monitor, since they're the only ones who read this newsgroup
>(or, more generally, they're the only ones who read manuals).

It was intentionally hidden to simplify the user interface of the
Monitors CDEV.  The only thing this feature controls is which screen is
first in the gdevice list; no application should depend on or make use
of this information.  Properly written applications should work with any
number of monitors, with the menu bar on any monitor.  Any other behavior is
a bug.

That said, you may wonder why the feature exists at all.  It's for Macsbug;
Macsbug always comes up on the first screen in the gdevice list.  Since
this feature was only useful to people using Macsbug, it was hidden away
with a special keystroke so as not to clutter the interface for non-
technical users.

By the way, I heartily agree with the sentiment about option-control-command-
double-bucky-quackeroo; I would like to see some of those combinations in
the Finder replaced by something more accessible.  In this case, however,
I think the decision to hide this feature was correct.

(PS- it's not even in the manual, as far as I know)
David Goldsmith                                           Apple Computer, Inc.
AppleLink: GOLDSMITH1    BIX: dgoldsmith         20525 Mariani Avenue, MS: 46B
UUCP: {nsc,dual,sun,voder,ucbvax!mtxinu}!apple!dgold       Cupertino, CA 95014
CSNET: dgold@apple.com