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From: LWELCH@COLGATEU.BITNET
Newsgroups: comp.sys.apple
Subject: The Nifty //GS and Apple Support
Message-ID: <8903181758.aa00561@SMOKE.BRL.MIL>
Date: 18 Mar 89 21:40:00 GMT
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From:   GOV%"claris!wombat@AMES.ARC.NASA.GOV"      "Scott Lindsey" 15-MAR-1989 1
9:44:07.98
Subj:   Re: Disappointed in the IIgs (and Claris)

I will admit that programmer interest in the GS at Claris is waning, but
I think the principle reason is Apple's seemingly corresponding lack of
interest.  The battle over the II seems to be raging within Apple as well.
There is a desire to support and expand and fix the OS and tools.  The
Mac is such a pleasure to program for by comparison.  My opinion (which I
have stated before) is that the GS is a nifty machine.  But that's about
as far as it goes.  I continue to write "nifty" things for it, but writing
something powerful... well that's what we tried for with AWGS, and it's
something of a behemoth.
-------------

If Apple has a desire to expand, fix, and support the OS and tools, what more
do you and other programmers at CLARIS want to see from Apple?  What nifty
things have you written for the GS?  AWGS is huge and too slow in many
respects.  The people at CLARIS deserve congradulations for developing a
powerful application for the //GS and not a product that fits into Apple's "K-8
Educational market" for the // family.  Appleworks and Applworks GS show that
there is a demand forproductive, powerful, small business applications for the
// family.

Part of the blame for the slowness of Appleworks GS must be placed on Apple
since they control the development of the tools and the hardware.  Many of the
tools need to be fixed, expanded, and speeded up by Apple.  This will make
Appleworks GS a more practical application.  Hardware improvements need to be
explored at Apple as well to speed up the incredibly slow graphics display.

But, since Scott has said that Apple is working on improving the tools and OS,
what else are the programmers at CLARIS looking for from Apple?  Part of the
blame for the slowness of Appleworks GS needs to be taken on by the people at
CLARIS.  I hope that they are working to improve the code of Appleworks GS so
that it can work faster.  There are some indications of this, but I hope their
upgrades will go beyond fixing bugs in Appleworks GS and increase the speed and
features of the program as well.  CLARIS shouldn't rely on Apple to produce all
of the improvements to their program simply through tool speedups and system
improvements.

I think that Appleworks GS is the best thing that could have happened to the //
family and the people at CLARIS deserve a lot of credit.  The program reveals
shortcomings in Apple's hardware & tools and can help show the way towards
improvement in the // line at Apple.  Appleworks GS establishes 1 Meg of RAM as
a minimum standard for future //GS's and shows that the // line can be
successful in the business market if Apple and software developers are willing
to put in enough effort.



|  Chip Welch                                "Apple ][ Forever!"             |
|  Chipmunk Computer Systems                                                 |
|  CU Box L3058                         BITNET:  LWELCH@COLGATEU.BITNET      |
|  Hamilton, NY 13346                   GEnie:   CWELCH3                     |
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