Xref: utzoo comp.sys.mac.programmer:5532 comp.sys.mac:29895
Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!rutgers!cmcl2!esquire!sbb
From: sbb@esquire.UUCP (Stephen B. Baumgarten)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.programmer,comp.sys.mac
Subject: Re: Need some MF help
Keywords: MultiFinder
Message-ID: <1141@esquire.UUCP>
Date: 10 Apr 89 20:26:05 GMT
References: <1562@neoucom.UUCP> <28399@apple.Apple.COM> <3637@brunix.UUCP> <28638@apple.Apple.COM>
Reply-To: sbb@esquire.UUCP (Stephen B. Baumgarten)
Organization: DP&W, New York, NY
Lines: 37

In article <28638@apple.Apple.COM> keith@Apple.COM (Keith Rollin) writes:
>	- "To implement a novel feature": What kind of features? I would like
>		to know about them. So far, most features that developers want
>		to implement revolve around questions like "Are there icons
>		on the desktop?", or "How do I safely sublaunch?",  or "Am I
>		able to unmount an MFS disk", NOT "Is MultiFinder active?"

Here's a useful feature not currently supported by the System: it's
nice to be able to shrink down or partially hide your windows when
you're not frontmost.

Versaterm is a good example of a program that does this.  It lets the
user decide whether or not to shrink its main window, and if so, what
size it should be and where on the screen it should be located.

In some ways, this is even better than having the application zoom
down to an icon; since the window is still visible, you can always
watch what's going on, even when the application is in the background.
Of course, if you have a 19" monitor this isn't so much of a problem,
but most Mac users don't and must suffer with overly cluttered 9"
screens.

I understand what you guys in DTS are saying, but it seems to me that
the world is full of budding Microsoft's (i.e., people and companies
who do what they want, regardless of the "official" line), and if you
don't provide a legal way to do something, saying "don't do this"
won't prevent it from being done.  I think you have to look at the end
result, which currently is that people are doing all sorts of terrible
(by DTS standards) things to check for the existence of Multifinder.
Give them a "legal" way to do it and you have at least a small chance
that things won't all break with the next System release.

--
   Steve Baumgarten             | "New York... when civilization falls apart,
   Davis Polk & Wardwell        |  remember, we were way ahead of you."
   cmcl2!esquire!sbb            | 
   esquire!sbb@cmcl2.nyu.edu    |                           - David Letterman