Re: Unix and Xywrite and whatnot

[MN Ctr for Philosophy of Science mcps@xxxxxxxx]

>
> > Very interesting post, Harmon. Tell me a bit more. Can you run Virtual PC
> > processes in full screen text mode?
> >

Sure is!! I'm a long-time Mac devotee, though at work I have mostly had to
use PC's. In recent years I've began to despair of the Mac (probably in
large part because my particular setup at home is not state-of-the-art and
therefore pretty buggy). So it is encouraging to see this rousing
endorsement of the new G3 macs, and of VirtualPC as well. Besides Xy,
there is another old, old DOS app that I love...PC Outline. A mac running
all the latest mac goodies, PLUS Xy and PC Outline...why, that'd be
heaven!

>    No command line per se -- unless you get something like
> CodeWarrior, which let's you into the guts of MacOS, compiles, etc. And
> you know, not having a command line was always one of those things that
> made me turn up my nose at Macs -- but when you start playing around
> with the Mac way of doing things, I don't really notice it not being
> there.

Not having the OPTION of the command line (as you still do in Win) has
been a complaint about the MacOS for me, personally, although I understand
that many new computer users don't even know what a command line is. As
Harmon suggested, I suspect it's actually out there somewhere, buried in
the arcana of the mac system...but just not worth the bother.
Interestingly, for all its GUI'dness, the MacOS does have a
command-line-like syntax for specifiying directories and subdirectories
(what it calls in icon-world disks, folders, and nested folders). In
Netscape, open a file on your own system and see what appears in
Netscape's "command line!" Looks almost like DOS!

Another thing I do like about Windows more than the MacOS is the sticky
menus. That is, when you click on a Windows menu at the top, it drops down
and stays open. I think it makes mousing around easier. Apple has for
sometime provided software called At Ease that allows one to make the
menus sticky. But At Ease is designed for persons with disabilities
vis-a-vis the keyboard, and I haven't found it to work all that well for
me. And on a similar note...I like two-button mice. I just recently found
a nice solution: a Kensington trackball with terrific software that gives
you sticky menus, a two-button device, and a zillion more clever options.

Cheers!

Steve Lelchuk
Principal Secretary      User Services Specialist
Minnesota Center for     Department of Philosophy
 Philosophy of Science    University of Minnesota
mcps@xxxxxxxx     lelch001@xxxxxxxx