Amiga.org
Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga Software Issues and Discussion => Topic started by: KatManDEW on January 22, 2009, 06:11:56 PM
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What features from OS's on other platforms do you miss when using an Amiga?
Forgive me if I am overlooking some features in OS3.9 (or above). I ordered 3.9 but have not received it yet.
I personally miss copy and paste from just about anywhere to anywhere very much. Like copying text from one application to another.
I miss the ability to highlight sections of strings in input boxes or "gadgets".
I miss right-click drop-dwon menus.
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Right click drop-down menus can be added with MagicMenu (http://aminet.net/package/util/wb/MagicMenu_II). Personally, when I'm using an Amiga I miss:
- Consistent copy and paste
- Consistent keyboard controls
- Exposé
- The ability to actually put files on the desktop rather than putting them somewhere else and having to "leave them out"
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moto
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Thanks for the tip on MagicMenu.
What's - Exposé?
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Exposé is a feature of Mac OS X which resizes and moves all of your open windows so they all fit on the screen at the same time. When you click on one of them it moves all the windows back where they were and brings the one you clicked to the front.
http://www.apple.com/findouthow/mac/#tutorial=expose
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moto
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motorollin wrote:
Exposé is a feature of Mac OS X which resizes and moves all of your open windows so they all fit on the screen at the same time. When you click on one of them it moves all the windows back where they were and brings the one you clicked to the front.
http://www.apple.com/findouthow/mac/#tutorial=expose
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moto
I suppose I would have to use it to find out if I think it's handy. I have absolutely now problem whatsoever using a hidden taskbar in XP. I don't worry about "organizing" windows that are open, I just move my mouse to the bottom of the screen and select the window I want to use.
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Well, Exposé isn't for organising windows. It only moves them so you can see them, then moves them back where they were. I used to think the taskbar was fine until I switched to OS X and started using Exposé. I find it much easier. I have a hot-spot in the bottom-right-hand corner of the screen which launches Exposé. It's useful as well for seeing what's on other windows. I do a lot of note-taking as I use my MacBook for all my Uni work. It's great to be able to quickly Exposé to check something in a different window, then just press Escape to bring back the window I was already in and carry on typing. I couldn't live without it now!
There's a nice video of Exposé on YouTube:
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=2XFMSSrpTqg
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moto
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I work with Macs and use WinXP on a daily basis, but it's more what I miss OF the Amiga IN them most of the time.
Funny.
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@SKAN, yeah i'll go with that :lol:
there is a windows XP "power tool" that makes alt-tab show a box containing miniture versions of all your windows so you can select which one you want more easily then just multiple icons of the same application for multiple instances of that app. i think vista does the same by default.
but somewhat related to the above app chooser thing, i don't really need something to select what app i need as i run 4 screens at work, and three screens at home, so have enough screen real estate to have everything open at once, and somewhat visable...
on the amiga, i'd never really run out of workbench space as i don't use them for anything serious anymore.. :-(
as for what i miss,
- ditto on the copy paste thing though.
- i was going to say "flash movies" on the web, but thats been half nailed with a work-around in OS4, and i don't really watch web movies anyway..
- i miss the speed of file operations. opening a folder/draw/directory with a few hundered 8Megapixel pictures and want to just look at them in thumbnail view? sure! want to copy a few gig of data from your camera to your machine? no problem, gimmie a minute or two.
- quickly load a picture, apply a filter or two, save, preview and publish? couple of minutes.
- true stereo sound. i know it was available on the amiga, but to do so, you lost half your sound channels just for left and right to be pretty much the same but with subtle variences for positional audio.
- double clicking on a massive picture, a movie, a DVD.iso, or a music file, and it displaying in full res right there and then.
- printing a full colour picture doesn't take 5-10 minutes
- USB stack that is invisable, just works.
- tcp ip stack that is invisable, just works.
- network speeds not slower than burning a CD/DVD and walking it over to another computer.
- multiuser system. profiles/user space, true user security.
today we are doing just the same as we ever were, just, with true 32bit colour depth and multi-mega-pixel resolutions. with 24bit 96Khz surround sound.
what i DONT miss when using the amiga.
- random drive defrags/virus scans/spyware hunts/windows defender kicking in and hammering the disk right when i need it most.
- the desktop appearing and then maybe 3-4 minutes later, i can actualy click on something to launch it, as all the little system tray aplets launch
- having to wait for it to boot, a reset on an amiga is not a painfull proposition /really/ even with USB/tcpip stacks and graphics card drivers.
- having to "shut down" rather than "off"
- dumb system file structure.
- stolen focus. when i'm typing in one window, i don't expect the window focus to change because someone i know has logged in on MSN, or as my web-browser loads, if i type something into the google toolbar, i don't expect to loose half of it because you've finally loaded the homepage, and switch focus to that while i'm typing.
- noise. my pc has a passive CPU cooler, my GFX card has a passive GPU cooler, the drives are samsung spinpoint quiet drives in a vibration dampening mounts, and the case is lined with accoustic noise absorbing foam. one exhaust fan and the PSU fan. it still makes noise. argh! this is the main reason my PPC miggy doesn't get fired up as much as the other machines.... silence is golden...
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I'll go the other way...
The thing from AmigaOS that I miss when using other systems is the assignable devices.
I'd love to assign a documents: device to /Users/yorgle/Documents or mods: to /Users/yorgle/Music/mods
and so on.
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Developers.
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ajlwalker wrote:
Developers.
That's a big 10-4.....
New hardware would be nice too, but it's no good without developers.
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Mostly a decent browser. That's just never going to happen though.
Secondly is keyboard shortcuts for everything. Sure you can use the mouse with the 'miggy keys and cancel system requesters with L-Amiga B/V, but not everything works that way.
Expose is awesome. I long for it on my WinXP machine that I have to use for work, and also on the amiga...
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The thing from AmigaOS that I miss when using other systems is the assignable devices. I'd love to assign a documents: device to /Users/yorgle/Documents or mods: to /Users/yorgle/Music/mods and so on.
Share the folder on the network but only give yourself permission access to it. Then map to it.
In XP this takes around 10 seconds to do.
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darksun9210 wrote:
what i DONT miss when using the amiga.
- random drive defrags/virus scans/spyware hunts/windows defender kicking in and hammering the disk right when i need it most.
- the desktop appearing and then maybe 3-4 minutes later, i can actualy click on something to launch it, as all the little system tray aplets launch
- having to wait for it to boot, a reset on an amiga is not a painfull proposition /really/ even with USB/tcpip stacks and graphics card drivers.
- having to "shut down" rather than "off"
- dumb system file structure.
- stolen focus. when i'm typing in one window, i don't expect the window focus to change because someone i know has logged in on MSN, or as my web-browser loads, if i type something into the google toolbar, i don't expect to loose half of it because you've finally loaded the homepage, and switch focus to that while i'm typing.
I totally have to agree at these points :-)
What I miss most, is a updated web-browser.
*WHEN* I can afford a SAM, I'll probably be happy :-)
(but I'll still use my old miggys!)
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When using an Amiga:
I miss a simpler external world (www, file formats, etc). It seems to me that many things have been made more complicated and proprietary but not always better. I do miss CD writing apps like Toast. Until recently, I missed USB (I have not installed Deneb yet.)
I don't miss registry files, desktop files, swap files, virtual memory, vast hidden parts of an OS, spyware, user log-in, tragic hippness (Macintosh).
When using any other machine:
I miss the Amiga philosophy, ie: simplicity, multiple ways to accomplish things, an OS so logically organized it seems transparent to me. I miss Amiga directory utilities. I miss near realtime responsiveness. I miss the ram disk. I miss the machine's dedication to me alone. I miss anonymity (increasingly more precious all the time). I miss the belief that only I am running the show.
When using XP:
I miss not being a target on the net. I miss being the only one in control. I miss the OS needing my permission to commit something the hard drive or other media.
When using a Mac:
I miss the OS treating me like an intelligent being. I miss flexibility, obvious and consistant functionality.
When using Ubuntu (on PS3):
I miss understanding. I miss simplicity. I miss product maturity. I miss a decent flash player and other codecs.
With my Amiga getting older, I will have to rely upon many different machines.
I seem to be a sucker for threads like this one, grin.
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motorollin wrote:
Right click drop-down menus can be added with MagicMenu (http://aminet.net/package/util/wb/MagicMenu_II). Personally, when I'm using an Amiga I miss:
- Consistent copy and paste
- Consistent keyboard controls
- Exposé
- The ability to actually put files on the desktop rather than putting them somewhere else and having to "leave them out"
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moto
doesn't snap on aminet let you copy and paste text from anywhere to anywhere?
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@ stef
Snap works much of the time but not all.
It would be great to find a new app that allows multiple clipboard strings.
EDIT: I should not have spoke. Turns out that I've been using Powersnap.
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What do I miss when I use my Amiga? Mostly... my youth!
A modern web browser wouldn't hurt either...
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A decent video editor
HD
A decent photo editor that can hand raw images
XCode, I can build a fair number of applications with out much of my own Obj C
USB 2.0
the BASH command line
iPhoto
Pages, Numbers, Keynote
Podcast producer
Xgrid
The ability to seemless share drives and resources
Speed
Reliability
Memory Protection
Youtube
Bluetooth connection to my phone
The ability to query MySQL databases
Coda
The ability to test my PHP code locally
Working SFTP
Printing to my networked color laser
The ability to Sync my calendar and address book - Work, Phone and Home
Skype
Torrents
The ability to listen to and transfer MP3, MP4 and the like between my phone, computer and PMP.
The ability to burn DVDs
The ability to download and add a new codec
Widgets
That's all I can come up with off the top of my head...
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Tenacious wrote:
@ stef
Snap works much of the time but not all.
It would be great to find a new app that allows multiple clipboard strings.
EDIT: I should not have spoke. Turns out that I've been using Powersnap.
I just tried PowerSnap, and it kinda works. Is there any way to get rid of the window it opens at startup? I tried running it from Startup-Sequence with Powersnap >NIL: and it still pops up it's window when Workbench loads.
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persia wrote:
A decent video editor
HD
A decent photo editor that can hand raw images
XCode, I can build a fair number of applications with out much of my own Obj C
USB 2.0
the BASH command line
iPhoto
Pages, Numbers, Keynote
Podcast producer
Xgrid
The ability to seemless share drives and resources
Speed
Reliability
Memory Protection
Youtube
Bluetooth connection to my phone
The ability to query MySQL databases
Coda
The ability to test my PHP code locally
Working SFTP
Printing to my networked color laser
The ability to Sync my calendar and address book - Work, Phone and Home
Skype
Torrents
The ability to listen to and transfer MP3, MP4 and the like between my phone, computer and PMP.
The ability to burn DVDs
The ability to download and add a new codec
Widgets
That's all I can come up with off the top of my head...
That's a pretty extensive list :-o
I take it you're a Mac user? Were you ever an Amiga user "back in the day"?
I may be an old fart, but I have an iPod and I have never understood the value of Podcasts?
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I was an Amiga user back in the day, yes, Amiga taught me to push technology, when Mac and PC users were pushing documents I was editing video and music. I've never lost that desire to push the limits, actually to no longer even see the limits. Had I just been a PC or Mac user in 1989 I wouldn't even understand my previous post :)
So 20 years later I'm still pushing the envelope, thanks to my beginnings in Amiga.
Widgets, brilliant, put a few pieces together, write a little Objective C and you've got a web aware app that sits on your desk AND AND AND you can take that code, make a few modifications and run it one your iPhone.
I couldn't stand limits in 1989 and I can't stand them today.
I agree podcasts are over rated, but if you want to demo something on a Mac or put together a "radio" show they're good.
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RRunner wrote:
What do I miss when I use my Amiga? Mostly... my youth!
A modern web browser wouldn't hurt either...
:-D ..took the words right out of my mouth ;-)
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@ Kat
Go into PowerSnap's icon. In Tooltypes, edit the line "(CX_POPUP=YES)". Change YES to NO. The statement should not be surrounded with parenthesis.
I think this will do it.
Night-night
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I removed the parenthesis and that did it. Thanks!
Any idea how to stop ClassAct (required for NewIcons) to stop displaying a screen when Workbench loads?
Thanks again.
(http://www.katmandew.com/images/Misc/Amiga%20Workbench-2.jpg)
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Developers.
Personally I am looking into buying Hollywood, as it seems to be an "easy-to-use" tool. Correct me if I am wrong.
But I simply don't have the time to develop in C Any more, alas, I have also forgotten much of it.