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Author Topic: What Software are you gonna need for OS4?  (Read 5632 times)

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Offline Waccoon

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Re: What Software are you gonna need for OS4?
« on: November 20, 2003, 04:49:15 AM »
I don't use chat or p2p software, so I can't comment on that...  ;-)

I also assume we're talking about stuff that comes with the OS.  For stuff that doesn't, hey, what *shouldn't* you have availabe?  :-D

1) Digital camera suite - The ability to download and organize photos into albums, full DPOF support for online ordering or printing, ratings by megapixel and quality settings (rather than pixel dimentions and technical JPEG metaformat gobblygook), and a proper, standardized naming system.  Slideshow screensavers and books on CD are nice, too.

2) Image viewer - More like ACDSee, less like IE or MultiView.

3) Seperate CD, Video/DVD, and Audio players.  I HATE all-in-one apps.

4) A tool to easily manage drivers, codecs, and other stuff people shouln't have to know about, but do, anyway.  It should also say if a product is 1st party or 3rd party, so users know what came from the manufacturer and what didn't.

5) A very simple DRAG-AND-DROP file converter.  I hate it when people send me screenshots in BMP format, and people bitch that they don't know how to convert PNGs into JPEGs, and so on.  Batch and whole-folder processing is a must.

6) Word processor that saves in RTF format, or similar - I can't stand people who use Microsoft Word or some other high-end office suite to write a damn memo!  You don't need a word processor to write a book report, but you do need a built-in dictionary.

7) An FTP client that works like a folder, and properly describes how CHMOD works - I despise all the CuteFTP clones with muti-windows, tree listings, ubiquious buttons galore...

8) Hardware information tool - A standardized way to monitor or update the BIOS, tell things like temperatures, fan speeds and internal problems, what accessories are in the computer, any special buttons you have on the front of your case (push a button and the machine schedules a backup, etc).

9) DECENT backup software - Something that doesn't just catalog your drive and duplicate files, but exports files onto any CD/Tape/HD/Filesystem/Network, and also ensures data integrity, instead of just making copies.

10) A very basic programming tool, like what AMOS used to be.  Open windows and perform scripts by pushing buttons, open a screen and blit graphics around, graph charts, play music, write games and HAVE FUN with your computer!  Decent mutimedia libraries for a GCC compiler would suffice in a pinch, but a very simple scripting language that combines the best parts of Java, Perl, and BASIC would be awesome.  The ability to write your OWN software was always one of the best things about the C64, Amiga, and Atari, and it's a shame PCs and Macs haven't followed up on that homely computer tradition.  The ability to easily make your own USB devices and drivers would rock, too, though that's a bit too narrow a market.  ;-)

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Spihunter:  If you want to do Office stuff, accounting, or CD burning you might as well use a cheap x86 box with Linux/Windows to do that stuff. Walmart has a linux/x86 box with a 1.2 ghz Duron for $200.

Oh my God, that machine is such a piece of junk.   :lol:
 

Offline Waccoon

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Re: What Software are you gonna need for OS4?
« Reply #1 on: November 20, 2003, 09:47:43 AM »
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Spihunter:  For you, yes  but how much power does the home user really need?

It's not the power, it's the build, reliability, and the fact it comes with Lindows.  Everyone who reviews it says it is basicly useless.

If you're not going to spend at least $400 for a complete system, you should get a used computer.  It's like buying a brand new economy car for $5,000.  What's the point?

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Rodney:  Thats another fine app... although i'd want the ability to mount any device and be able to browse it like a file system... Windows actual allowed me to do this with my dads digi camera... Its great cause you dont needs lots of expensive software! And it should be damn easy to implement. I assume this is very unix/linux type of thing?

I thought you could already do that, since memory cards are all formatted in either FAT12 or FAT16.  Of course, getting card readers to actually WORK on many computers is a hairy episode in itself, but I won't get into that.  ;-)

Yeah, it bothers me that Windows doesn't have the equivalent of "mount" or "assign" commands.  It does have the "Subst" command, but it only works occasionally, and can really raise hell if something goes wrong (I had a Win2K system stop booting, even in safe mode, due to a script error with the Subst command.  I ended up having to re-install the machine).

The ability to give actual names to volumes is one of the great things about the Amiga.  I despise drive letters, no matter how much easier it is to reassign them with 2K/XP.