new AmigaOS feature requests

[Valan]

As a simple user I would like changs that effect the way I work.

1. A Load/Save requester that can expand into a full browser so I can move, delete, Search, copy files, etc.

2. Ability to set a window to 'Copy To'(green border?) and another to 'Copy From' (Red border?)so it is more difficult to confuse which is which.

3. Have the scroll bars to be on the edge closest to the centre of the screen.

4. A view that opens the drawer into a propper speadsheet type layout with full viewing and editing abilities.

Thanks
Valan

[Oli_hd]

Hi,
I have to say that I dont like the idea of these, I love OS3.9, it has everything I need, a PPC native OS3.9 would be my dream.  :-)

1) a new unified driver model that supports 64bit and 128 bit OS..

Why? The current system works so well and 64bit drivers would work just fine on a 64bit CPU system, no new driver model is needed.. IMHO

2) Amiga Update online (like Windows Update) keep up to date with stuff..

The Amiga's OS doesnt get enough updates to make use of that and driver updates dont come out that often either.. how often have you needed to upgrade a driver? Now one to check for program updates, maybe, although definatly not the way Microsoft Update works. (Security hole, I have the post from ann.lu that gives you the link to delete specific files or all files from a harddrive using Windows update)

A 3rd party program, maybe, for game updates and things, but not part of the OS.

3) Better 3D support (not just openGL) but a 3d UI and up-to-date 3d cards..

Warp3D, As for adding new graphics cards, well thats a massive job, being a small platform you are going to fing that you cant just buy a PC graphics card and expect it to work.. as for an update, I dont know if it needs one, I havent got my 3D card to work yet. (I really should try sometime)

4) driver roll back model (one touch rollback) and system rollback.

It  took a bit of time for me to just find out what driver/system rollback was. (for anyone else like me heres a quote from a "why to buy WinXP" website:  you can escape trouble by rolling back your PC to a date or time before the problem occurred. Say you downloaded a defective software program, or you installed a faulty appliance and caused your system to crash.)
Ermm.. I guess I just like a basic OS because I would rather use something like Snoopdos to track down and fix the problem and not some sort of undo button which doesnt actually fix the problem.

5) Software add remove from prefs.. A unified place to uninstall software

Noooooooooo  :-o
I love the way the Amiga installs software, everything to one folder, when you want to delete it you delete the folder and everything goes, now a program should be tidy as lots install libraries and fonts all over the darn place which I dont like, if its needed simply put an assign in the user-startup and if you delete the folder you just need to delete the bit from the user-startup, it couldnt be any easier.
Putting a program in to remove software will cause people to stick files all over the computer without any care of what happens if you rename a drawer or move the folder.

Things I am worried about with new versions of Workbench include:
 
Speed. why cant the OS be held on ROM? I love the Amiga there if you want to play a game without loading the full OS you can, I know that doesnt really apply to much with the different graphics and sound cards you can buy but maybe a Flash and a small program could get us back to the good old days?

Adding things you just dont need: I love the fact that Workbench is so simple, adding loads of things will make it more complicated, if they were extra's that as standard were not installed then thats great, some people love great looking screens, some dont, Im the latter. I know you can turn them off but can they be deleted?

Autoconfig: I know everyone wants PCI now but wouldnt it be good if Autoconfig could be added to the PCI standard? (Only on Amiga's, Im not saying we should redefine the international PCI standard or anything)  Then if you had a PCI card made for the Amiga it would be all set up and done with, if you use PC or Mac PCI cards you stick the driver in the expansion drawer. (Do PCI SCSI cards have a ROM on them like ISA SCSI cards do?)

Standards: I  would like the idea to just say you need to have this type of mouse (Say.. PS2 three button wheel mouse) and this type of DVD drive (set speed or better) and things like that, so the basics (mouse, DVD, etc) can work from the start and no visiable drivers have to be altered unless you want to use a none standard device, DVD speed and things like that will also help with programming.

As for the looks, well as long as it looks and acts like Workbench 3.1/3.9 I will be happy.

In the end I guess its just what you want from an OS, everyone has there own dream OS, mine just happens to be OS3.9.  :-D

[mdwh2]

mikeymike wrote:
I've never suggested AmigaOS is bug-free or at the peak of the OS development pinnacle, ever.  However that does not mean everything should be done on it just like how it's done on Windows.

I don't use Windows Update.

Also, I don't want to have to leave my machine dialled up for hours on end to download half a million patches, every time I reinstall my machine.

How should it be done then?

Note, you don't *have* to have Windows Update being done automatically. I only use it when I want to, and I pick which updates I want.

The advantage is that there is a centralised place to go to to update OS components, and you can hand-pick things, and get them as soon as they are available, without having to wait until an entire update/service-pack/'boing-bag' is released.

[mdwh2]

Valan wrote:
3. Have the scroll bars to be on the edge closest to the centre of the screen.

If you mean that they should dynamically change position, this seems a confusing and bad idea to me. In general, GUI components shouldn't change relative positions at all, so that the user doesn't have to hunt around to find them.

If you are thinking of cases where the window is partially off-screen (not that AmigaOS can even do this currently..) then I would suggest that scrollbars should switch to the left side of the window only in the case where they would be off the right edge of the screen.

[mdwh2]

Oli_hd wrote:
The Amiga's OS doesnt get enough updates to make use of that and driver updates dont come out that often either.. how often have you needed to upgrade a driver?

You rarely *have* to upgrade (though I rarely have to on Windows). But it's still nice to upgrade to get better features - the problem on the Amiga is that I have no idea if or when upgrades are available.

Part of the problem is that there are a lot more libraries on the Amiga that are fairly fundamental parts of the system, but are 3rd parties (eg, MUI - I remember having to hunt around for ages trying to find the latest version of some MUI custom classes), but hopefully this will be less of an issue in future.

Now one to check for program updates, maybe, although definatly not the way Microsoft Update works. (Security hole, I have the post from ann.lu that gives you the link to delete specific files or all files from a harddrive using Windows update)

Well, I think it goes without saying that we don't want to duplicate any bugs or security holes But what otherwise is wrong with the way it works? How should it work instead?

[mikeymike]

Note, you don't *have* to have Windows Update being done automatically. I only use it when I want to, and I pick which updates I want.

Believe me, I know that :-)  I don't use Automatic Updates or Windows Update.

I also know the theoretical benefits of WU, it just doesn't work very well.

[Valan]

Hi mdwh2,

GUI components shouldn't change relative positions at all, so that the user doesn't have to hunt around to find them.

Unfortunately at the moment the scroll bars do need to be hunted and found. I would like them accessable at all times. If all windows on the left of the screen had their scroll bars on the right and vice a versa then there would be uniformity and it would be very obvious. If some windows had their scrollbars switched and some had not then, yes, it would be confusing as you suggest. I think that the default setting should be the centre of the Window/Palette. So a window being stretched from right to left would have the scrollbar jump from left to right.

Also, I think scroll bars are getting similiar to door handles, all shapes and sizes even different ways to use them but people figure them out pretty quickly.

OSX has areas that shift side of the main window and this does not confuse the user. This is heralded as a major feature of the email system and works very well.

I should have also added that scroll bars should move to be accessable if they are blocked by other objects.

Valan

[DonnyEMU]

Ooh you mentioned Multi-cast.. Set my router afire and call Cisco for a firmware update.  I used to work for MediaOne, a US-based Cable Internet provider. I was their regional webmaster. Yeah they don't exist anymore (swallowed up att-comcast), but they basically were one of the innovators behind cable internet delivery. We set up multi-cast  on-demand delivery of hockey games and other local programming very early on as test of the technology.  It was generation one streaming and yes it wasn't the best but it worked..

Now you talk to someone about multi-cast and network admins start locking down routers etc.. It's a sad world we live in where you can't even do regional delivery like this, due to corporate worries of  1) Litigation 2) profit model still not proven 3) Admins worried about bandwidth suckage 4) Admins being very selective with their routings.

The reality is that it's there, but the big companies of television (and their cohorts the cable companies) won't do it because they are worried what that might do to Television as MP3s and DivX and VCD/MPEGs have done to movies.

Imagine people watching tv on their computer screens and not on their TVs.. Someone's out money, plus interactive programming.. Scarey new world huh... On demand programming from the source eliminating the need for TV stations, a program could be found at a website for the download (or streaming)

[Valan]

Sorry for my ignorance but is Multi-Cast anything like now tv?

Thanks
Valan

[Waccoon]

1) a new unified driver model that supports 64bit and 128 bit OS..

You mean like nVidia's unified drivers?  Instead of having a small, dedicated driver, it has a huge, monolithic installer?  Please realize that the newest Detonator installer is a 20 Meg file.  This had better not be the future.

128 bit OS?  What would you do with *that* much memory?

2) Amiga Update online (like Windows Update) keep up to date with stuff..

Windows Updated doesn't work all that well because of the types of patches they release and how they are installed.  A one-stop resource to download patches, a dedicated folder on your hard drive to archive them, and a standardized installer to run multiple patches consecutively (in the right order) is definatly a good idea.

Just so long as you can archive them.  I hate having to re-download 100+ Megs of patches every time I re-install Windows.

3) Better 3D support (not just openGL) but a 3d UI and up-to-date 3d cards..

All in good time.  By 3D UI, I sure hope you're referring to a MacOS-style method of object control, and not a 3D rendered interface.  The most effective medium in our culture is still pencil and paper.  A computer with a fully 3D UI is a pretty scary thought.

4) driver roll back model (one touch rollback) and system rollback.

Don't panic, people.  Driver rollback doesn't have to mean hacking your registry to death.

What really needs to be done is develop a new driver database system, so you don't have files all over the place.  Each installed driver resource should have its own database entry (or folder).  Dumping everything in the System folder and tying it together with INI files and registry keys is unacceptable.  1st party drivers should ALWAYS be seperate from 3rd party drivers, so you always know what came with your computer verses what was added after sale.  It also makes it MUCH easier to track spamware that way.

5) Software add remove from prefs.. A unified place to uninstall software

If you mean like a "Program Files" folder, I agree.  If you mean like an Install Sheild installer, then... no!  If all you have to do is copy a folder to your HD to install a program, why do you need an installer?  The installer copies the folder, and sets config defaults.

what new would you like to see?

1) Seperate system/programs logical partitions.  I've always felt that computers should have logical partitions (like assigns), to keep the system out of the way.  I don't want swap files, temp folders, and log files mixed in with my app folders.  I don't want a Program Files folder burried in my C drive next to the System folder and the Documents folder.  Make it all seperate, and configurable.  For me, the desktop is not a cache for program shortcuts, it's a work folder.  The desktop should act like its own partition, much like "My Documents" under Windows (which I never use).

2) No more shared files.  Every app, tool, util, or library should have its own folder, and all needed 3rd party libraries should be within the program folder.  1st party libraries should be distinguished by version numbers, so if multiple versions are available, you can specify which one should be used.  As for updates, I think you should use the version of a library that was specifically designed for your app.  If a new version of a shared library becomes available, it should be the responsibility of your software vendor to handle the updates.  Shared files allows you to break everything all at once.

3) Flat file system.  Lots of people I know have more than one drive or partition in their computer, an they are always running out of space.  Drive C is full, drive D is empty.  Let the OS figure out how to manage files.  You can always override this system and force partition use the old fashioned way, if you want the safety and security benefits of multiple partitions.

4) Hot-swap backups.  Turn on your second hard drive, backup, and shut it off, without needing to restart (like you can with USB 2.0 hard drives).

5) Seamless digital camera support.  Crop your photos to standard printable sizes (4x6, 8x10...) and print on the fly, without needing a graphics program.  DPOF support would be nice.

6) Fully remapable input.  Direct Input made a big leap in this department.  But, how about remapable keys for ANY device?  Pushing a button on my mouse opens the task list, and a touchpad ONLY scrolls the display, instead of acting like a mouse replacement, like on a laptop.  That would REALLY be a big help for me when using apps like Photoshop and Goldwave.

7) Zooming windows.  See something close-up quickly, without using a clumsy "Magnify" tool.

Full search capabilities in file requesters.  MagicRequester rules.

9) etc, etc, etc...

[gnarly]

Waccoon wrote:
128 bit OS?  What would you do with *that* much memory?

Makes a note for future reference ;-)

[mikeymike]

IIRC 64-bit limit is 8 terabytes isn't it?  I think your future reference might be waiting a while, gnarly :-)

[jack]

Hi Jope,

And add the win-like "registry monster?"? No way.
The current way of installing of software is fine. Usually the program sits in it's own separate directoy, has "assigns" or two and viola.


Jack

[mikeymike]

The current way of installing of software is fine.

Two things that would be useful though:

 - if programs had in their readme what files they installed and where

 - an uninstall mechanism (extension of installer?)

[miles]

What whould I like to see?  OS4.

OS3.9 redone for PCC, OS3.x used where possible.  DOpus5 redone for
PPC for those who want it.

Features can wait, we need a new OS yesterday.

I do not mind new features, but will it still be an amiga if these
features are needed just to get the thing to boot?

As long as any "auto-matic" features can be turned off or replaced
with other "hacks" for want of a better word (enhancements?
improvements?) or done manually by the user like Amiga is now!

If I wanted all these new "features" I would have got windows in 95.

BTW: I hope at the start it will be mainly developers buying the A1
OS4.0 machines and making the software to run on it.

Just my $5.72 cents (ajusted for inflation)  

[Valan]

Here's some annoyances from Windows2000. I appologise if these are irrelevant to AOS4.

I hope AOS4 will be consistant in the load and save dialogue boxes.

It is frustrating to have to re-navigate to the place where you have last been. Maybe this could be option. Save as... where the file was Opened or Save in the last place visited.

Another is the need to keep the 'View By' option consistant throughout the dialogue boxes. Multiple visits to the Open or Save dialogues should appear the same to the user rather than reverting back each time to the list view.

Rant over, just can't wait to get back to an Amiga OS.

Valan