d@alice.UucP (Daniel Rosenberg) (04/29/86)
Just one, small request for release 1.3:
Things would look SO much better if we had windows a different color
from the rest of the desktop - and the same goesw for pulldown menus.
This teeny little cosmetic change could go a long way to making the
desktop less confusing. Better yet, why not hav the active window a
nice, bright color - and the background windows a darker shade....
Really,
--
############# Dan Rosenberg ### CE @# AT&T Bell Labs, Murray^Hill ##########
# [ These opinions are necessarily mine, not my emp/o\yer's. ] #
## UUCP: {ihnp4 || research || allegra}!alice!d #AT&T: 201/582\9428 (work)##cem@intelca.UUCP (05/02/86)
Dan Rosenberg writes : > Just one, small request for release 1.3: > > Things would look SO much better if we had windows a different color > from the rest of the desktop - and the same goesw for pulldown menus. > > This teeny little cosmetic change could go a long way to making the > desktop less confusing. Better yet, why not hav the active window a > nice, bright color - and the background windows a darker shade.... > > Really, > -- Since 1.2 isn't released yet you should probably address it as a suggestion for 1.2, you are kinda stuck though since workbench is a 2 bit screen. (Nothing personal Workbench) You can only display 4 colors. So your suggestion needs 1 color for the background, 1 for the inactive windows, 1 for the active window, 1 for the pull down menus (you could probably cheat here and use the active window color), 1 for the text, and one for highlighted text. Thats 6 colors. Going to a 3 bit window would give you 8 colors but suddenly you are starting to get into the region where the blitter/copper just may start stealing a cycle or two. Which would slow you down a bit. This problem would be aggravated if you had your workbench set up as an interlaced 640 X 400 screen. An interesting problem to be sure. --Chuck -- - - - D I S C L A I M E R - - - {ihnp4,fortune}!dual\ All opinions expressed herein are my {qantel,idi}-> !intelca!cem own and not those of my employer, my {ucbvax,hao}!hplabs/ friends, or my avocado plant. :-}
garyo@masscomp.UUCP (Gary Oberbrunner) (05/05/86)
In article <30@intelca.UUCP> cem@intelca.UUCP writes: >...So your >suggestion needs 1 color for the background, 1 for the inactive windows, >1 for the active window, 1 for the pull down menus (you could probably >cheat here and use the active window color), 1 for the text, and one >for highlighted text. Thats 6 colors. > >--Chuck But what's wrong with using the blitter's built-in fill patterns? Fill the empty background space with checkerboards. This looks fine and saves a color. While we're at it, why oh WHY don't the windows on the Workbench (and all windows, in fact) have drop shadows? That one little item adds loads of visual clarity, and makes window interaction much clearer (this is the main reason why Mac windows look SO MUCH better than Intuition windows). It's a royal pain to have to link in your own Image struct onto the default window's just to get a simple drop shadow. Of course, drop shadows are much easier with a textured background - just use the solid background color for the shadows. No new colors necessary. - Gary Oberbrunner {allegra,ihnp4,harvard}!masscomp!garyo
cem@intelca.UUCP (Chuck McManis) (05/06/86)
[This article is really from Dan, I am just posting it because he hit
'r' rather than 'f' ]
From: sun!decwrl!decvax!genrad!mit-eddie!allegra!alice!d
Someone replied to my interior decorating request saying that it would
take six colors to make windows a different color than the background.
Not really. Consider this scheme:
Background: a nice, earthy gray.
Active window background: a vivid blue (turn your blue all the way up)
Inactive window background: navy blue
All text so far: white
Pull-down menus: white background, navy blue text
Highlighted text anywhere: switch background and foreground, or switch
to next highest color.
Please, please, please? Are you listening, C-A?
Sincerefully,
dan
--
- - - D I S C L A I M E R - - -
{ihnp4,fortune}!dual\ All opinions expressed herein are my
{qantel,idi}-> !intelca!cem own and not those of my employer, my
{ucbvax,hao}!hplabs/ friends, or my avocado plant. :-}d@alice.UucP (Daniel Rosenberg) (05/06/86)
Oh, Commodore - have you been listening to this discussion?
Anyway, how many bit planes DO we have on the Workbench screen?
If I change around my mouse pointer from Preferances, I can get
an additional three to the four that are already there.
--
############# Dan Rosenberg ### CE @# AT&T Bell Labs, Murray^Hill ##########
# [ These opinions are necessarily mine, not my emp/o\yer's. ] #
## UUCP: {ihnp4 || research || allegra}!alice!d #AT&T: 201/582\9428 (work)##d@alice.UucP (Daniel Rosenberg) (05/07/86)
The last sentence referred to COLORS, not BITPLANES. Thank you.
--
############# Dan Rosenberg ### CE @# AT&T Bell Labs, Murray^Hill ##########
# [ These opinions are necessarily mine, not my emp/o\yer's. ] #
## UUCP: {ihnp4 || research || allegra}!alice!d #AT&T: 201/582\9428 (work)##cem@intelca.UUCP (Chuck McManis) (05/07/86)
Gary Oberbrunner writes : > But what's wrong with using the blitter's built-in fill patterns? Fill the > empty background space with checkerboards. This looks fine and saves a color. > This is a great idea, I might find it a bit distracting but it does have merit. >While we're at it, why oh WHY don't the windows on the Workbench (and all >windows, in fact) have drop shadows? That one little item adds loads of visual >clarity, and makes window interaction much clearer (this is the main reason >why Mac windows look SO MUCH better than Intuition windows). It's ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ I can't speak for Commodore, but I suspect it might be based in the fact that the manufacturer of the Macintosh has a propensity for highering lawyers at the first wiff of idea infringement. Let's see if the new release of GEM has drop shadows. >a royal pain to have to link in your own Image struct onto the default window's >just to get a simple drop shadow. > >Of course, drop shadows are much easier with a textured background - just use >the solid background color for the shadows. No new colors necessary. > Certainly, it would be possible to implement a display that looked exactly like the Mac's in a 640 X 400 workbench screen. It would also invite trouble for a company that was literally betting the farm on its first product (Amiga not Commodore) Not something one would want to do. --Chuck -- - - - D I S C L A I M E R - - - {ihnp4,fortune}!dual\ All opinions expressed herein are my {qantel,idi}-> !intelca!cem own and not those of my employer, my {ucbvax,hao}!hplabs/ friends, or my avocado plant. :-}
andy@amiga.UUCP (Andy Finkel) (05/07/86)
In article <5406@alice.uUCp> d@alice.UucP (Daniel Rosenberg) writes: >Oh, Commodore - have you been listening to this discussion? >Anyway, how many bit planes DO we have on the Workbench screen? >If I change around my mouse pointer from Preferances, I can get >an additional three to the four that are already there. > Sprites (like the pointer) can use different color registers than the ones used for the workbench screen. That's how you can have more than 4 colors...but the workbench SCREEN only has enough bitplanes allocated for 4 colors...more bitplanes mean more memory used. andy finkel -- andy finkel Commodore(Amiga) {ihnp4|seismo|allegra}!cbmvax!andy or pyramid!amiga!andy "I disclaim all responsibilities, all shapes, all sizes, all colors." "Remember, no matter where you grow, there you are." - Buckaroo Bonsai.
bruceb@amiga.UUCP (Bruce Barrett) (05/08/86)
In article <1122@amiga.amiga.UUCP> andy@skipper.UUCP (andy finkel) writes: >In article <5406@alice.uUCp> d@alice.UucP (Daniel Rosenberg) writes: >>Anyway, how many bit planes DO we have on the Workbench screen? 2 bit planes, 4 colors. Use preferences to set all of them. >>If I change around my mouse pointer from Preferances, I can get >>an additional three to the four that are already there. > >Sprites (like the pointer) can use different color registers than >the ones used for the workbench screen... andy finkel True. You will note however that if you have enough bit planes the sprite colors overlap the screen colors. Look at Graphicraft for an example of this. The sprite is one of the colors that you can change. --Bruce Barrett.
jgray@pilchuck.UUCP (Jerrold ) (05/13/86)
In article <958@masscomp.UUCP>, garyo@masscomp.UUCP (Gary Oberbrunner) writes: > In article <30@intelca.UUCP> cem@intelca.UUCP writes: > >...So your > >suggestion needs 1 color for the background, 1 for the inactive windows, > >1 for the active window, 1 for the pull down menus (you could probably > >cheat here and use the active window color), 1 for the text, and one > >for highlighted text. Thats 6 colors. > > While we're at it, why oh WHY don't the windows on the Workbench (and all > windows, in fact) have drop shadows? That one little item adds loads of visual > clarity, and makes window interaction much clearer (this is the main reason > why Mac windows look SO MUCH better than Intuition windows). It's Actually I'd like to see curtains, shutters and perhaps a flower box. Venetian blinds are out though. So cold. So Impersonal. Jerrold L. Gray uw-beaver!teltone!dataio!pilchuck!jgray USNAIL: 10525 Willows Road N.E. /C-46 Redmond, Wa. 98052 (206) 881 - 6444 x478 Telex: 15-2167
peter@baylor.UUCP (Peter da Silva) (05/14/86)
> Gary Oberbrunner writes : > > But what's wrong with using the blitter's built-in fill patterns? Fill the > > empty background space with checkerboards. This looks fine and saves a color. > > > This is a great idea, I might find it a bit distracting but it does have merit. While we're at it, how about letting us die-hard interlisp fans have what we've always wanted: an arbitrary background! Just treat the background as a border- less window and let us put our own picture of Mt Fuji on it. Then it would be obvious what was window and what was background, and shut up the people who complain about the Amiga screen. Also... make the icons smaller & cleaner: right now they look like something by Hanna Barbera. -- -- Peter da Silva -- UUCP: ...!shell!{baylor,graffiti}!peter; MCI: PDASILVA; CIS: 70216,1076