rbt@sftig.UUCP (R.Thomas) (10/11/84)
Xtalk is a reasonable terminal emulator, but its vt100 emulation is only emulation in the sense of '*trying* to be like'. I have a termcap for xtalk that seems to work ok, if you are interested. I found that the standard vanilla termcap for the vt100 was only about 90 percent right. As regards the PC jr for use as a terminal, the typewriter style keyboard is much nicer than the chicklet keyboard they used to have, but it is still a little strange. But at least they have fixed the braindamage of having graphics keys where your fingers expect to find the shift and return keys. Their way of going about this is interesting (I said 'a little strange' didn't I?) They have simply eliminated the offending keys. The displaced graphics are then moved to 'extra' shifts on some existing keys. To get the displaced graphics, you push a special 'blue' key in combination with one of the keys near the little finger of your right hand. (I forget exactly which, I am doing this from memory of having played with one in a local computer store.) The displaced graphics are printed on the new keytops in blue, along with the graphics for the regular uses of those keys. I don't think it would be at all hard to get used to. Definitely easier than the shift-return-braindamage of the standard PC keyboard. However, The keyboard for the AT has been done right. Finally! The feel is good, and all the keys are in the right place, and the return key is nice and fat! (I said 'all the keys' are in the right place. That is not really true, because the escape key has been moved over to the top row of the numeric pad. But I think I could live with that, if somebody were to drop an AT in my lap. Though it is not clear how long it would take my lap to recover!! :-) Rick Thomas ihnp4!btlunix!rbt