aa41@terre (Eric Trepanier) (06/29/91)
A little while ago, I left a small questionnaire on the NewsGroup.
I asked that people reply to me personally to avoid crowding the NewsGroup
with redundant and similar messages.
First of all, I'd like to thank everybody who took some time to answer
these simple questions. Your answers have all been very useful, and
maybe they will benefit others through the summary I will be leaving here.
Overall, I got replies from ten persons, which is not bad.
Just to freshen your mind, here are the five questions I asked:
1. Do you use PROGMAN?
2. If not, why?
3. What are the pros and cons of the program you use as an alternative?
4. What are the features you'd like to have in such a program?
5. Would you pay for a program that combined all of the above and more?
Ok. And now, here is what the people answered:
1. Do you use PROGMAN?
3 out of 10 said they used PROGMAN. The others said they used one
of the following:
- Aporia (1)
- BackMenu (2)
- Usher (4)
2. If not, why?
People who DID NOT use PROGMAN had this to say about it:
- Too big (?), too slow
- Far too awkward
- Can't stand to have my icons shifted around all the time
- Uses too many system resources
- Seems to corrupt GRP files on a regular basis
(I'm still sceptic about this one though... Never happened to me!)
- Not as good as the alternatives
- Uses too much space on the screen (I like this one ;^)
- Hate having to do gymnastic every time I want to bring it to foreground
- It is annoying to have to add/change/delete items in groups
3. What are the pros and cons of the program you use as an alternative?
People who DID use PROGMAN had this to say about it:
PROS:
- Allows a "logical" method of grouping applications, unlike MacFolder
- Groups are a useful way of organizing things
- Enjoy the visual interface, things such as the icons are great
- Is fairly quick
- Has good context-sensitive help
CONS (See above):
- Cannot change the standard GROUP icon
People who used APORIA had this to say about it:
PROS:
- Great because it combines features of fileman and progman
- You can easily iconize programs and datafiles
- You can start an application by dragging a datafile icon over its
parent application
- Controllable automatic window positionning and sizing
- Features a Trash Can feature for easy undelete operations
CONS:
- Too slow at redrawing
- You can loose icons off the screen
- Makes it very difficult to efficiently switch between several SVGA
resolutions
People who used BACKMENU had this to say about it:
PROS:
- Resembles SunTools menu
- Quickly updatable
- Items don't move about by themselves
CONS:
- No icon support
- No pick box for the exec function
People who used USHER had this to say about it:
PROS:
- Low resource consumption
- Ease of use
- Easy to change menue entries
CONS:
- Will not run properly if Adobe Type Manager is installed
(This is not really a CON, it's a bug that needs fixing!)
- It's only black and white, with no 3-D
- Impossible to close an Usher menu by clicking elsewhere in the desktop,
must use a dummy menu entry instead
- No keyboard support; can't get a Usher menu if you have a
maximized window.
4. What are the features you'd like to have in such a program?
- Icon support
- Ability to start an application as hidden, full-screen or iconic
- 'cron' feature to start an app at some preset time
- Ability to link icons to dos-apps
- Perhaps a color-configurable pop up menu with tear off menus (ala NExT)
- Would like to be able to change a program icon's info without losing the
icon bitmap.
- Would like to have easy datafile <-> parent application icon assiciation
- An undelete facility
- Don't waste time updating the screen each time an item is processed in
a batch operation.
- Keep the last 10 or so lines from the Run... command
- Be able to save its current set of windows for restoring later
- Have an XCopy type Copy command
- Have detachable groups windows that can be individually be minimized
on the desktop, instead of minimized in the the progman window
- The ability to assign any icon to a group icon, as with item icons.
- Make the often-used functions as fast as possible
5. Would you pay for a program that would combine all of the above?
- 2 persons said they would be willing to pay unconditionnaly.
(If you have scrapp software to sell, you know where to send it! ;^))
- 1 person said he'd already paid 50$ for an equivalent software (Aporia)
(I take it this person will choose to stay with the software he's
already paid for)
- 1 person said he would buy it he could try it out first.
- 5 persons thought 50$ was a little too much. Some mentionned 15$ as
a more likely alternative.
(Keep in mind that this is not just a pop-up menu utility, it's a
complete file/program manager! - 15$ is what you pay for Usher, Aporia
which is a somewhat similar program to what I intend to write is
a 50$ shareware...)
- 1 person said that there are many utilities he wish he could pay
for, and that a windows file manager does not rank very high on his
list. (I take it that's a no. The question is, will he use it anyway?)
Well that is all that I have summarized.
Again, thanks to all who participated. I hope some of you will find this
information useful. If you have any further comments to make, please don't
hesitate to send me personal mail.
Have a nice weekend!
--
Handy Guide To Modern Science: | Eric Trepanier
1. If it's green or it wiggles, it's biology. | eric@tgm.Sherb.CAM.ORG
2. If it stinks, it's chemistry. | aa41@Terre.DMI.USherb.CA
3. If it doesn't work, it's physics. | (819) 820-0976