🚀 go-pugleaf

This probably comes too late to do any good, but since Apple is revamping the
Mac operating system I thought I'd put in my two cents.  Please take it with
a grain of salt since I may be ignorant of some capabilities already available.

What does THIS user want to see in a new Macintosh operating system?

	o Rewrite in Pascal and make software calling sequence ANSII C
	  complient.  CtoPstr and PtoCstr is a boatload of nonesense.
	  Of course this will break all kinds of code out there, but then
	  Apple plans to continue support of OS 6 right?

	o Simplify calls to the toolbox.  I hate having to call functions
	  with a bazillion arguments.  I also dislike sending in "mystery"
	  parameters like "0L", -1 and so forth.  So what if the ROMS and
	  system get a little larger.  System 7.0 will run only on 68030
	  boxes anyway.  You have plenty of room to spread out.

	o Speed up the interface.  I can't stand having to wait for all of
	  those windows to redraw themselves.  If necessary, install hardware
	  blitter hardware to do a lot of the work for you.  When the Mac
	  was a small inexpensive box, then it was correct to do lots of
	  stuff in software.  Now that Mac CPUs cost upwards of $3,000-$4,000,
	  Apple can afford a little specialized hardware.

	o Virtual memory and memory management.  Apple IIs use the 68030 chip
	  which also includes memory management and process protection/mode
	  switching.  USE that capability.  Give us multitasking and virutal
	  memory.

	o Update the interface.  Let's face it... the Mac interface was
	  inovative 5 years ago, but compared to Motif on X windows or the
	  NeXT computer interface, its a dog.  This is actually a very complex
	  issue:

	  The look and feel of Macintosh windows is very sparten.  I would like
	  to see an interfacethat looks more elegant even if it is no more
	  functional.  Consider the Motif interface in X Windows... very nice
	  textured panels with 3-D buttons and shadowing.  Beautiful.  Now look
	  at Mac windows and dialog boxes... a couple of lines and the samey old
	  radio buttons and click buttons.  Boring.

	  To rid ourselves of this sameyness, there should be a tool on the Mac
	  very similar to the NeXT computer's interface builder.  Such a tool
	  would let you prototype windows and dialog boxes but froma larger
	  pallette of "panels" and textures.  Various buttons and effects
	  (shadowing, highlighting, blinking) should be available.  Different
	  types of window panes, controls and menuing paradigms should be
	  available.  This hypothetical tool would allow the user to prototype
	  windows by draggin each item from a menu and simply placing them on
	  the window.  The tool might then generate a framework of code which
	  the user can fill in later.  It should also be possible for the user
	  to create his/her own controls and plug them into the library of
	  things attachable to a window or box.

	  All of these items should be sharable by users without clobbering each
	  other's applications too!

	o Stress a greater tie-in with colour.  The Mac OS grew up in the days
	  when the Mac was available only in B&W monochrome.  There should be
	  greater support in Resedit and the Finders for colour.  The hardware
	  is there... but the Finders just don't use it!

	o It should be possible to run an X Windows based MultiFinder with true
	  multitasking.  X Windows is there.... why ignore it!  Integrate the
	  thing right into the MultiFinder and polish up the interface (although
	  it would probably run a little slow).  MacX isn't a total solution.

	o Make the OS more Posix call-complient.  Functions like FSGetFile are
	  a good thing but there should also be ANSI conformant Unix "open"
	  "read" "write" calls.  The Unix OS interface is simplicity in itself.
	  Don't ignore the tide of support for Unix and OS STANDARDS.  The OS
	  looks like it came out of a 128K machine from the mid 1980's.  Wonder
	  why?

	  Although it's an over-used buzz-word, the OS might support some
	  kind of object-oriented ontology.  I like the idea of building modules
	  functionality and clicking them together in different ways.

	  The Mac already supports this with CDEVS, INITs and so forth... thus
	  if you want a window or panel with different functionality than those
	  provided... you just write a CDEF and install it.  This is very cool
	  but it often means a LOT of code and that code is pretty esoteric
	  stuff.

	  An object-oriented programming way of looking at things might make
	  this more modular and easier to program.  Might facilitate sharing
	  of building blocks (OOPS classes and libraries) better too!

	o Better documentation for the system, finder and toolbox.  I have to
	  glean much too much information from the network.  EVERYTHING should
	  be documented.  The Inside Mac books are a good start but they aren't
	  nearly as comprehensive as they should be.  They are also rather
	  difficult to read.  Unfortunately I am forced to suppliment these
	  books with the Macintosh Revealed series, the technical notes and
	  other communications.  For example... where are the operations of the
	  MultiFinder documented?  Why in a seperate document you can only
	  obtain from APDA... "The MultiFinder Programmer's Guide."

	  Lack of documentation is a frustration to developers and makes the Mac
	  Look like a toy.
	  
	o 1-2 year warrenty on Apple hardware.  Please?  Applecare is much too
	  expensive.  Doesn't Apple trust it's own hardware to offer a better
	  warrenty (although I notice that NeXT only offers 90 days as well)?
	  I also detest having to rely on dealers for service and technical
	  support.  The technical people employed by dealers often don't know
	  the basic technical facts (much less the deep hacker's esoterica).
	  This situation resembles the methodology car manufacturers use
	  to support car buyers... let them rely on the dealerships for service
	  and support.  Yuk!

	o Scalable picture and font technology.  I realize that this is coming
	  in some form or other however it doesn't look like Apple's new
	  scalable fonts will be Postscript compatible.  It would be great if
	  all of the draw and paint programs on the new machine integrated
	  scalable colour text and graphics in an integrated fashion.  Can
	  you say Postscript?

I know that what I've just described sounds a LOT like the NeXT computer
and for good reason.  Jobs and Co. have done a wonderful job of synthesising
various technologies into one beautifully designed package that didn't worry
about being backward compatible.  The Mac is still the computer for the
80's and shows it.  The 80's over.  What will the Mac of the
90's look like?


-- 

John T. Nelson			UUCP: sun!sundc!potomac!jtn
Advanced Decision Systems	Internet:  jtn@potomac.ads.com
1500 Wilson Blvd #512; Arlington, VA 22209-2401		(703) 243-1611