From: timbol@netcom.com (Mike Timbol)
Newsgroups: comp.os.os2.advocacy
Subject: Re: Is OS/2 Easier?
Date: 24 Nov 92 02:11:54 GMT
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services (408 241-9760 guest)

In article <weinkam.722549501@sfu.ca> weinkam@fraser.sfu.ca (James Lawrence Weinkam) writes:
>timbol@netcom.com (Mike Timbol) writes:
>
>>In article <1992Nov22.144550.6518@gw.wmich.edu> 925wardell@gw.wmich.edu writes:
>
>>>	For example, the #1 question I get from people concerning windows:
>>>"I just loaded program x on my hard drive but where is it now? how do I
>>>load it?"
>
>Also once you do create the icon for it in program 
>manager, you must also then go to pif editor and create a pif file for
>a non-windows program if it requires special memory settings.

Just as you have to change the settings for a DOS program if it "requires
special memory settings."  (Yes, the DOS settings are easier that PIFs,
but still a bit much for users that have trouble finding files.)

>>     What's the difference between finding the program with the file
>>manager, or finding the program with the drives icon?  (Other than the
>>fact that the drives icon is slower)
>
>The difference is that when the copied the file to the hard drive, they 
>saw in which folder they had put it.

And when they install the program under Windows, they know which directory
they put it in (if they were paying attention).

>Not to run it, it is only a matter
>of opening that folder and starting it.  By opening that folder you will
>get the nice icons, not some list of file names like the filemanager 
>provides.

For a DOS program, the file manager shows a little executable icon (very
small though).  The Drives icon shows a larger icon that says "DOS" --
hardly a major improvement.

>For convenience they may wish to create a shadow of it on
>the desktop so they do not have to open up the folder containing the 
>program.  I find this much more straight foward than the windows program
>manager.

Well, I stand by what I say in the next paragraph.  (Shadows are very
nice, by the way, but hardly easier than drag-and-drop).

>>     And which is easier -- dragging an item from the file manager to the
>>program manager, or finding something with the drives icon and creating
>>a shadow of it on the desktop?
>>
>>     I *do* think the WPS is easy to use, but I think this is NOT a good
>>example of it.  The WPS is nice, and certainly more flexible than the
>>progman/fileman combination, but there are lots of things it can't do and
>>lots of things it can do, but they're hard as hell to find out about.
>
>>     - Mike
>
>>P.S. - Anyone know the answer to any of these questions?:

Read the above again -- "The WPS is nice, and certainly more flexible than
the progman/fileman combination..."  I'm not saying Windows can do
all of these things, just that I wish I could do them under OS/2

>>     1. How do you take a bunch of icons on the desktop and line them up in
>>        a particular order?
>How do you do a similar thing in progman in windows?

Obviously, you can't -- you can't put things on the Windows desktop.  With
NDW and any number of shells, this is easy.  With a program group in Windows,
this is also easy.  OS/2 insists on being "helpful" and sorting them
for you.

>>     2. How do you change the automatic spacing of icons on the desktop?
>The icons are placed as close together as they can without their names 
>overlapping, so a program with a very long name will take up more space
>than a program with a very short name.  A very logical thing to do compared
>to program manager where the spacing is fixed, so you either have names 
>that overlap, or lots of wasted space.

Except, of course, that Windows will wrap long program names.  In the WPS,
you can manually wrap the names, except that the placement algorithm places
them as if they are all on one line (tremendous waste of space).

>     3. How do you change the environment variables that an OS/2 program on
>>        the desktop uses without shutting down?
>How do you do this in windows?

In a DOS prompt, you type, for example, "set path=..."

>>     4. How do you take a DOS image and give it access to drive A:?
>Fsaccess !a i think, look in the command ref under fsaccess.  Once you
>do this though you no longer have access to the image file.

OK, any way to have access to the image file *AND* drive A: at the same
time?  (Reassigning the image file drive letter, perhaps?)

>>     5. How do you change the time/datestamp of a file under OS/2 (i.e.,
>>        like the "touch" utility does under DOS)?
>By the Workset /2 developer and it comes with a touch utility.

I was hoping for something a bit cheaper (like free) :(

>>      Thanks in advance for any answers.
>You're welcome.
>
>James

Well, thanks for the info about the touch utility.

     - Mike
Newsgroups: comp.os.os2.advocacy,comp.os.ms-windows.advocacy