AmigaOS 4.1 update 2 usability requests

Now that we have AmigaOS 4.1 update 1, I think it would be good to list features or tweeks to improve AmigaOS 4.1 update for the next version.

It appears alot of time is lost getting the users previous pref settings set into the update.

My feature request would be :

Ability for an application to save its prefs in a language Ringhio understands.

In this way a prefs file (once executed) can communicate to Ringhio the settings an application is to use , and then Ringio can communicate to the new application to auto change its settings.

I know Ringhio was not designed for this, but it would allow easy prefs transfer / communication and standardized settings for all application prefs.



Current List

Improved Amidock
- Visual, transparancy and UI improvements
- Auto/manual Amidock icon scaling, on mouse over Highlight and activation, icon effects
- Improved Drag n Drop via settings window.
- Auto-Hide and auto Pop-Up
- On application start - Amidock deactivation
- Clock / Date dockie - transparency and digital display options


Prefs
- Merge prefs for GUI, screenmode, printer, etc
- WBPattern with full screen aspect ratio
- printer printable graphics area manual resize
- Improved Icon Edit
- Improved pointer prefs
- Scaling for gadgets
- Update GUI prefs, UI improvements, preview support
- ASL prefs improvements for UI and responsivness

Workbench Startup
- Support Drag n Drop on Prefs file
- Support Right Click on any file -> set start in Workbench startup
- Support execution of Scripts (AmigaDos/Perl/Arexx)
- Support ability to set order and execution priority
- Support a way for an Installer to add files to WB Startup

PNG icon support via icon.library

listbrowser.class
- Drag n Drop features

Theme Manager with preview

Improved Icon / File load in directory display speed issues. Support for display while still reading.

Option to use old / standard Icon set during installation

Ringhio
- USB device attachment on/off notification

Screen Blankers - More 3D and OpenGL blankers

Keymap switcher + shortcuts

Improved Shell
- KingCon like features, default scroll buffer, scroll bar

Animated Iconification options

Improved Workbench, file manager, thumbnails support

Support for 68k or PPC native (auto) identification

Improved Datatype System

Improved look for Calculator and Clock

Appstore client

Hardware accelerated Video encode/decode

@angelheart

- Improved amidock (auto icon scalling, auto-activation of amidock itself when mouse cursor on it, visual effects (one or more) when move mouse over the amidock's icons).

- Picasso96setup and ScreenMode preferences make as one prefs programm, call it ScreenMode, and everything which was in Picasso96setup, put in the one more TAB in screenmode preferences. That will fix the strange messing for newbes.

- Improved listbrowser.class (in general that need it for Filer for now for some features related to D&D).

- New preference called "Theme Manager". Now we have only some kind of "scripts" which we need to run for test, for save, etc.

- Reworking part related to WB cashing of icons/files, etc. I.e. when you have many files in "work" directory for example, and come to it, then it takes too long time for show you files. You can see the same problem and with Filer with enabled "show real icons".

- More nasty blankers (openGL ones, not those primitive which we have now by default).

- Keymap swithcher. Like you have 2 languages in which you want to write (english/any_other), and you can setup any key-kombo for switching beetwen. And you have "indicator" at the bottom of WB which show you which language is current now.

- Improved "shell"

@angelheart

An oft-requested feature is icon scaling in AmiDock. Certainly here the AmiDock icons are way too big because they can't be scaled down unlike the WB icons.

Anyway, we need a few days complaining about the lack of an SDK before moving on to requesting Update 2

I'd like to see some animated iconification option. It would be even better if there was some kind of random (computed on the fly) animations. Something like CaBoom but more advanced of course.

In my opinion these small things are what make an operating system attractive. They increase the value of the OS a lot.

This is my request for the (hopefully) upcoming update 2

1 - Icon scaling on AmiDock

2 - A better way to drag an icon into the dock, maybe in MacOS-X style

3 - A better Workbench, file manager, thumbnails support ecc..

4 - New theme manager module with preview built-in

5 - An option in icon to check if apps are 68k or PPC native

And so on

@All

Well, i can only guess that the next update will be yet another "Quickfix", and probably some kind of a Pre-AmigaOS 4.2 for the AmigaOne X1000...

I'm not sure how far the Java-development has gone before letting it become part of the AmigaOS..

Also remember that AmigaOne X1000 is to have 7.1 HD-audio. There might be a whole different audio system to use in later AmigaOS than AHI, and then there is to be a special support of the Xena co-processor, as well as the Dual-Core PPC-system in AmigaOne X1000...

I would also like to see a 3D-enviroment of Workbench, if that can be done, and if you would like such a look..


I believe you have mentioned the most, so i can hardly find more that AmigaOS should have at the moment, except of what i already mentioned.

@angelheart

I think amidock needs a improvement,both how it look and work. But i would also like to see a much improved datatypes system(it's pure genious idea) A thememanager would also be a good thing.

Anyway, Amidock and Datatypes is those 2 things i regard as most important at the moment :)

Aside from those ideas already raised, mine include;

- A single application for all GUI changes. It's frustrating to have to flick between GUI, Pointer, Palette, WBPattern, ASL and PopupMenu etc. looking for the option I want to change.

- Improved look for Calculator and Clock applications as at the moment they look ugly.

@Helgis
I agree Helgis. I wonder if the next update will primarily be to fix any bugs. Then perhaps a 4.2 release that we pay for. But who knows, maybe all the efforts will be to get 4.1.1 onto the X1000.

@tommo1975

Agree :) But instead of a single app,it should be more like a client,that brings all those prefs apps,into one single package,in that way it would be easier to expand it,whenever needed. And it should not load all those apps at once,but in a user requested way(to save loadtime)

@logicalheart
Sale x1000 with aos4.1.1 will be bad idea imho. Because new users want normal AmiDock, normal Shell , etc. Then, with all of this newbes can be more or less happy and we can expand user base of modern amigas. For now only "old amigans" happy about current state of os4.

We need more visual-effective and user-friendly OS for bringing new blood on it.

That all imho of course.

@kas1e

Yes,some eyecandy would be good to satisfy new users,but make it stylish and not like Vista/Win 7,which look awful(it's to much of it)

@all

Apart from what have said already i'd like to see some new functionality

More (or most?) of system messages should be done by Ringhio server
i.e. USB device attachment on/off message, many more (haven't dug through the system yet)

USB has gone through a great deal of fixing and i haven't encountered the data corruption bug yet, but it seems the system stalls when copying great number of files. i.e. one has to wait to get another percent to be displayed in the copy window to be able to close windows/open programs/open the PD and or Context Menu etc. The system is responsive, mouse works but one simply can? t do anything because nothing is executed until some time past (Don't know what is causing this?)

edit: Crap, right on POSTing this message a Write Error happened on the device, strange, but i'm pretty sure it's a hardware bug...

And why don't have a appstore client while we are at it ? :) It could work as a p2p client. In that way you would'nt need a powerful server.

I know Amiga don't have many commersial apps today,but with a appstore,it would be accesible for users,and will benefit developers,and it would be more attractive to develop for Amiga. Everything would be under one umbrella.

@angelheart

Since AmigaOS4.1 Upfate2 was some sort of QuickFix(and not so much) with USB2 support(before releasing AmigaOS4.2+) I dunno what Hyperion can do menawhile...
However I like to see:

- AmiDock scaleoption(maybe related to icon scaling or itself no matter...)
- AmiDOck Auto-Hide and auto Pop-Up while mouse on bottom(like any other dock bar round...)...

That's fondamental for me mad dont seems to me so complex to do...at lesat the Auto PoP-Up...

@Tuxedo

Quote:

Even if remaining in view, auto activation and auto de-activation would be extremely useful. You could then use the docks menus and context menus without having to left mouse click first and inadvertently running applications.

Also when an application has been started the Amidock window needs to be de-activated until the mouse is noved back over it.

AmiDock really needs updating. It should either allow icon scaling, or at least respect the scaling ratio set in Workbench prefs. Another thing is adding programs through drag-and-drop (= appwindow support). AmiDock itself does support it but not the AmiDock settings window - the behaviour should be consistent.

I like the idea somebody suggested above, that the USB attachment message could be displayed via Ringhio.

I once complained that WBPattern Scales background pictures to full screen withOUT maintaining aspect ratio (unlike OS3.x), so circles become elipses, people look stretched, etc. Rogue did once tell me he would look at it, but it does not seem to have gone into Update 1, even though I think this should be *incredibly* easy to do (just a few lines of additional code).

what i really like to see is a decent 2D/3D driver for the radeon 9000/9250 and have hardware support for video decoding...

@BillE

Why not use Commodities/AutoPoint?
It does exactly what you request (in case of AutoActivation)

Using it here since OS4.1 and finding it great and easy to use