Conference 7.286::atarist

    I've used (and LIKE) FSELV5 for a long time and just recently start
    using V6.0 of this program. Buzz has made FSELV60.ARC available
    in VINO::PORT:[BHAMILTON.UMICH].
    
    FSEL is an /auto program that replaces the normal file selector.
    Since it is an /auto program it does not take up a precious DA slot
    like some replacement file selectors.
    
    FSEL does NOT have the underscore bug that the normal and some other
    replacement file selectors have (yes someone actualy wrote a
    replacement file selector and KNOWINGLY left the bug in there).
    
    Changing the drive is just a matter of clicking on the letter as
    apposed to using the arrow keys to move to the begging of the directory
    line and...
    
    It shows you the time/date or file size, you switch between which
    you want to see by clicking on a button.
    
    You can select the sort order (including NO sort) of how the files
    appear in the file selector, by clicking one of three buttons. 

    You can do a "show info" on a file by clicking once on the file
    name and then clicking on the "?" button and all of the information
    on the file will be displayed for you to look at and change.

    Have you ever wanted to print out a list of files in a directory
    or print out a list of all the *.NEO files in a directory? If so
    all you have to do is click on the P button and the names (I don't
    recall if other information about the files is printed or not) of all
    the files in the file selector box (including ones accessible by
    the scroll bars) are printed out.

    	Ray

    re .0
    
    I read a report on "NEODESK". It appeared to be everything Atari should
    have put in the desk top but didnt!. Has anybody tried it out?. The bit
    I like is the ability to have a picture as the desktop. (if it was the
    MOON picture, I would take the Atari to work, and show the guys who
    have 16 Meg workstations costing kilobucks, and say to them, "I can do
    everything that your workstation can at a fraction of the price" 8>).
    
    Cheer
    
    Pat

    re. .0
    (i)	FSELV6 is indeed a valuable enhancement. However, it clashes with
    some programs - notably Signum-I, EZ-Score, EZ-Track. Any more ?
    
    (ii) I frequently use a replacement desktop called VDOS. This is
    excellent, since you can predefine about 40 popup 'slots' to particular
    programs. Also, it has several DOS-like commands which are very handy.
    It is a definite improvement over the GEM desktop in situations where you 
    have a fairly repetitive bootup-and-use routine. It's not so good if
    you need to shoot all over the place, running all sorts of stuff.
    
    (iii) I cannot work without SPEEDMUS.ACC any more. I have cut my
    mousemat in half, and now am totally dependent on this excellent
    (mandatory ?) program. Has anybody tried this, and NOT come to rely on
    it like me ?  The only program it doesn't like, in my experience, is
    Signum-I.
    
    Jim Burke

    Just to clarify a little...
    
    	NEODESK - My understanding is that this is equivelent to an
	enhanced GEM desktop. That is to say it is real similiar to
    	the standard desktop but with a LOT of enhancements.
    
    	VDOS - This is TOTALY different then the GEM desktop. It is
    	better described as a "Clickable Menu driven Shell". There are
    	no windows to open/close/move/resize. There are a bunch of menus
    	were you can click on "buttons" to execute shell commands
    	(copy/delete/create_dir/etc.), predefined programs (>100 if
    	I recall), run program selected by file selector, etc..
    
    Ray

    I've been using NEODESK for quite a while now.  I just received version
    2.03 (?); it now enables you to assign icons to individual files rather
    than groups only.  It is an excellent alternative desktop.  If you
    don't have this beast, check it out at your local dealer!
    
    --Ron

    I'm  using NEODESK since January this year and 'love' it. With NEODESK
    you can see how spartan the original GEM-Desktop is. The german
    distributor has translated most of the desktop to germ (slanguage, so
    only a very few messages are still in english). The price over here is
    89 DM. A few days ago, I received the new version (V2.02).
    
    The file selector box (FSEL.ACC) i'm using is part of Star-Writer (a
    very good and complete german text processing programm) . It seems to
    be well tolerated by all software. 
    
    Regards . / Hilmar.
    

I bought NEODESK after seeing a company rep demo it at one of our last
Atari club meetings. Many other club members also bought it. The concensus
seems to be that its excellent. I use it all the time with my hard disk, and
find it to be a well engineered piece of software. I highly recommend it if
you have a hard disk.

    	Thanks for the comments, guys.  I gather you like 'em.
    
    BUT, like I said, WHY do you like 'em?!   What can you do with 'em
    that you can't with the standard desktop?  Or easier?  Specifics,
    please.


           I get so tired of asking " What color is that dog."  and
    getting the answer "It has a tail."   grump, grump  - Chris

    I've been using NEODESK for about 2 months and a couple of the features
    that I like are the ability to display up to about 130 filenames
    at once in a window and being able to spool files to the printer
    while still using the desktop. You can spool multiple files,I think
    it will hold 10 in the buffer,without any noticeable delay in other
    activities. The icons can be changed, renamed, edited, or you can
    create your own new icons. The rubber band feature works in both
    directions and the windows appear and dissapear faster because they
    don't "shrink away". There are more features but you should go and
    have it demo'd for yourself.
    					...Bob

    I read an old review of NEODESK that complained about it's memory
    usage... how much memory does it use up? Also, what extras does it
    offer aside from all the customized icon stuff?
    
    Kent

    Neodesk 2.0 has been rewritten to be much more memory efficient.
    Neodesk now contains a small kernel (I believe only 25k or less),
    and a rather large image file. When a program is executed from Neodesk,
    only the small kernel is retained, freeing the rest of memory for the
    user program.
    
    Some of the nicer features of Neodesk are
    	1. Not only do you have the ability to sort the desktop in the
    	   same manner as GEM, you can inhibit sorting so that you can view
    	   a directory in its physical order.
    
    	2. The view by text feature allows viewing in 1 or multiple
    	   columns, and you can select what attributes to view (eg. date)
    
    	3. You can view in small fonts.
    
    	4. Selected file attributes are displayed in the info line in the
    	   window.
    
    	5. You can selcect an object without making the window current.
    
    	6. All menu commands are associated to the keyboard. (eg. File Info
    	   is ^S)
    
    	7. You can select whether to MOVE or COPY files. This is an
    	   excellent feature when working with a hard disk.
    
    
    	8. You can use any Degas or Neo picture as your desktop.
    
    
    I find that Neodesk was well worth the money. I also use the Neo
    control panel. Also included with Neodesk is a printer queuing
    accessory. 
    
    There is 1 drawback. There seems to be a problem with the Assempro
    shell running under Neodek. Zoomracks will not run with it either.
    These are minor inconveniences since you can easily quit Neodesk.
    
    Jerry Feldman
    Director, BCS Atari ST user group

    To save me scanning the pages of magazines, how much is NEODESK ?
    
    Cheers,
    John

    hello John,
    
    The ST world a couple of issues ago, had a review of NEODESK.
    Unfortunately at that time, there was no UK stockist. They advised any
    interested person to contact the publishers in the US.
    
    However I have used EA BROWN a couple of times now with no problems. 
    They take orders over the phone on my Barclay card (visa to them). The
    goods turn up in 7-8 days no probs. 
    
    
    	E. A. Brown do stock NEODESK, HOWEVER MAKE SURE YOU GET THE VERY LATEST
    REVISION, I think its 2.01, Please could someone confirm!
    
    	E A BROWNS phone number is 0101 612 762 8847
    
    Cheers
    
    Pat K.

    	I finally got NeoDesk installed and configured to suit me, and
    
    		I Love It !
    
    Two features in it have changed, for the better!, the way I use
    my ST:
    	1.  Having icons of my most run programs right on the disktop.
    I don't have to open a window and then a sub-window to get at my
    most run programs anymore.
    	2.  I can open some windows and click on a .DOC  or .LTR file
    in a subfolder in the WordPerfect folder and have WordPerfect come
    up with the file loaded!  I couldn't do this before without having
    WP.PRG installed in each of the subfolders, something I refused
    to do (waste of bytes).  This is SO much better than using the SLOW
    WordPerfect file manipulation utility. (This is supposed to be cured
    real-soon-now {they said it was two months ago, but the version
    they sent was the similar to the original.} I called and got on the
    list for the new version that allows use of any file selector.)
    I'll probably use the Install Application utility in a lot of places
    now.  
    	Boy, does this blow away VMS and MS-DOS!    - Chris