Questions about windows support

[Nick Sabalausky]

"H. S. Teoh" <hsteoh at quickfur.ath.cx> wrote in message 
news:mailman.830.1329870386.20196.digitalmars-d at puremagic.com...
> On Tue, Feb 21, 2012 at 06:01:37PM -0500, Nick Sabalausky wrote:
> [...]
>> Hmm, if that's like Total Commander on Windows, then I don't think I
>> would like it. I do *love* Total Commander's multi-file renaming, but
>> that feature is really the only reason I keep it around.
>>
>> Heh, as bad as this might sound, I think what I basically want is more
>> or less Windows Explorer on linux ;)  (Including the customizations
>> I've installed, like "DOS Prompt Here" and Tortoise*) And yea,
>> Explorer works under wine, but it's kinda like running a GTK app in
>> Windows - but worse since Windows GTK apps at least *know* what OS
>> they're really running on.
>
> Maybe if you write one in D... ;-) Perhaps *that's* the killer D app
> that we've been waiting for, that will take the world by a storm. :P
>

I've seriously been wanting to, but it's one of many things I haven't been 
able to get around to yet.

I suspect, though, it might not end up so popular. Linux people like the 
command line. Although it might help further popularize Linux among WinXP 
fans...

But it's looking like Vlad's D forums might be on their way to being D's 
killer app anyway ;)

>
> [...]
>> > Keyboard/mouse switching is much better when it's a laptop with that
>> > "nipple" thing in the middle of the keyboard. In fact, that's the only
> [...]
>> I like to call it the clit mouse. It beats the shit out of trackpads (I 
>> hate
>> those things with a passion), but I still find them a pain compared to 
>> mice
>> and my trusty Logitech trackball. So I'm the opposite of you there: I
>> actually find it much *easier* to switch between keyboard and trackball 
>> than
>> keyboard and "clit mouse" despite the increased distance. Maybe I'm just
>> weird.
>
> Are you trying to out-weird me? ;-)
>

Heh heh. That's puts me in mind of one of my favorite songs:

"[...]
The so-called weirdos in this country
Stand as completely freaked out by the normal man
As the normal man is completely freaked out
By the weird masses reaction to him

Which came first, you may ask
Chicken or egg, you may ask
Well, the chicken of course
It's time to break this weird-ass chain

The weird masses don't want to be normalized
Weirdos want to be abnormal
The freaks can't be formally normalized
Nor can we normally formalized
What we want is complete weirdification

Basically, we don't want weirdness from the normal man
We don't want to be freaked out by the normal man
We want to out freak the normal man
[...]
Because you are defending our weird women
>From the freaky-ass thoughts of the bug-eyed
Bow-legged normal man"
 - Butthole Surfers: Weird Revolution

Heh :)

>
> OTOH, ftp.apple.asimov (together with an Apple II emulator) is a
> wonderful resource for those moments of nostalgia, when you're just
> feeling that urge to go boot up with a single beep and see that
> beautiful "]?" prompt staring at you, just like it used to decades ago.
> And then you 'call -151' and geek out on coding some assembly routines
> by typing in opcodes, etc..
>

Yea, I had an Apple II emulator (fantastic!) and some disk images, but I 
think I may have lost them all last time I had a HDD die. Gotta recollect 
that stuff...

>
>> I'm actually a huge Apple hater ever since I got fed up with my 10.2
>> eMac and the whole "Return of Jobs" world and product lines in
>> general. But I *always* consider Woz's Apple II line to be the big,
>> giant, glaring exception in Apple's portfolio.
> [...]
>
> Ah, good ole Wozniak. Wasn't he the one who practically single-handedly
> coded up the entire Apple II ROM? Or am I just mixing up urban legend
> with reality? :)
>

My understanding is that he designed the whole damn machine, period. And I 
have a tendency to believe it, because those older systems really *are* 
simple enough that it's totally possible for one person to understand every 
byte, every clock cycle, every chip and every wire. Hell, that's a big part 
of what makes those machines such a dream to work with anyway. And also what 
made them cheap enough for average consumers - *especially* the Atari 
VCS/2600 - That's just an absolutely beautiful design in it's minimalism 
(had to be, to be useful and only ~$200). Ever coded for it? It makes even 
the Apple II seem enormously complex and powerful. It's sooo fun.