DESKTOP2 – A Graphical User Interface for DOS
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DESKTOP2 – A Graphical User Interface for DOS
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Re: DESKTOP2 – A Graphical User Interface for DOS
#2I am from that time, and it's funny that I've never heard about this. Sometimes it's sad to see such a complex project that probably hasn't been used much.
Re: DESKTOP2 – A Graphical User Interface for DOS
#3Icons used to be meaningful and convey what they did. Now it's mostly shiny fancy crap, and they all look the same. I always find it difficult to find VSCode on macOS because a lot of apps use similar colors and patterns.
I tried customizing VSC's icon but it goes back to its ugly confusing default icon after each update.
Re: DESKTOP2 – A Graphical User Interface for DOS
#4Icons used to be meaningful and convey what they did. Now it's mostly shiny fancy crap, and they all look the same. I always find it difficult to find VSCode on macOS because a lot of apps use similar colors and patterns. I tried customizing VSC's icon but it goes back to its ugly confusing default icon after each update.
Or worse, icons get grouped and they removed the labels for apps when launched.
Fairly awful having to scroll through the equal icons to get back into the expected terminal or file browser path.
Usability has really been going down the drain to copy smartphones into the desktop.
Re: DESKTOP2 – A Graphical User Interface for DOS
#5My father used to use another one, I think it was called START and made in Czech. Unfortunately I can't find it on any internet archive sites :(
Re: DESKTOP2 – A Graphical User Interface for DOS
#6*DESKTOP is somewhat in the middle between MS-Windows and Norton Commander...*
Does anyone here recall the intuitive nature of Norton Commander, especially in terms of file operations? This may be reaching back about three decades, so my recollection might be a bit hazy. As I recall, it was a viable alternative to Windows Explorer even during the era of Windows 3.1.
One particular aspect that stands out to me was the dual-pane interface. This allowed for seamless navigation within the directory hierarchy - you could tag files in the pane on one side, then initiate a move or copy operation to the directory in the other pane, and vice versa.
Given the complexity of today's file operations and UIs, Norton Commander's straightforward approach feels refreshingly simple and efficient in hindsight. I'd be interested to hear other users' reminiscences and thoughts.
Re: DESKTOP2 – A Graphical User Interface for DOS
#7I love this user testimonial in particular...
>i love your gui!!! it's great! my only problem is that i can't read german so i am forced to navigate using either trial-and-error or my trusty german-english dictionary (which is not well equipped at translating computer jargon!!) anyway, this is probably a lost cause and i understand you not wanting to go through all the hassel of translating it -- i was just wondering!! but all the same, great job!! it's a wonderful piece of software!!
Re: DESKTOP2 – A Graphical User Interface for DOS
#8*DESKTOP is somewhat in the middle between MS-Windows and Norton Commander...* Does anyone here recall the intuitive nature of Norton Commander, especially in terms of file operations? This may be reaching back about three decades, so my recollection might be a bit hazy. As I recall, it was a viable alternative to Windows Explorer even during the era of Windows 3.1. One particular aspect that stands out to me was the…
Norton-style commanders were huge in xUSSR.
FAR and Dos Navigator were among the most popular, and in the end FAR won it (as it was windows app and got rich ecosystem of plugins). They were good not only due dual panel interface (newer versions were actually multi-panel, where you cold go as many 2 panel "workspaces" as you want), but they enabled extremely efficient keyboard only workflows. Windows couldn't get it even now.
Far is still alive: https://www.farmanager.com/
Also I don't use it, but I install midnight commander on every my linux setup just for memories.
Re: DESKTOP2 – A Graphical User Interface for DOS
#9I love this user testimonial in particular... >i love your gui!!! it's great! my only problem is that i can't read german so i am forced to navigate using either trial-and-error or my trusty german-english dictionary (which is not well equipped at translating computer jargon!!) anyway, this is probably a lost cause and i understand you not wanting to go through all the hassel of translating it -- i was just wondering…
The cute typo in the review reminded me of this old joke (my apologies in advance):
David Hasselhoff tells his assistant: “From now on, I want be known as The Hoff. Just The Hoff.”
Says the assistant: “Sure, boss. No hassle.”
Re: DESKTOP2 – A Graphical User Interface for DOS
#10*DESKTOP is somewhat in the middle between MS-Windows and Norton Commander...* Does anyone here recall the intuitive nature of Norton Commander, especially in terms of file operations? This may be reaching back about three decades, so my recollection might be a bit hazy. As I recall, it was a viable alternative to Windows Explorer even during the era of Windows 3.1. One particular aspect that stands out to me was the…
In SCADA systems I know teams that still use XTreeGold on Windows today