[softwarelist] Re: O-Pro's future

In a dim and distant universe <4864AF79.5070208@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
   Phillip Marsden <phillip.marsden@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> enlightened us thusly:
[Snippety snip]

> The statements that you make about Java in another post are a good
> example. Major corporations are putting much money into developing major
> applications in Java,

I didn't say there weren't major applications, just that I don't think it
is suitable for major applications. After all, there is only so much you
can do inside your virtual machine plugin.

> being restricted to a "walled garden", as if this is a bad point. The
> promoters of Java call this security,

I'm not knocking the security aspects of it, which are no doubt very good,
and I'd agree with that aspect of things. I was talking about the actual
user interface. The fact it's usually running in it's own self-contained
window with it's own GUI (usually different to the host OS) doesn't help
people to become more familiar with it, and also doesn't help it integrate
seamlessly into the rest of the host GUI.
It's this 'user experience' point I was trying to make.

> have, and this has been attested by some of the most prolific developers
> in the RISC OS field. 

I'm not talking about the *technical* merits though. To use an old car
analogy, I'm talking about the bodywork, interior trim and comfort - not
the specifications of the engine.
The beauty of RISC OS is the user interface and experience for the end
user. At the end of the day (and I've said this many times before), most
users don't care whether a program is written in C, Java, ARM or BASIC, and
probably don't even know - but if the program is unusable because it's let
down by a poor GUI then people WILL notice, and see it as inferior, even if
it's not.

This is why I said I prefer OvPro on RISC OS to Windows. The Windows
version may have more features or be "better" but as far as I'm concerned
it's let down by the poor GUI.

Case in point, one of my favourite applications on Mac OS is iTunes, and I
have my entire CD collection stored within it. However, I simply can't bear
Mac OS X in comparison to RISC OS - hence me taking the time and effort to
write my ROTunes, so that I can use all the features of iTunes that I
require, but on RISC OS.

Many people might see this as a waste of time and a case of re-inventing
the wheel, especially when I could just use the Mac. However, my preference
of RISC OS outweighed the time and effort required in writing it, plus it
helped contribute another application to the choice on RISC OS.

Paul Vigay
Editor, www.RISCOS.org

-- 
Using, programming and promoting RISC OS - the most productive computer
system in the world. Check it out now, and change your view of computers!!

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