[openbeos] Re: app_server

>Hello peeps
>
>Warning: I'm not a programmer, just a lurker but...
>
>When the app_server is finished and becomes a good replacement for the 
>stock one, will it be easy to add new decors? I'm assuming you'd still 
>need programming knowledge of course - not just graphical skills, so I 
>might not be able to do it myself but hopefully it would be doable.

Short version: 

Yes, it will do decorators, and no, it will not be a skinnable GUI (which is 
R2 material).

Longer version:

Decorators won't be all that hard for the R1 server - skinning is another 
idea entirely. I got bored and did a Windows-like decorator in an afternoon. 
Is it perfect? Nope, but I don't expect that much from myself for an 
afternoon's play, either. When the API is a little more congealed, I will be 
publishing a small Decorator SDK. It does require some programming knowledge, 
but it sure isn't hard, either. System-wide color settings (a la Windows' 
Appearance tab in Display Properties) will also be available. Those of us who 
want to have red BeOS tabs, for example, won't need to download anything.

Programming them does influence the behavior somewhat. Most window behaviors 
are taken care of by the server, but what user actions go with what behaviors 
is determined by the decorator's designer. The best part about the R5 default 
look vs, say, the R5 look with more eye candy is that the user can choose to 
use either. The prototypes' default one is somewhere in between the two IMO. 
In any event, we will likely have quite an abundance of choices, given the 
number of times this topic has cropped up here and elsewhere. Hope this 
clears things up. :)

--DarkWyrm

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