It's equally interesting to see RISC OS still burdening the user with issues long resolved in other OS's. I remember trying out other GUI's some years ago and sometimes really being astounded by the simplicity and practicality of certain features.
The belief that RISC OS still has one of the most cleverly designed GUI's around, shouldn't mean it can ignore some useful features from the others. I feel most GUI designers can still learn a great deal from RISC OS, but certainly also the other way around.
Taking a good long look at other GUI's, one will inevitably encounter UI functions quite useful and definitely worth considering for RISC OS.
One particularly simple, but eminently useful feature of Mac OS X, is the 'Hide' functionality. It allows an application to temporarily hide all its windows, so it's still running but doesn't have its windows obscuring other stuff. However, it can also be used to hide the windows of all the other applications. Meaning you'll only have the windows on the desktop of the current active application.
So essentially, it's a tool to clear up the desktop when swamped with windows. Like quitting an app, it can be accessed directly from the Dock, so it's available at all times. It would be quite easy and consistent to add this feature to the application menu and the Iconbar in RISC OS.
Another related, though definitely more advanced, feature is Exposé. While probably more tricky to implement in RISC OS, it's wonderfully useful in all kinds of situations. For a description, take a look at [link]é_%28Mac_OS_X%29
There are other similarly useful features in other desktop environments, very much worth implementing in RISC OS. Some of these can really complement the existing GUI in RISC OS, adding choice and comfort to the user. For more information about the GUI and different implementations, check out [link]
Do You Object? Looking at a new object and executable file format for RISC OS 22 comments, latest by stewart on 21/1/05 12:55AM. Published: 13 Dec 2004