EuOS - Some thoughts
Hi Euphorians,
There has been a bit of interest in this EuOS thing so I will waffle on
some more.
Some friends and I were talking about a maths problem. One lady said
"Youv'e got a computer, why don't you just type in the question - should =
be
no problem for a machine that powerful". I told her computers didn't work=
like that and she said "Why not ??" - It was that last remark ( and far t=
oo
many episodes of Star Trek:TNG/DS9/Voyager ) that got me thinking.
1. Dispite all the advances in CPU speed (x 1000+ in the last 10 years),
computers aren't really any faster because the software is so inefficient=
and convoluted.
2. Dispite the advances in storage capacity, we seem to be only slightly
better off because software is now so bloated. =
3. Despite all the advances in software development tools, software is ju=
st
as buggy as it ever was.
4. Despite WinDoze and other GUIs, computers are still clumsy to use.
So what went wrong ? I would suggest that the "Features War" is partly to=
blame along with a lack of imagination.
We have word processors, DTP, paint packages, drawing packages, browsers,=
etc but they all achieve the same thing - they all process text / binary
image files of one kind or another. We have searchable databases,
multi-media encyclopedias and web-pages - aren't they much the same thing=
?
I am not suggesting that we write a new DOS, I am suggesting something a
bit more radical, a new form of interface where you could create a
document, check its spelling, draw diagrams on it, insert spread-sheet
cells in it, mail it to whoever and be able to search for it along with a=
ny
other kind of data - an interface where you could phrase simple questions=
or formulas and get the spelling checked at the same time. Such a highly
integrated interface would have a mix of GUI and CLI elements in it.
No doubt, some of you will tell me all this can be done now, but just loo=
k
what it takes to do all this - Hundreds of EXEs, DLLs, OCXs, drivers,
ActiveX components to name but a few. I'm sure there is a simpler way.
I have already come up with some ideas but I would be interested to see
what you guys (& girls) can come up with !
Peter Blue
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