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Page Updated 18/11/2002... |
Information on this page is taken from the Homestead Mailing List and from various Emails between myself and Maurice and others. 18/11/2002... How does Wheels SC improve Wheels? What changes are made that improve Wheels in Wheels SC? One
thing you'll notice is there are only two files to
contend with
on the boot disk. As usual, STARTER
gets things fired up.
It
has the job of booting up the other file, the SYSTEM
file. There
is only one Wheels SC version.
It doesn't
matter
if you boot up from a 64
or a 128,
it will work with
either.
If booted up from a 64, it will act more like Wheels 64 and use 40
column
mode. If booted from 128 mode, it will act like Wheels 128 and will
offer
both 40 and 80 column modes. Once booted, the Toolbox and Dashboard will remain in memory. Exiting an application is immediate since the Dashboard doesn't need to be reloaded from disk. The biggest thing the
user will notice is an improved
Dashboard.
Too early to discuss it too much, but it will have features that let
you
configure your drives easier. You'll even be able to create partitions
on the CMD devices like you can with HD-TOOLS,
etc. The Dashboard will be able to copy files to/from MS-DOS disks. It will be able to access CD-ROM drives connected to the HD.Lots of neat new features will be in the Dashboard. Classic GEOS
and Wheels applications
will
still work.
You'll be able to task switch between multiple applications. The number
of apps you can have loaded at one time will depend on available
memory.
New applications that are written specifically for Wheels SC will be
able
to take advantage of its multitasking ability. Wheels SC will also have all the Wave networking routines built into the OS instead of in Wave SC (also supplied with Wheels SC). This way, other applications can make use of the same routines. This will make it easier to build separate Internet applications that need to do some of the same type of stuff. The windowing routines
from both the Dashboard and The Wave
are in the
OS. New apps can make use of these routines. This includes routines to
make windows that are moveable, resizable, with scrollbars, Up to 8 drives (A-H) can now be used. 1541 and 1571 partitions are also supported on the FD, HD, and RL. Also, the new extended native partitions on the HD are supported. Current apps may not work well with drives E-H. They probably won't even know they are there. So, the usual drive swapping routines are still employed. Remember, some of the old apps only work with A and B. I plan to take geoBasic and modify it for use in Wheels SC. This will make an easy to use programming tool for people who can work with Basic. geoBasic is also nice because it can help you build dialog boxes, menus, and other things. And of course, the geoBasic bugs will get fixed. Concept+ will get upgraded to Concept SC and will add more features for those who prefer to use assembly language. From a programmer's point
of view, the operating system no
longer resides
in bank 0 of the SuperCPU memory. What's in bank 0 where classic apps
run
is a series of jump tables and a few other assorted routines to make
the new system work with old apps. All kernal routine
calls are transferred to the actual SC kernal. For new apps, the same
kind
of GEOS thinking is employed where a jump table can always be found in
a fixed location. It is always in bank 2. A simple JSL can
call any kernal routine. Selected Toolbox
and Dashboard
routines
can also be accessed from the new jump table. New apps will always be
loaded
into a 64K bank somewhere in memory. The app will have the entire bank
of memory to itself (and more if needed). New apps are expected to run
in native 65816
mode while current apps default to 6502
emulation mode. -Maurice |
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