Win Platinum/Win Platinum.iso/desktop/stat30/whats.new

Text File | 1992-05-01 | 8.8 KB | 245 lines

 ***************************************************************************
  Statline                       Version 3.0                       May 1992
 ***************************************************************************

 Additions (since version 2.6)


  * Experienced users may want to look at the "Maximizing Statline" section
    in the STAT30.DOC file.


  1. Changed Statline's icon; there are also two to choose from now.

  2. Left button double-click on display area brings up the "Configure"
     box.

  3. Added ability to play the "Asterisk" sound instead of the regular
     chime.  You can set a WAV file to be the Asterisk sound in Control
     Panel's "Sounds" icon (if you have a SoundBlaster or the PC Speaker
     driver installed).

  4. Changed the font in the dialog boxes.

  5. Rearranged the Configure box.

  6. Added "Caption Messages".  On the hour this will temporarily change
     the caption of the window you're working in to tell you the time.

  7. Added "Large" mode for better readability on SVGA displays (or can
     also be handy for the visually impaired).

  8. Added keypresses for systems without mice (e.g. laptops).  See the
     HELP display for which keys.

  9. Finally fixed the "Move" so that you can click-and-drag with the left
     button to move Statline.  DRAG SLOWLY!!!

 10. Now you can just press Enter (instead of Cntl-Enter) in Minipad to
     drop down to the next line.

 11. Fixed problems with Windows 3.1 and "Keep Statline's Window Visible".



 Additions (since version 2.1)

 1. Replaced "icon mode" with new "short line" mode.  A right-button
    click on the "?" button goes to short mode.

 2. Moved setup parameters to "statline.ini" from "win.ini".

 3. New choice in "Configure..." that lets you start in "short line"
    or normal mode.

 4. Bug in "Graphic memory display" was fixed.

 5. Tested (and ran just fine) with Windows 3.1 Final Beta release.
    Some problems with screen savers.

 6. Problem with registered versions and Minipad corrected.

 7. Added support for using Statline as your shell (i.e. replacing Program
    Manager), to save resources.  On my system I save about 7%.

    Obviously you will want Program Manager around most of the time, so
    what you can do is make Statline your shell then check the box that
    says "Load Program Manager" on the Configure options.  This way things
    will LOOK the same as before, but now if you need to you can close
    Program Manager without exiting Windows -- handy when resources are
    getting low.  To make all of this easier, the following things have
    been added:

    * Right-button click to "bring up" Program Manager now LAUNCHES it
      if it was not running already.

    * Added an "Install..." option to make Statline your shell:

      - If you choose "No", STAT.EXE will be put on your "load=" line in
        the WIN.INI file.  Answer "No" if you want Statline loaded like
        any other program.

      - If you choose "Yes", STAT.EXE will replace whatever is on the
        "shell=" line of the SYSTEM.INI file.  Answer "Yes" if you want
        to be able to close Program Manager without leaving Windows.

    * Added "Load Program Manager" box in "Configure...".  If you are
      using Statline as your shell, but still want to have Progman around
      when you start Windows, check this box.

 8. Fixed the recurrance of a bug in positioning the display.  If a
    position causes a lockup, at least now when Statline is loaded again
    the problem won't repeat.

 9. Added 2 more slots in the Quick Menu, for a total of seven.



 Additions (since version 2.0)

 1. The original display bitmap was dropped for the current one.

 2. The percentage of "system resources" can now be displayed instead
    of the current Windows mode.  The percentage is the same (give or
    take a point) as the "system resources" given by Program Manager.

 3. The right mouse button now does things when clicked on the buttons:

    A RIGHT button click on...         Does...
    --------------------------         ---------------------------------
    The "question mark" button         Turns Statline into an icon
                                       that shows the "system resources"
                                       free.

    The "notepad" button               Launches whatever you have
                                       defined as your text editor.
                                       (Windows Notepad is the default).

    The Quick Run button               Launches a DOS window

    The Quick Menu button              Brings up Program Manager

    The Exit button                    Re-starts Windows


    LEFT button clicks still work the same.  The HELP display explains
    what both left and right buttons do.

 4. "Day and night" (sun and moon drawings) can now be used instead of
    "a" and "p" (for AM and PM).  "Day" is defined as 7 in the morning
    to 7 in the evening.  "Night" is 7 pm to 7 am.

 5. The "About" dialog box was dropped, the "Help" box serves as both
    now.



 Additions (since version 1.5)

 1. Statline remembers where it was moved to and saves its position.

 2. A new background bitmap was added, the original can still be used
    for Statline (see the "Configure" box in Statline).

 3. Quick Run is improved, the drives and directories are in a seperate
    box from the files.  A "delete file" button was added.

 4. A "License Information" scheme now identifies registered users.
    Non-registered versions have a pop-up reminder every six uses.

 5. Statline does a "Global Compact" (to reclaim unused memory) every
    60 seconds.

 6. Thanks to some reworked routines and better compilation techniques,
    this version's EXE file is only slightly larger than the previous one.

 7. Statline can now install itself to load when Windows starts.

 8. You can specify the initial directory for Quick Run in the
    "Configure" box.

 9. You can optionally display the memory used with a bar-graph, see
    the "Configure" box.

10. An "Arrange Icons" button was added to the system box to neatly
    arrange your desktop's icons.

11. Statline can now keep itself visible even when covered by other
    windows (see the "Configure" box).

12. You can select and edit a file from Quick Run.  The editor to use
    is specified in the "Configure" box ("Notepad.exe" is the default).


 Additions: (since version 1.0)


 1. Quick Menu is also available from the Quick Run box.  Up to five
    programs can be listed and ready to run with a single click.

 2. The Quick Run box now has a "Delete file" option (from its system box),
    for deleting the selected file.

 3. Quick Run also has a "DOS Window" button to open a DOS window.

 4. Statline now has an (optional) hourly chime.

 5. A Configure box now turns on/off the following:
    a. The hourly chime.
    b. The confirmation prompt before exiting Windows.
    c. Whether to close Quick Menu after running a program or not.

 6. Quick Run can now change drives to run/delete files.

 7. Configurable options and Quick Menu command lines are stored in the
    WIN.INI file under the heading of "[Statline]".

 8. Quick Exit Windows is now a button choice.

 9. MiniPad now handles text wider than its window.

10. More configurable options were added.

    The following may be placed in the "[Statline]" section of the WIN.INI
    file:

    a. "ModeColor=x"  Where "x" is the color of the Windows mode display.

    b. "DateColor=x"  Where "x" is the color of the date and time.

    c. "MemColor=x"   Where "x" is the color of the memory free display.

    Note that each color value "x" ranges from 0 to 15.



 Notes:

 1. The hourly chime was at a user's suggestion; "thanks" to Mr. Robert
    Johns.

 2. A right button click on the "?" button turns Statline into an icon,
    perfect for when the Statline display is running over your work.
    (Version 2.5 and up:  Now does "short line" instead of icon.)

 3. Quick Run's "DOS Window" attempts to run whatever is defined for
    the COMSPEC environment variable.  If there is no COMSPEC defined,
    it will try to run "command.com".

 4. Statline will not display a registration-reminder if you exit
    Windows via Statline's EXIT button (or if you're registered).

 5. Thanks to Dr. Dobb's for some "undocumented" features of Windows.

 6. Thanks to all the registered users and to people who let me in
    in traffic.

 7. Far-and-away the fastest way to contact me is via Internet (which is
    accessable from Compuserve), my address is: [e-mail].

 8. Look for "Surf" this Summer.  I bet you're just dying to know what it
    is, aren't'cha?


James Bell                                                      May 1992