There are various reasons why people don't like to move onto DOpus 5. Here are
some of the most common objections to this fantastic piece of software.
- It's too complicated!
Admittedly, the first time you look at DOpus 5 it might seem very complex,
especially when it comes to configuration, but then again, didn't DOpus 4 look
tricky when you first used it? DOpus 5 is now easier to use than ever thanks to
suggestions from the many users worldwide. Once you've converted your settings
over, it'll be ready to use, almost the same way as you used to use DOpus 4 and
you can then explore the rest of the settings as you become more at ease with
DOpus 5. Hopefully you'll explore the rest of this set of tutorials and that
will help you get the most from DOpus 5.
- I can't "click-m-click" any more!
Ok, you've got us on that one, it's a skill you won't need any longer. The main
reason for removing it from DOpus 5 was because of the incredible amount of
flexibility that having more than two listers gives you. Besides which, the
drag and drop functionality that DOpus now has is far superior than the frantic
motion needed for click-m-click.
- It's harder to set up filetypes in the new DOpus!
Sorry, but we're going to have to disagree with you here. For a start, when you
load your settings file into DOpus 5 it will convert all your old filetypes
into new DOpus 5 ones, but one of the best things about the new DOpus is the
fact that it's internally multi-threaded and multitasking. What does this mean
for filetypes? Well, it means that you can adjust filetypes while you carry on
working - you don't need to stop what you are doing to go into the
configuration program and change a filetype. Also, the way DOpus 5 filetypes
files is much more flexible offering a much larger range of options for you to
use in order to identify particular filetypes, from simple name matching to
complex byte matching.
DOpus 5's filetype sniffer is invaluable when it comes to
matching new files with your system.
- I don't like the fact that if I convert my DOpus 4 settings my button
banks aren't big enough!
So add some more buttons. Unlike with DOpus 4, DOpus 5 gives you so many places
you can add buttons, from standard button banks to start menus, lister toolbars
and menus to user menus there are plenty of places you can put new buttons or
commands without filling up your screen area.
- I'm scared that replacing Workbench will mean that my programs won't work!
Don't worry! Any program that opens its own screen won't be affected anyway,
and those that do open on Workbench will now open on the DOpus screen.
GPSoftware have worked long and hard to ensure that DOpus can be used as a
Workbench Replacement without causing any problems. As such, running programs
from within DOpus on its own screen, or from DOpus instead of Workbench gives
exactly the same result - your favourite programs running just as they did
before.
- I don't want to replace my Workbench!
The main power in the new version of DOpus is its ability to not only replace
your standard Workbench, but to truly improve it. Forget about the next
revision of the OS for improving the classic Amiga - if you want to make your
Amiga more powerful and faster, the alternative isn't to buy a new accelerator
card, it's to install DOpus as Workbench. For those people who really are
afraid of completely replacing their machine's outmoded front-end, you can
always hold down the shift key during your startup-sequence to load back into
drab old Workbench, but I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of
times I've wanted to do that!
- But I like DOpus 4!
Ah yes, that one. Of course you like Directory Opus 4, it's very good. However,
it's not that good and it has some flaws which will never be corrected.
If you create LHA files inside DOpus 4 don't you hate the way that it takes
forever to do so because it stops every ten files or so and rereads the
archive? Don't you sometimes wish you could have more than two windows to work
in? Don't you sometimes wish you could have more than the button banks you've
got to play with? DOpus 5 fixes all those problems and gives you things like
integrated ftp, automatic filetype creation and so much more flexibility it's
almost unreal!
| If you really want to boot into Workbench instead of lovely, lovely DOpus you can always hold down the SHIFT key while booting.
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