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I dream of jinnee
Matthew Bacon test drives the latest release of the all-singing, all-dancing replacement desktop A desktop is a desktop, right? It allows the user to click on icons and drag files to the trash can. Yawn, boring! Wrong, not all desktops are created equal. When the ST was originally conceived, the concept of a graphical user interface (GUI) was still quite revolutionary and was important to its initial success. However, by today's standards, the features and functionality of the ST's desktop are basic by comparison. So how can a ST/Falcon's desktop be transformed from the primitive beast that it is into an all-singing, all-dancing super-desktop? By installing jinnee v2.5 (pronounced genie), that's how! So when MyAtari received a copy of the recently released English distribution, you can imagine our excitement ;-) Getting started Installation is handled by GEM Setup - a great piece of software in its own right - which means that once the registration process has been completed (name, company and serial number), all you need do is sit back and relax. Alternatively, you can get stuck in and customise the installation preferences and select which parts of jinnee should be installed (useful if you already have BubbleGEM installed for instance). However, I'd recommend using the default settings unless you know what you're doing! A brave new world When jinnee is run for the first time, icons for each drive/device, a notepad utility (supplied with jinnee) and wastebasket are displayed on the desktop. Look familiar? Probably! This is because jinnee has drawn inspiration from other Atari desktops such as MagXdesk, Ease, Thing, Neodesk and as well as from Windows 9x and MacOS. Consequently, if you are familiar with any of these environments you'll immediately feel at home with jinnee ;-) But with such an impressive selection of features on offer, where do you start? Well, the manual isn't a bad idea! The English distribution from Atari Workshop is supplied with a comprehensive 122 page printed manual that covers every menu item and dialog box in detail. But if reading the manual sounds rather dull... you can always get stuck in and make use of jinnee's context-sensitive ST-Guide help instead. Getting friendly What first struck me, upon using jinnee, was its user-friendliness. I found it extremely easy to navigate and intuitive to use thanks to its logically designed interface. Manfred Lippert (jinnee's author) has obviously spent a great deal of time working out which are the most commonly used desktop features and how to make them easier to access. For example, features such as 'New object', 'Open', 'Delete', 'Find' and 'Format' can all be accessed through jinnee's menus or via keyboard shortcut. In contrast, jinnee's setting and preferences (which should rarely need to be changed) have been neatly tucked away. So jinnee looks and feels great, but how does it compare to other commercial and public domain alternatives? - I hear you cry! jinnee is undeniably and unashamedly a power-users desktop. As well as the standard desktop functions like; 'New', 'Open', 'Close', 'Delete' and 'Format', features that Atari users have come to expect from a replacement desktop are also present, including; desktop icons for files, folders and applications; view directories as either text or icons (in independent windows); fast file copy, delete, move and rename functions; sort directories by name, type, length and date; long filename support; optional colour or patterned desktop and window backgrounds; assignable icons for applications and file types; launch applications via the menu bar or by keyboard shortcut; Drag&Drop support; automatic window size handling and a recoverable wastebasket! But where most Atari desktops run out of puff, jinnee is merely warming up ;-) For example, jinnee also includes; spring folders, a hierarchical folder display as well as Kobold and GEMScript support. If these features are unfamiliar, allow me to elaborate. Spring folders Spring folders first appeared in the Mac OS v8 to an eagerly waiting public. What was all the fuss about? Well, imagine you want to move or copy some files from one directory to another. Rather than opening and closing multiple directories, wouldn't it be great if it could all be done in a single mouse-drag operation!? Of course it would. OK, it works likes this. Select the files/folders you wish to move/copy, then drag and hold them over a drive icon. After a pre-defined time (user-configurable), a new window is opened. Now drag and hold the selected files over a folder within the newly opened directory window. Repeat this step until you have reached the subdirectory you require (Tip: if you select the wrong folder, you can always use the parent icon!). Finally, release the mouse button to complete the operation. Don't worry about closing the opened windows as jinnee is smart enough to do this for you! Hierarchical folders The hierarchical folder display function allows the user to view a folders contents without opening the folder and moving directory levels. No really, it's true! When viewing a directory in text mode, each folder is preceded with a mini icon (which is of course user-definable). To view a folders contents, simply click once on the mini icon and the directory window expands to include the folders contents - smart eh? Kobold support Kobold is a lightning fast file copier which is also published by ASH and distributed in the UK by Atari Workshop. If you are fortunate enough to own Kobold, jinnee allows you to use its fast copy, move and delete routines instead of its own (which can potentially save you hours!). GEMScript support Until recently, this feature could not have been fully exploited by English speaking Atari users. This is because it has only been within the last few months that any scripting tools have been widely available (in English anyway). However, with the recent release of Scripter in the UK, all this looks set to change. Next month MyAtari will be conducting a full review of Scripter, so I won't go into too much detail here, but to whet your appetite... Scripter is a powerful scripting application that enables jinnee users to execute scripts to automate repetitive desktop tasks like deleting backup files (*.BAK) to the trash. Scripts can be written by hand using a text editor or created on-the-fly thanks to its powerful GEMScript recording function. To record a script, select the menu item 'GEMScript recording', type in a file name for the script and select 'Start'. jinnee will now record any desktop actions that you perform until you select 'Stop' ;-) More! - surely not? If you're still not convinced, what if I said jinnee also included over a dozen public domain utilities as well! Of the utilities supplied, my two favourites are 'Notepad', a utility that allows the use of 'Post it' style notes to be placed on the desktop and 'Desk Dropper', that provides a drop down menu of user-defined files/folders which can be accessed at any time (which is great time-saver when your desktop is covered by numerous windows and dialog boxes!). But (why does there always have to be a but?!), I believe there are two things that let jinnee v2.5 down. The first is the lack of an icon editor. While I appreciate that jinnee includes a selection of high quality icons (available in mono and colour), which should be more than adequate for most users, it does mean that a resource editor is required before any editing can take place. The second is that there remains a few inconsistencies between the manual and resource files. I imagine this is due to improvements being made after the manual was translated from German into English (not an easy task, well done guys!), but it isn't a big deal as up-to-date resource files are now available from Atari Workshop's web site thanks to DDP. So, is jinnee ultimately worth £29.95 of your hard earned cash!? To be completely honest - yes! On the other hand, users upgrading from jinnee v1.x have a harder decision to make as a great many of the features we have mentioned already exist in v1.x. However, by upgrading, users will benefit from the following features; support for access rights and executable bits; new 'Deselect folder' function; new GEMScript-commands to install, deinstall and interrogate programs be remote control; new 'Merge' menu entry as well as various bug fixes. All in all a worthwhile upgrade, and at only £15.00 what have you got to lose!? To conclude, having used a number of alternative desktops over the years (including EASE, KAOSdesk, MagXdesk and Thing), I consider jinnee 2.5 to be the best alternative desktop I have ever used! Download the demo from http://www.mani.de and you'll see what I mean.
Useful contacts Joachim Fornallaz (author of GEM Setup) URL: http://www.omnis.ch/jf/gemsetup.shtml E-mail: jfz@gmx.ch DDP (Translation crew) URL: http://www.cix.co.uk/~derryck/index.htm
Summary
Product | jinnee v2.5
Author | Manfred Lippert URL: http://www.mani.de E-mail: mani@mani.de
Publisher | Application System Heidelberg (ASH) Postfach 102646, 69016 Heidelberg, Germany URL: www.application-systems.de
English language distributor | Atari Workshop PO Box 3768, Bracknell, Berkshire, RG42 7YL, UK Telephone: +44 (0)1344 890 008 URL: www.atari-workshop.co.uk E-mail: sales@atari-workshop.co.uk
Requires | Any TOS compatible with... Minimum of 1MB memory Screen resolution of 640x200 (ST medium) or higher Hard drive and MagiC OS are strongly recommended!
Price | £29.95 Special introductory offer, or £89.95 bundled with MagiC v6 (Atari version)
Update Price | £15.00 from jinnee v1.x (please return master disks and manuals)
Pros | Feature packed! Excellent value for money Easy to install Intuitive to use Comprehensive ST-Guide and printed documentation included ;-)
Cons | Could appear overwhelming at first to novice users Inconsistencies between the manual and resource files Lack of icon editor
Score |
MyAtari magazine - Review #2, March 2001
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