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Wheels 128 - GUI Driving Power
by Bruce Thomas

I'll admit right here and now that I have not been a regular user of GEOS 128. I've owned a 128D for 4 years now and got GEOS 128 V2.0 shortly after getting the machine. Of course, I liked the 80 column display but some programs only ran in 40 column mode. Occasionally I would use programs such as GEOINVADERS that only ran on the 128 but mainly I stuck with GEOS 64.

A big reason for this was the fact that I owned a TurboMaster Accelerator that propelled GEOS 64 at 4 MHz - up to four times as fast as the 128 could go. Considering that I work with geoPublish a lot, a 40 column program, the speed increase (very important when using a Graphical User Interface - GUI) far outweighed any advantages that GEOS 128 offered. Once I could run my 64 at 20 MHz the 128 didn't stand a chance.

With the release of Wheels 128 Maurice Randall has brought the 128 up to speed, so to speak, as far as hardware handling in a GUI is concerned. Not only does the new system provide full access to all of our hardware it is also a unique time machine offering a glimpse into the future for Wheels 64 owners. While this article will deal with what is new in Wheels 128 V4.1 all of these new features will show up in the V4.1 release of Wheels 64 so read on.

Kick the Tires

Numerous improvements are immediately apparent in Wheels 128. As you give it this first look over keep in mind that GEOS V2.0 is no longer a requirement. You can upgrade to Wheels 128 from GEOS 128 V1.4 if you want to but V2.0 comes with vastly improved major applications so you should have it to get the most GUI satisfaction.

This package arrived with a new, unified 56 page manual (plus index and appendix) that covers both Wheels 64 and Wheels 128 in an easy to read 2 column format. Differences between the systems are noted where appropriate.

Start your Engine

Wheels 128 is a self-contained system. This means that the disk you receive is now bootable and will become your original Wheels 128 Master Disk. Your original GEOS disk is requested at the appropriate time to register the serial number only.

The install process is straight-forward and simple. Since you are booting Wheels, all of your RAM and hardware can be plugged in and active. A very thorough 4-page installation guide takes you through the entire process. Inspired, I am sure, by the infamous GEOS 128 install process it is possible to write-protect your disk and do a practice install.

As Wheels boots for the first time you must enter the type of system RAM to use, the input driver to install, the clock source to use, your name and your original GEOS disk when required. The Wheels disk comes as either a 1581 or 1541 disk with prompts for sides 1 and 2 during the 1541 install. The final part of the install tells you to write-protect this original disk.

After your install has successfully completed you should run MakeSysDisk to create backup Master and Boot disks. Again, the system works smoothly and is as fool-proof as it can be. After creating a Boot disk, copy at least one input driver and printer driver to it before use. Without an input driver the system defaults to a 1351 mouse driver in port 1; we'll talk about printer drivers later.

The first time you boot with your newly created disk the experience will be similar to the initial install. This time, however, the default hardware information (RAM, Input Driver, Printer, Clock) will be saved to your disk. The dialog boxes for these items will only show up again if you change your RAM hardware, create a new boot disk or use a special key combination during bootup.

Things that make you go

The ToolBox is run invisibly during the boot process to install the proper drivers for the devices on your system. The dialog boxes where you set the type of RAM, boot settings, input and printer drivers, and clock source are part of the Toolbox. One new boot choice is the port (1 or 2) you wish to use your mouse device in - slick!

When you run the ToolBox from the Dashboard a user interface appears showing the drives currently installed and running on your system. Drives A - D are listed in separate boxes containing the device, the type of driver in use and even the active partition number if appropriate. By clicking on one of the four boxes in the top half of the screen (Current Config) it is possible to add or remove drives, format and validate disks and change partitions. An option to SAVE the chosen device to the bootup configuration is also available.

This application also offers options for SuperCPU optimization plus a complete breakdown of your RAM usage and is a more than capable replacement for the myriad of Configure files that were necessary to run our hardware under GEOS.

Polish the Chrome

The DetailShop is where you can customize your Wheels by editing icons and mouse pointers. It is also here that screen, application and system colors can be set for both 40 and 80 column modes (80 column color works here whether you have 64K VDC RAM or only 16K). The background pattern is adjustable and you can even tweak your mouse performance.

Have you tried any of the GEOS ScreenSavers? Some of them are pretty cool with fancy wipes and fadeout effects. Some of them are auto-execs and some allow you to control the time delay. Most of them don't work.

The ScreenSaver in Wheels, also found in the DetailShop, leaves all of the rest in its dust. No, it doesn't wipe or fade or dribble down your screen. What it does do is perform.

Options let you choose the time delay and also the deactivation method. This is the best feature. My mouse, and a lot of others I presume, causes the pointer to jump a bit on the screen if it isn't sitting properly. The Wheels ScreenSaver ignores the mouse jitters (the downfall of other screensavers) and blanks the screen anyway. A keypress or mouse button push brings back your screen display. To me, the fact that it always works makes up for the lack of frills.

No Fuzzy Dice, Please

This Dashboard is clean. The screen looks identical in 40 and 80 column modes except for the menu/clock font, the mouse pointer and the lack of color in 80 column mode if you only have 16K Video RAM. The drive icons are lined up on the left side. A printer icon may appear in the lower right corner. The clock and menu appear across the top. All in all there is a nicely balanced look to the Dashboard but the icons can be placed wherever the user wants.

The initial Dashboard screen opens with no drive windows visible. Once you double-click on a drive icon you will be presented with a lot of information about that disk.

The drive letter, disk name and KBytes Free appear across the top of the window. A fuel gauge down the left side provides a graphical representation of the used/free space. A scrollbar and two control arrows adorn the right side of the window providing a quick method to move through the directory plus a graphical view of the number of files on the disk. A box in the upper left is used to close the window while one in the lower right is used to resize the window.

Color is used to indicate active windows as well as different types of windows. Since 80 column color is only fully supported on 128's with 64KB of Video RAM a few other indicators have been added. The top left Close box is filled solid if the window contains a main directory (default color Cyan). If the window contains a System Directory (more on that later - default color Red) the top left box will be hollow. It is possible to have up to 16 windows open at once so a thin line appears below the Close box to indicate the active window.

A great new feature of the Dashboard is the ability to swap drives. While it is possible to work from Drive C or D with our present applications we can't use all four drives. If you find you absolutely must have your D drive moved to the B drive position you can do that. Pick up a ghost of D and drop it on the B drive icon the same way we have always swapped drives in GEOS. A dialog box will ask if you want to copy the drive or swap the positions. Simple.

A new twist has been added to the Wheels swap. As an example it is possible to boot Wheels with only devices 8 and 11 active and they will come up as Drives A and D. If you want only a 2 drive system you will need to have them as A and B. Click on Drive D and then choose the SWAP option under the DISK menu. A Dialog box will allow you to choose which drive to swap with - even one that doesn't exist (like B in this case). Swapping drives automatically adjusts any open windows for that drive also.

Under the Wheels menu there is a Desk Accessory (D.A.) option. After choosing this item a dialog box opens that allows you to run a D.A. from any drive on your system (and don't forget the DA Color setting under the Option menu). As with any such dialog box in Wheels, when you see a DISK icon while accessing a partitionable device, you can access other partitions as well. This feature is really nice while working within the DashBoard environment; what we need now is an actual D.A. version so we can use it in our applications (Jim Collette's DA Runner only supports 3 drives and seemed to have difficulties with the new DISK icon).

Cruise Control

The System Directory (sysdir) mentioned earlier is a very handy item. In GEOS it was possible to move file icons off the desktop notepad into the lower border area. The Wheels sysdir is like the border area on steroids.

The sysdir can hold far more than the 8 files the border area could. Any files stored in the sysdir are considered to be a part of the root directory of the drive and, if you use native partitions, any subdirectories that are linked to the root sysdir. Each subdir can also be configured to use its own sysdir instead of the root sysdir but any directory can be linked to only one sysdir. It is easier than it sounds.

The sysdir allows you to save a lot of disk space. By placing the Applications, Fonts and Desk Accessories that you want to use for a project into the sysdir you can access the same files from any directory linked to that sysdir. This lets you organize multiple projects neatly in individual subdirectories while only requiring one copy of the application.

You can also save space on your boot disk as Wheels eliminates the need for many of the auto-execs we depended on for things like the screensaver and setting the time. One other retiree is CENTER 80. The GEOS 128 screen wasn't properly centered vertically on the screen without this file on your boot disk whereas Wheels handles the screen properly.

Do you want an easy shortcut to geoWrite or any other application? The inclusion of the geoShell item under the Wheels menu may seem frivolous if you don't own geoShell but it can be used to your advantage. By renaming your favorite application "geoSHELL" it will be found and loaded from anywhere on your system by choosing this menu option.

The addition of the Printer Icon is a welcome touch. Not only does this display the name of the driver presently installed it also provides an easy method to change printer drivers. By double-clicking on the icon a Dialog box comes up listing all printer drivers on the current disk. Since the printer driver is kept in memory at all times it is possible to select one from any active storage device using the Drive and/or Disk buttons.

SpeedBumps

Not all of the software I tried with Wheels 128 worked. Two programs that definitely did not were MahJongVDC and VDC Solitaire. While the 40 column color versions run as expected these two modified editions do not. Other 80 column color games like GeoInvaders and Decode! worked fine.

GeoLogger, one of my favorite cataloging programs, has trouble but that is understandable. All of the new drive types that are available under Wheels did not exist when geoLogger was written.

Wheels is a point and click interface but we also have numerous keyboard shortcuts. Unfortunately my favorite GEOS 128 shortcuts, accessing the menus with the cursor keys, aren't here. If you learn the shortcuts you can get things done quicker (with no trash can at least remember C= E to Erase files) but you may find you are always forced back to your mouse/joystick at some point. Using shortcuts I can change the active drive and summon the Dialog Box to change partitions but I can't choose the partition I want from the keyboard.

While I like the fact that I can change my current printer driver by double-clicking on the icon I'm not totally thrilled with the process of setting a default. During the initial boot process the presence of a printer driver will cause a dialog box to prompt you to set this as the default. Answering Yes will do that. Answering No will cycle to the next driver with the same prompt. Your third choice is Cancel and I suggest you choose it (press 'C').

By cancelling the installation of a default printer driver your Wheels system acts more like GEOS. Changing printer drivers is then as easy as making the new one the first driver on the disk and it will install the next time you boot Wheels. The Set Printer option under the Dashboard Wheels menu only changes the driver used during the current session. To change a default printer driver (if you answered Yes above) you must enter the ToolBox by holding the Commodore key and Left Shift key while booting Wheels.

Another minor inconvenience involves resizing a drive Window. It is possible to set the window size so that the top icons are visible but only a portion of the bottom icons show up (i.e. - you have 14 files on the disk and resize to show three rows of four icons and the tops of the last two icons). In a situation like this the down arrow will not scroll the window to make the bottom two icons completely visible. Click in the space above the arrows but below the scrollbar and the window will move down. After scrolling back to the top of the directory the Down arrow will work fine.

No Horizontal scroll arrows are present so if you make the window narrower you won't see all of the files. In this case it is best to choose Text mode for that window and you will see the names of all of the files along its left edge.

These are minor problems and most have easy ways to get around them. They will only be an irritant if you don't use all of the tools the system provides. Besides, no set of Wheels is totally perfect for everybody.

Dependable Service

Maurice guarantees 100% installation satisfaction including a free Wheels disk replacement within 30 days no matter what happens to corrupt your original disk. Another indication of his commitment to this software is the fact that some people, after receiving his first shipment of Wheels 128, had serial number problems. As soon as he heard of this he created a patch and sent it out to those whose disks had already been shipped. I received the patch via e-mail 5 days before the snail brought my Wheels 128 disk.

The arrival of the Wheels 128 system is an important move forward for lovers of GEOS 128. Even casual users like myself (although that has now changed) will appreciate the speed and freedom that we now have. If you are serious about driving your Commodore you will find these Wheels are essential when things get GUI.