Re: Very initial Emacs 21 observations

[Miles Bader]

Bill Wohler <address@hidden> writes:
>   How can one concentrate on one's writing with that blinking block
>   cursor? Please make the default non-blinking. The cursor is big
>   enough to be easily seen without the annoying blinking.

This is very much a matter of opinion.  In past arguments over whether
the default should be on or off, no real consensus was reached (at least
in those arguments I saw).

>   The icons in the buttons are pretty bad.  Perhaps one of the more
>   artistic of us could come up with some snazzy, sharp, color icons,
>   or better yet, steal some from an existing library like the Java one
>   at:
> 
>     http://developer.java.sun.com/developer/techDocs/hi/repository/

This again is matter of opinion.  I think the current emacs icons (which
are from gnome) are very, very good -- in particular, much better than
the ones I find at the web address you give above.

Morever, icons included in emacs must have their copyright assigned to
the FSF, which could be a significant hurdle in some cases.

I wonder, are you perhaps using the monochrome icons?  Those are much
worse than the colors ones (since they were produced automatically).

[Note -- when I say the emacs icons are good, I mean the standard icons;
 I think the icons for Gnus, by contrast, are pretty bad]

> Not that I can do better, but they are pretty fuzzy

For me they are very sharp and clear.  What sort of graphics
card/display are you using?

>   there isn't enough difference between their enabled and disabled
>   states to discern between them, until you pass the cursor over them
>   to get or not get a button.

I agree that the difference between enabled and disabled states is
not obvious enough; that's a bug.  The disabled state icon is produced
algorithmically from the normal icon, so perhaps it would be simple to
tweak this.

>   The toolbar and modeline look very nice. The scroll bar still looks
>   the same as it did in the 80s however.

You have to compile emacs with one of the various X toolkits to get
nicer scrollbars.  If you have them installed in a standard place, emacs
should detect them automatically.

I use xaw3d, which gives 3d-looking scrollbars (though it has several
maddening deficiencies, like drawing the scrollbar thumb and trough in
the *same* color [separated by a `3d' bevel]).

-Miles
-- 
Love is a snowmobile racing across the tundra.  Suddenly it flips over,
pinning you underneath.  At night the ice weasels come.  --Nietzsche