Falcon Desktop Screen Shots
                       40-column mode
 
Several weeks ago, a sysop friend asked me to capture my 
Falcon desktop and upload it for the enjoyment of all.  No 
problem, I thought, and I asked Bill Rehbock's permission to 
make these shots available.  Bill provided me with a nifty 
Falcon-compatible screen-grabber, and I set about the task.
 
The nifty screen-grabber would save out in certain formats, 
and I could view some of these on my ST and STe -- but not 
very well.  I don't know why, but I was hell-bent on taking 
the shots in true-color mode.  This is silly at this stage; 
the desktop still limited to 16 colors because no icon editor 
yet supports true-color modes.  (I understand such editors 
are in the works, however.)  Thanks to Bill, I finally 
realized that a current Falcon desktop in true-color mode is 
identical to a current Falcon desktop in 16-color mode, and 
have, therefore, provided snapshots of the Falcon's desktop 
in 16-color 40-column resolution, which looks mightily like 
low resolution on the ST.  And when you show these pictures 
on your color ST, it will look _just_ like my Falcon's 
desktop in true-color 40-column mode.  Trust me on that. ;-)
 
This is not to say that _every_ Falcon's desktop looks like 
mine.  Those not familiar with more recent developments in 
the ST world may not realize that the Falcon's desktop can be 
customized in all sorts of ways.  You can modify the palette 
to excess, you can change the colors and patterns of each 
section of each window (including the background behind the 
filenames), you can assign built-in icons to specific 
filenames, and, with the help of an icon editor, you can 
design your own window and desktop icons.  Some of these 
modifications are available to all ST and/or STe users, some 
only to owners of recent TOS versions, and some only to 
Falcon owners.  If you don't have XCONTROL from Atari, get 
it!  I've had all sorts of fun messing up my desktop on my 
STs and my Falcon.
 
I didn't succeed in catching any "movement" shots, but I'm 
still trying.  The Falcon's windows and "buttons" have a 3-D 
effect, such that when you drag a scroll bar, for example, it 
seems as though you are picking up a box rather than a flat 
rectangle.  None of these shots shows that well, so I'm 
working on it.
 
The snapshots included in this archive are in Lexicor's Prism 
Paint format and can be viewed with a variety of picture 
viewers.  I recommend, for its simplicity, PNTVIEW from 
Lexicor.  I have taken care that these files can be be viewed 
on any ST in low resolution.
 
A few notes:
 
MultiTOS was not installed during the screen capturing.
 
I could have taken the same shots in 80-column mode, which 
resembles (but is not identical to) medium resolution on the 
ST.  I didn't, because medium resolution doesn't on the ST 
doesn't support enough colors to allow viewing an identical 
screen.
 
I used only built-in icons.
 
A key to the files:
 
40_DSKTP.PNT -- The basic desktop with filenames in the 
     directory window.
40_ICONS.PNT -- The basic desktop with icons in the directory 
     window.
SETCOLOR.PNT -- The View menu.
SETVIDEO.PNT -- Selected from the Options menu, this dialog 
     allows you to change resolutions.
SET_MASK.PNT -- The File menu.
SAM.PNT      -- The System Audio Manager dialog; this memory-
     resident accessory allows the user to link digitized 
     sounds to system events.  When my computer boots up, I 
     hear "Ta-da!", a squealing "Whee!" replaces the system
     bell, etc.
 
I hope you enjoy this peek at the future! -- D.A. Brumleve