This Old Workbench Episode Eleven

A New Face for an Old Friend

Since beginning in "This Old Workbench", I have covered many programs which were designed to complement the Amiga's Workbench. Well, here are two programs aiming to replace the Amiga's Workbench entirely: Directory Opus Magellan, and MBench.

Directory Opus Magellan

Directory Opus (DOpus), from GP Software, has a long and storied history with the Amiga. Starting out as a file manager, each new version brought enhanced power and flexibility, and pleased long time users and newbies alike. When version 5 of DOpus shipped, however, the happy family of users was divided. People, it seemed, either loved it, passionately, or they hated it, passionately.

DOpus 5 was no mere upgrade, but rather a complete redesign, with a completely different look and feel. Moving beyond the two window, source and destination, file manager paradigm, DOpus became a complete Icon and Window GUI system in it's own right. DOpus managed to not only mimic the Amiga's own Workbench, it could actually be used to replace it. With additional features like multi-threaded operations (copying a file from one window to another won't lock everything up until the copying is done), enhanced "show as text" display of files, and the powerful and flexible file operations carried over from earlier versions, many users have indeed replaced their long suffering "loadwb" command with the DOpus version. Others, to be sure, found the new DOpus so monumentally different from what they were used to, and what they expected, not to mention consuming much larger amounts of hard drive and ram, as to be unusable.

A full review of Directory Opus Magellan (here after referred to as Magellan) I will leave to more capable and experienced hands than myself. Since Magellan can act as a replacement Workbench, and particularly since some long standing behavioral problems in that regard have been addressed, it now is fair game for "This Old Workbench." A full review of Directory Opus Magellan (here after referred to as Magellan) I will leave to more capable and experienced hands than myself. Since Magellan can act as a replacement Workbench, and particularly since some long standing behavioral problems in that regard have been addressed, it now is fair game for "This Old Workbench."

The Magellan Workbench Replacment

Figure 1: Magellan's Workbench Replacement

Figure 2: Magellan Display Mode Settings

Replacing your Amiga's venerable Workbench is not a task to be taken lightly, however. After all, as GUIs go, the Workbench has quite a lot to offer, so why fix something that isn't broken? Of course, Magellan can work in conjunction with the Workbench, for those who want their Workbench unsullied. See Figure 2 and 3 for Magellan Workbench Emulation and Display settings.

Figure 3:Magellan WB Emulation Settings

One of Magellan's biggest improvements is in the area of multitasking. As stated earlier, drag a file from one Workbench window to another, and you must wait until that operation is finished before you can use the Workbench for anything else. Magellan avoids this problem by using "threads." Simply put, copying a file from one window to another can be thought of as a thread. Want to copy another file? Use another thread. Multiple operations can proceed at the same time. It's simply a more flexible form of multitasking. See Figure 4 for this ability in action.

Figure 4:Copy files in multiple windows

Another major improvement is in dealing with files. Version 3 of the Amiga's OS introduced the Datatype system. This flexible system allowed programmers to add support for multiple formats without constantly having to revise their main program. A datatypes capable paint program can load in that new picture format just as soon as a datatype is available for it, without needing an upgrade at all. Datatypes are quite powerful, but the Workbench is somewhat lacking in utilizing them. Insert that PC CDROM of scenery images, and double click on a picture. What happens? Not much. Unless the picture has an icon with the proper tooltype, such as Multiview, the Amiga doesn't know what to do with the file, even though it has a datatype for it. While there are several programs to handle this for the Workbench, Magellan is far more flexible and powerful in this regard. Once you have Magellan configured, you can view pictures, unpack archives, play sound files and mods, in short, deal with virtually any type of file. Configuring these filetypes can be a real pain, but once done, Magellan is a joy to use. Happily, Magellan has help available at the press of a key, and Aminet has sample settings (in the BIZ/DOPUS dir) you can download. Also, be sure and check their website for addition info, bug reports, and upgrades. See Figure 5 for Magellan File Types Editor.

Figure 5:Magellan's Filetype Editor

MBench v1.0

Figure 6:MBench Workbench Replacement

Figure 7:MBench Prefs and Enhancments

Figure 8:Copy Files in Multiple Windows

Well, there you have it. Both Magellan and MBench offer a replacement Workbench, improved multitasking, and many other features, while maintaining high compatibility with the Amiga's Workbench. Magellan, harkening back to it's roots as a directory utility, has far more extensive file operations, and is a more polished presentation, but MBench is less expensive, and uses less system resources. If you find the Amiga's Workbench needs a boost, or if you're just an adventurous soul who likes the cutting edge, you just might try one or the other.

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