follow focus in mas osX
 

The default? behaviour in X is follow focus. Does mac osX support follow focus mode ??

Does X running ontop of osX support it ?




JonB

no. yes.

noooooo :(
I cant live without follow focus mode.

Cant i pay someone and get a util that allows
osX to do follow focus mode ?




JonB

No, from what I've read it just not doable. Apple's code doesn't even allow the possiblity.

DAMN!
 

stupid apple to make it like that.
follow focus is GREAT, and i think it is much more
intuitive, "you type where the mouse pointer is"

what about those virtual desktops that X has, does osX have those ?




JonB

Follow focus sucks ass. I'm happy Apple didn't do that with OS X.

There are some multiple desktop add ons from third parties though. None of the free ones have I have tried has been a real hit though. IMHO.

Here, here.

Follow focus eats a big one.

"Oh, crap, my optical mouse just jumped, and my windows went insane!"

"Dammit, this trackpad is hard to--what's going on?!?"

I don't want the OS doing something without me specifically saying, "Hey, Gomer, do this." Merely moving a cursor over something doesn't count as that.


-/-
Mikey-San

Dear /PEZ and Mikey-San you guys dont need to post in my threads ever again.
I didnt ask for your opinion about follow focus or not. I asked if osX can do it. I asked because i like follow focus.
Please take your flame's somewhere else.


For all others: You are welcome to post, just notice i didnt ask about opinions, i asked if osX can do it or not, and later on if i can get virtuel desktops. I dont care if you dont like either teknology, i do, and i'm the one going to use it.




JonB

Re: DAMN!
 

Sure doesn't look like a question to me. It more resembles ... uhmm ... yes! An opinion.

Sorry for not obeying when being told not to post in your threads again. :)

Re: Re: DAMN!
 

Well, if you take a look at my original posting, it is a question.

"The default? behaviour in X is follow focus. Does mac osX support follow focus mode ??
Does X running ontop of osX support it ?"


Later i did state my opinion, but the first post states a question, and then this thread is a question.




JonB

hahah aha hha h ahaha 5 posts and he is already bossing people around.

Dude, follow focus means you have to move your mouse over the window.... so why dont you take that extra ****ing milliscond and click.

As said before, follow focus sucks ass.

and yes, X windows will do it.

and yes, mac OS X can ahve virtual windows... goto versiontracker.com and look up the software. I forget what its called, but you can search by "virtual" in the Mac OS X section and probably find it.

this is not your thread.

this is a public forum.

we welcome differing opinions, rather than stomp on them.

your post needs no clarification.

i started the thread, then it is "mine".

Anyway, i am still posting because it might be that someone knows of a utility that can do what i want, and then i asked if i can get virtual desktops.




JonB

3 posts up ..... has your virtual desktop answer

Thanks :)



JonB

It would be a real good thing not to have flame-fests here, cuz that makes me real cranky. Have a grown-up conversation about features, or lack thereof, OK?

This goes for all of you, including Merv and ponyhest.

Am I being blunt enough? If this continues, the thread gets locked.


Thanks -- da management.

You wont, i just dont like people telling me weather or not follow focus is worthwhile. It is worthwhile to me!, thats why i asked.



JonB

Have you sent feedback to Apple asking for this feature?

I think it's unlikely to happen since Apple is trying to gear things towards Mac/Win users and not X11 people, but it couldn't hurt to ask.

I'm still waiting to see if XFree becomes part of the standard Darwin distribution.

But you started it by stating that it was stupid not to have it in Aqua. It called, begged, screamed for an answer. I think it's outrageous of you to claim ownership of the thread just because you started it. You must start your own forum for that. Why would you take offence by me stating my opinion about follow focus? That's beyond me.

No, i guess i should do that. I still dont know if i'm going to buy an apple, because i really really like follow focus. I guess i can run X on osX, but i havent tried it, so i dont know how good that is.

To my knowledge you can get this behaviour in windows by 3.party utilities, but i might be wrong, as i dont use windows either.

I dont think XFree will be included into Darwin, because X has quite a different look and feel than osX does, and i think apple likes to have a tight controll. Besides, if they included X, then application programmers might start to make X applications for osX, and not Carbon/Cocoa.


JonB

Timeline:

Post 1) Q: can it be done?

Post 2) A: no

Post 3) question is repeated

Post 4) answer repeated

Post 5) original poster opens up the conversation to opinion.

Nuff said.

I still think it is stupid apple didnt give people the choice.
I toke offence because of the words you used about a feature i like very much.



JonB

ponyhest,

Yes, you started this thread, but let's make it clear:

Nobody owns it.

So, let's "focus", as anybody can state his opinion as long as he is not abusing others.

What I learned from what you said is: you don't even own a mac and you are already angry with apple:
I would say your love affair with Macintosh started in the wrong foot.

Maybe, it would be better that you consider to stay where you are right now. As there you can enjoy 'follow focus'.


Cheers...

Well, maybe i should just buy a PC. The point is i think apple makes some nice hardware, and i would like to have that hardware. And since osX is made for the hardware, i might as well run osX as it would properly support the features better.

So, i wondered if i could get the mouse feature i liked. I guess i cant. So i guess i'll have to write to apple and suggest they make it.




JonB

Sao: I agree with you 100%. :cool:

I'd encourage people to take a brief refresher course on the terms you agreed to when you joined here.

I may or may not 'own' a thread, but I'll sure manage them if I need to.

Like Craig said, it couldn't hurt to ask.

BTW, you can still own a Mac and enjoy 'follow focus' if you install XFree86 and use fullscreen mode in X11. And switch between systems easily.

Yes, and Apple makes nice hardware and some nice sofware too, you will be impressed with iDVD, iTunes, iMovie, iPhoto, etc.

Good luck.


Cheers...

PS: But, please whatever you do, don't buy a PC. You will have to live with that decision for the rest of your life.

hmm, i guess i should ask a dealer to demonstrate X running ontop of osX, i'm just afraid that if i try it, i leave the store with an iBook ;-D

Yes, the iTools are kind of nice, i've seen them demonstrated, and they make good use of the hardware, thats another reason i'm considering it.



JonB
ps: :-) nice ps

Check out CodeTek VirtualDesktop. I haven't tried it but it lists "Focus follows mouse support" in the "What's new in this version" list.

Erik

Oh man you're the best :) This seems to do exactly what i want. So it seems osX has support for follow focus after all. Though through a 3. party add on, which i have to pay for :/ (i'm from linux, and thus not used to pay for software). I guess i can now safely buy a iBook, and just add those 20$ to the
price, and i've got what i want :) :) :)



JonB
ps: it's because of posts like Erik that i'm still sticking arround

The functionality provided by VirtualDesktop isn't true focus follows mouse. Front window follows mouse is a popular branch of the original sloppy cursor control, but it's not quite the original thing.

Back when I started the original thread, the focus follows mouse support I was talking about was specifically the focus, not the window ordering. If a large window was in front and overlapped a smaller window in the background, you could move the mouse over the smaller window and it was get focus but it wouldn't come to the foreground.

...

what do you mean by "front window follows mouse" and "sloppy coursor control"?

I was talking just about focus too, not raising or lowering of windows.



JonB

The VirtualDesktop utility just raises a window if the mouse is over it. That isn't focus follows mouse (aka: sloppy cursor control). In true focus follows mouse control, if you place the mouse over a window, it won't come to the foreground, it will just get focus.

Okay, but the raised window does get focus, right ??
I could live with that, because i rarely have my windows overlap anyway.



JonB

I don't even know what this thread is about, but Focus Layer X apeared on macupdate today...

You may now resume the flame fest.

Program: Mousigator 0.5.5
Licence: Shareare

Description: Mousigator is a system extension that implements cursor focusing for the MacOS. Cursor focusing is activating a window, bringing it to the front, by just moving the cursor over the window; you don't have to click in it. This can be useful to help reduce those mouse-induced stress injuries.

NOTE: Only runs on OS9

Website
http://www.shack.org/zzhumphreyt/mousigator

MacUpdate
http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/1989

Mousigator :)
 

i hope they port it to OSX


JonB

Codetek VirtualDesktop 2.0 offers this option.

It works like a charm.

DahDee

cooool :)
 

thanks for telling me :)