User interface

[medion]

It would be nice to have a better user interface, instead of the out of date one that is used now. Something online with office 2003.

Thanks.

Medion

[Robert]

Could you be more specific?

[medion]

Hi Robert, yes sorry.
A bit more colour perhaps. Like office 2003, which is quite pleasing to the eyes.

[Robert]

Hi Medion,
First, and by the way, MS Office 2003 is now “out of date”. It has been replaced by MS Office 2007 which has a completely new UI with lots of bells and whistles. And it seems, with more twisted bells and whistles than most people would wish.

Now, as can be seen at http://www.atlantiswordprocessor.com/en ... shot_1.htm, Atlantis displays with the colors of your current Windows Theme. Atlantis is as “colorful” as the Windows Theme will allow. What's more, you can change the colors used for the Atlantis document window if you change or customize its Color Scheme (use the “Colors” tab in the “Tools | Options…” dialog).

Hope that helps.
Cheers,
Robert

[Inky960]

I for one LOVE the Atlantis interface. *Please* don't screw it up the way Microsoft screwed up Office (not that I'd use Microsoft, but...). It's a sad fact that, now and then, almost all Windows users are going to be using MS Word, and I tell ya, if what they did to Word (all those "ribbons," etc.) is an improvement, well SHEESH!

Happy with Atlantis,

LW

[medion]

Hi Robert, yes sorry.
A bit more colour perhaps. Like office 2003, which is quite pleasing to the eyes.

[medion]

Which one is more pleasing to the eyes???

Medion.

[admin]

Well, it is a question of personal taste. I do not want to say that something is wrong with the GUI of MS Word 2003. But some find such "color rich" GUI distracting (especially in a word processor). Some feel it is childish. After all, "having more colors" does not necessarily mean a better software. "Windows Vista vs. Windows XP" is a good example. So it is a question of personal preference. Yes, some like the GUI of MS Word 2003. But some do not. Especially since Microsoft seems to have a habit of changing the GUI of MS Word radically with each new version.

[filmchick]

Speaking of GUI, a brief note: Would there be a way to make the control board color adjustable? I'd like to use it in a muted colorset (ie, beige paper) to avoid eyestrain, but unfortunately the only option I have is the harsh bright white default, which renders it jarring-to-the-point-of-unusable in either a muted colorset or in a white text/black background colorset.

Thanks in advance!

[Andremusic]

I was actually thinking the same some days ago. Will Atlantis change design when it reaches the 2.0 version?

But like others said, don't go the Word route. I saw the 2010 office and really wonder who can enjoy such a monster. What do you really need in a word processor?

For now, I am very happy the way Atlantis is, so why change it.

André

[Robert]

Speaking of GUI, a brief note: Would there be a way to make the control board color adjustable? I'd like to use it in a muted colorset (ie, beige paper) to avoid eyestrain, but unfortunately the only option I have is the harsh bright white default, which renders it jarring-to-the-point-of-unusable in either a muted colorset or in a white text/black background colorset. Thanks in advance!

Hi ,
If you right-click on an empty space of your Windows Desktop, you’ll get a pop-up with “Properties” as a menu item. You can use it to change the overall display properties of your Windows system. The “Advanced” button will allow you to change the color of the “Window(s)” under Windows. If, for example, you choose an off-white color instead of the standard white, Atlantis will display both its document window and its Control Board background with the off-white color you selected as a Windows color. Note that in Atlantis the “Page background” item in the “Tools | Options… > Colors” dialog should be set to “System Color”.
HTH.
Cheers,
Robert

[filmchick]

Robert: Helps well for a quick fix; thank you.

In future (for admin et al.), I'd like it to be independently adjustable of the Windows environment, especially since I don't think it's a difficult thing to make adjustable -- it would be nice if it would switch back and forth in accordance with the background color for the paper that I've chosen in the color options of Atlantis (ie, if it would become white-on-black with a white-on-black theme, or dark-on-beige with a dark-on-beige theme).

But for the time being, the fix works, so thank you again!

[admin]

Individual dialogs, windows, and panels in Atlantis could not and should not have independent color settings. The GUI components in Atlantis work in a consistent way. They look according to your display settings and the current Windows theme. In this way the GUI of Atlantis integrates into the Windows GUI in the best possible way. By adjusting the display settings of your Windows, you can control the look of various elements of Atlantis GUI. This is how any properly implemented Windows application is supposed to work.

A few more words about the Control Board. There is no such thing as a "background color of Control Board". The Control Board is a set of different panels and toolbars. They all display according to your system settings except the rich-formatted previews. The WYSIWYG previews in the Styles, Lists, Format Palette, and Clip Library panels of the Control Board use the corresponding colors from the color settings of the Atlantis document window (the "Tools | Options... > Colors" tab).