Breadbox Ensemble

[nymetropolitans]

Anybody have experience with this product? I was shocked to find out the PC-GEOS "operating system" is still kicking out there. The screen shot from Wikipedia looks fantastic...check it out:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e5/BBENS412.png
GEOS (16-bit operating system) - Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GEOS_%2816-bit_operating_system%29)

When I had my Tandy 286 I always wanted to try this out, as Windows 3.1 never worked out for me, but could never locate a copy of GeoWorks. I downloaded the "Ensemble Lite" demo from the Breadbox site and ran it in DOSbox and it seems to be a great, feature packed UI that unfortunately nothing will ever be developed for -- much like past GEOS incarnations.

One puzzling fact about Ensemble, however, is that it no longer will run on anything less than a 386. It seems to me like that is cutting out a large portion of their potential clientèle. Most people who have a 386+ are going to want to run Windows at the very least for compatibility's sake. Apparently the NewDeal Office software (which Ensemble replaced) did run on everything down to XTs and isn't that much older, don't know how available it is anymore though...

Welcome to Breadbox (http://www.breadbox.com/ensemble/geocats.asp?category=Ease-of-Use)

[carlsson]

Please consider that the screenshot belongs to a Breadbox 4.X release from 2001 or later. While there still are enthusiasts like us who sit with e.g. 8088 and 286 computers, I can kind of understand the decision not to keep supporting it as those older CPUs are relatively different in terms of compiler support, memory management and so on.

As a side comment: where would the world have been if it wasn't for Microsoft's Win32 GUI? So many "knock-offs" reimplement the GUI almost verbatim, that if someone has reasons to sue for look and feel, it is no longer Apple who are in charge.

[vwestlife]

Please consider that the screenshot belongs to a Breadbox 4.X release from 2001 or later. While there still are enthusiasts like us who sit with e.g. 8088 and 286 computers, I can kind of understand the decision not to keep supporting it as those older CPUs are relatively different in terms of compiler support, memory management and so on.
By having a 386 as a minimum requirement, though, GEOS (or whatever they call the latest version) puts itself in direct competition with Windows 3.1x, which has a much more familiar user interface, much more proven compatibility, and a much larger library of existing software.

As a side comment: where would the world have been if it wasn't for Microsoft's Win32 GUI? So many "knock-offs" reimplement the GUI almost verbatim, that if someone has reasons to sue for look and feel, it is no longer Apple who are in charge.
Like it or not, the "Start menu" changed the way people interact with their computer, and despite many cosmetic updates, it is still the foundation of the way people use Microsoft's latest OS today (Vista). Thus, other PC GUIs are wise to imitate it. And it's no different than how many GUIs of the mid- to late '80s tried to imitate the Macintosh look and feel (GEM and Windows being notable examples, both sued by Apple for being too Mac-like). Even today, GUIs are still copying the sleek, highly refined visual appearance pioneered by Mac OS X.