[chasg]

Hi All,

My apologies if this is a FAQ, but it's something that's been bothering me since I first got OS 9 and I haven't actually seen mention of this.

I use the application palette, but something about it doesn't work the way I think it should.

When I'm in an application (doesn't matter which), instead of that application's button being "down" in the application palette, it's not uncommon for some other application's button to be down (and I can't therefore click on that button to actually go to that application).

A second thing, and I no longer know if this is my imagination...when command-tabbing from app to app, I seem to remember a little box popping up in the middle of my screen, with a list of the running apps. I could command-tab through them, and only when I let go fo the command key would I go to an app.

Now, I command-tab and the computer actually switches from app to app with each press of the tab key.

I thought that a vanilla install would help wtih both problems, so when I got my Pismo/400 I tried command-tabbing around before any modifications to the system or installing any software. Same behaviours??

I've checked this out on a ton of different machines (my Dad's beige G3 used to have the useful little command-tab menu in the middle of the screen, but now doesn't).

So, any suggestions anyone?

Chas

[wlonh]

delete the AppSwitcher Preferences file and restart and rebuild the desktop, use TechTool 1.2.1 freeware available HERE to rebuild the desktop

[This message has been edited by wlonh (edited 08-20-2000).]

[chasg]

Hey wlonh, thanks for the suggestion.

Unfortunately, I'd already done these two things, and no joy (and just to make sure, I did it again :-). Can you settle something for me? Can you tell me if you get the little tab-command menu in the middle of the screen? (I'm wondering if perhaps I only saw this due to some cdev installed sometime).

Any other suggestions? Anyone? Bueller? :-)

[wlonh]

i doubt this settles it for you: i have never gotten the thing you mention in the middle of any of my Macs screens, have never seen that on any Mac, and i am not exactly sure what you mean, except that i am very sure i have never seen that behavior...

ApplWindows is (imo) a much better way to switch between apps and though it is old, it is free and works flawlessly on my Macs (all running 9.04 and i have both OldWorldROM and NewWorldROM Macs) download HERE and pay close attention to the 'HOTSPOT' feature in the ApplWindows control panel...

and from an Apple TIL article about NewWorldROM: http://til.info.apple.com/techinfo.nsf/artnum/n58342

"ROM-in-RAM
Hardware-specific code resides in firmware (ROM) that fits into one ROM called the boot ROM. The boot ROM includes the code and tables needed to start up the computer, load an operating system, and provide common hardware access services.
All higher-level software resides in what has been historically known as the Mac OS ROM, but with much of the old hardware-specific code moved into the boot ROM. As before, the Mac OS ROM can still be augmented by enablers, the System file, and extensions.
Prior to the iMac, all Macintosh computers required a ROM component that contained many components of the Mac OS software. The ROM-in-RAM approach sidesteps this requirement by copying an image of the Mac OS ROM into RAM before the Mac OS begins operation. Once the Mac OS begins operation, a Mac OS ROM image in RAM and an actual Mac OS ROM behave in the same way. No new or different software interfaces are directly accessible from the Mac OS. During the boot process, software contained in the Mac OS ROM file communicates with Open Firmware to collect information about the hardware, using the Open Firmware Client Interface.
Performance
Performance of a PowerBook computer using ROM-in-RAM should exceed performance measurements for other Macintosh computers with comparable microprocessors and speeds due to the improved interrupt handling with the ROM-in-RAM approach. In addition, performance is improved because code that used to exist in ROM is now in RAM and RAM chips operate faster than the ROM chips.
RAM Footprint
Because the Mac OS ROM image is stored in RAM, approximately 3 megabytes of RAM is removed from availability for other uses. In effect, a system with 64 megabytes of RAM appears to have only 61 megabytes available. Some portion of the missing 3 megabytes is offset by having fewer patches in RAM.
Data Structures and Files
The Mac OS ROM image is contained in a new file, named "Mac OS ROM", that is kept in the System Folder. The Mac OS ROM image is exactly the same as it would be if it were an actual Mac OS ROM, containing the high-level software, the kernel software, and the 68K emulator."

search Apple TIL here: http://til.info.apple.com/techinfo.n...+search+simple

[This message has been edited by wlonh (edited 08-20-2000).]

[chasg]

Well, you've answered one thing for me: I must have had some extension that did this mid-screen menu thing.

I'll check out ApplWindows (though I tend to avoid too many mods, which is probably why whatever it was that gave me that mid-screen menu is gone now :-), thanks for the pointer.

Thanks for the TIL too.

Best,

Chas