[bacchus]

very nice in fact...take a look.

main window

about

anywhere

any images you folks would like to see?

[Adam Betts]

Improved from old one, yes, but it is still UGLY and failed to follow Apple's HIG again.

They need to know what K.I.S.S. mean.

[OwlBoy]

Originally posted by Adam Betts:
Improved from old one, yes, but it is still UGLY and failed to follow Apple's HIG again.

They need to know what K.I.S.S. mean.

Yeah, the custom drawers look like ass to me.

-Owl

[bmedina]

Except for the terrible, non-standard interface, it's not a bad program. The burner sharing feature is almost worth the price alone for people with many computers and few burners.

[cblueorg]

This is a little miracle: an application that breaks ANY guideline on HI just for the sake of it, without being forced to it by being cross-platform or BCP.

[Webscreamer]

Actually, Toast 5 looked better to me... the burn button is uglier than ever

[Developer]

Where does it break any guidelines? It looks quite nice if you ask me.

[Zimphire]

Originally posted by Developer:
Where does it break any guidelines? It looks quite nice if you ask me.

For one it doesn't use the Extras.rsrc

But hey Apple breaks that one too.

[Adam Betts]

Originally posted by Developer:
Where does it break any guidelines?

You're kidding me, right?

Go and give this link a read. You'll realize that they broke almost every guidelines there. I thought you should know this as you claimed to be a developer.

Consistency is the key and they've shown that they doesn't care. That deserve a

App like Toast made Dreamweaver look better.

[Zimphire]

At least it will be easier to hack out the stripes.

[Developer]

Originally posted by Adam Betts:
You're kidding me, right?

Go and give this link a read.

Thanks, I'm aware of that document. That doesn't answer the question though. Where does it break these guidelines?

[Zimphire]

It uses it's own custom inconsistent (with the rest of OS X) GUI

[Developer]

Originally posted by Zimphire:
It uses it's own custom inconsistent (with the rest of OS X) GUI

Are you sure you're not talking about Real One Player maybe?

As far as I can tell from the screenshots it uses standard OS X windows, and controls. The only two non standard things are one button and a row of tabs. For an app that essentially only does one thing, it is appropriate to have one big button for this action. Like iTunes has a big play button for example. The button has an Aqua look; it is not inconsistent with the OS X GUI. The tabs add easy to recognize icons, so they are an improvement over the use of the standard tabs control in this context, that justifies its use. They look similar to the icon rows in OS X preferences windows just much nicer.

Besides that it look pretty standard from the screenshots.

[Sarc]

hmmm the registration info on the about box doesn't look too legal, does it ?
(but then again i'm sure you paid for it)

on a second look .. that kinda looks like panther also.

[Adam Betts]

Originally posted by Developer:
Thanks, I'm aware of that document. That doesn't answer the question though. Where does it break these guidelines?

Here are some of the general considerations:

• Do you use standard Aqua controls provided by the system, instead of inventing custom ones? Do you avoid assigning new behaviors to existing interface elements?
• Does the application have the Mac OS X �feel,� including window minimization, live scrolling, live window dragging, and sheets?
• If a metaphor is being used, is it suitable for the application? Does the metaphor match a �real� visual and behavioral representation?
• Is the user always able to find an object or action on the screen? In other words, does your interface follow the see-and-point principle of design?
• Do document printouts exactly replicate what the user sees on the screen? Do movies, sounds, and other types of data reproduce faithfully regardless of what medium they�re in? In other words, is the application WYSIWYG?
• Is your application forgiving and explorable by supporting Undo? Are there warnings about risky actions? Are users allowed to back away gracefully from risky territory?
• If an operation can be interrupted, do you provide a Cancel or Stop button? Can Escape or Command-period be used to cancel or stop these operations?
• Does the application feel stable?
• Do you respect all of the accessibility features in Mac OS X, such as keyboard navigation and focus?
• Have you made a clear, consistent distinction between basic and advanced features?
• If your application has modes, is there a clear visual indication of the current mode? Does the visual indication of the mode appear near the object most affected by the mode? Are there enough landmarks to remind the user what area of the application he or she is in? For example, many graphics applications change the pointer to an eraser in erase mode.
• Is each mode absolutely necessary? Do the modes within the application properly track the user�s own modes? Do users consistently avoid the kind of errors caused by the program being in a mode other than what the user wants or expects? Making a mode visually apparent is no guarantee that the user will track it: Test the application on users and find out what sorts of mistakes they are making. If the errors are caused by modes, find ways to communicate the modes more clearly, or eliminate them.
• Are the widest possible range of user activities available at any time? The user should spend most of his or her time being able to interact with the application�not waiting for it to complete a process.
• Does your application always use the file�s display name when the filename is visible to users, except in expanded help tags?
• Can a user install your application by dragging a single file or folder? Did you provide an application bundle so that users can manipulate only certain files? Are you using the Mac OS X interface to handle plug-ins?
• Does your application put application support files�user preference settings, plug-ins, databases, and so on�in the user�s Library folder? Does it avoid putting files in the Documents folder (except for user-created files)?
• Does the application have the overall Mac OS X �look,� including high-quality Aqua-style icons, controls, anti-aliased text, windows, and menus?
• Do windows, dialogs, and palettes look �clean� and free from clutter?
• Is the information in windows organized so the most important information can be read first?
• Do you use the new standard alert functions for displaying alerts?
• Do you display your application icon in all dialogs? Do you also show the caution icon in potentially data-damaging alerts?
• Does the alert have an informative title and text that not only tell the user what is wrong, but also offer suggestions as to what to do to correct it? The best alert messages answer the following questions: What happened? Why did it happen? What can I do about it?
• Are all your alerts necessary? You can prevent many user errors with good or preventative interface design. For example, if the application cannot handle an 80-character filename, don�t display an 80-character field in which to enter it.

[bacchus]

it is panther in fact, and it seems to work just fine.

[Severed Hand of Skywalker]

Originally posted by Sarc:
hmmm the registration info on the about box doesn't look too legal, does it ?
(but then again i'm sure you paid for it)

What are you? A Cop?

[Adam Betts]

Originally posted by Severed Hand of Skywalker:
What are you? A Cop?

Or a 'Serial' Killer

[Sarc]

no, I'm the Legal-Man.
well funded by the US Gov. the RIAA and Hollywood movie studios I fight Internet piracy.
/sarcasm

just a joke Svered Hand ... just a joke.

[Moonray]

Originally posted by Adam Betts:

Yup I see, it uses no sliders so it's bad GUI


But the more important question is to me: where is the

• Allow overburn

checkbox - in the next full priced upgrade?

-

[[APi]TheMan]

Originally posted by Moonray:
Yup I see, it uses no sliders so it's bad GUI


But the more important question is to me: where is the

• Allow overburn

checkbox - in the next full priced upgrade?

In FireStarter here: http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/19058

Or in MissingMediaBurner here: http://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/16799

Oh yeah, they're free.

[dr. zoidberg]

wow... that ToastAnywhere seems like a really cool feature! we have a network of macs here with only 3 machines actually having a cd-writer, so this seems almost like a godsend...

[philzilla]

Originally posted by dr. zoidberg:
wow... that ToastAnywhere seems like a really cool feature! we have a network of macs here with only 3 machines actually having a cd-writer, so this seems almost like a godsend...

i was thinking likewise, on a smaller scale. looks good to me

[Adam Betts]

Originally posted by Moonray:
Yup I see, it uses no sliders so it's bad GUI

http://www.vastmediaempire.com/images/main_window.jpg

Look at the curve slider right next to the big red button.

If it is not a slider then they didn't made it clear to user of what it is.

[Severed Hand of Skywalker]

Originally posted by Adam Betts:
http://www.vastmediaempire.com/images/main_window.jpg

Look at the curve slider right next to the big red button.

If it is not a slider then they didn't made it clear to user of what it is.

I don't see what the big deal is. I mean that is obviously a progress bar and this GUI is a dream compared to many other apps out there.

[Synotic]

Originally posted by Adam Betts:
http://www.vastmediaempire.com/images/main_window.jpg

Look at the curve slider right next to the big red button.

If it is not a slider then they didn't made it clear to user of what it is.

It's a gauge that shows how much room there is in the CD or DVD. It becomes clear once you start putting files in. It also says in a tooltip "Estimates space used on disc being created".

[ZackS]

Highlights from my review in another thread:

The new UI is a bloated, hard to navigate nightmare. A huge step back from 5. Did they really need the frigging glossy arch that dynamically draws its self? OVERKILL. ... When burning data CDs it's much less clear on which format exactly is going to be burnt. If you set up a custom job in the advanced tab and decide to just go with the basic settings, you need to undo every change you made and get it back to options supported by basic mode to switch back the tab. Very annoying. <On top of that,> the entire window ... redraw<s> when it was just being moved. Unacceptable.

<Two of the 4 new features found in the Toast application its self are> disc encryption and compression, both of which worked well (though you'll find better compression using Stuffit Deluxe). ... Video is where Toast 6 shines. It now allows burning of VCDs, SVCDs and simple DVDs. It even creates nifty looking menus on the fly and comes with all the necessary MPEG and MPEG2 encoders to convert Quicktime content. The SVCD I made worked well in my Apex DVD player. I can see myself using this feature a lot in the future.

I really dislike this new layout <of the burn dialog> as it removes the "Burn Session" option and places it under the advanced tab as the checkbox "Close Disc". This change in location and function will easily confuse basic users familiar with multisession burning.

Notoriously missing is the ever important overburning feature I was hoping Roxio would throw in. Maybe next expensive major release.
...
Toast 6 is a solid product that does what it says but there's simply not enough to justify the upgrade. ... Unless I'm making an SVCD, I think I'll stick with Toast 5 too.

OVERALL SCORE: 4.5 (out of 10)

Summary: Toast 6 has an appalling GUI but the new Video features are cool. An unsatisfactory upgrade.

[cSurfr]

I'm curious, as I don't have 2 macs, or toast 6 even...how does Toast Anywhere work ? I assume you have to have a copy of toast on both machines, and it detects the other burner over the network ? What is the difference between copying the files over the network to the other machine then burning? Wouldn't there be a problem with congestion, or the other machine not being fast enough to transfer the data to toast a.k.a buffer underrun (sp)? I think it could be a neat feature, but it just seems easier to copy the data over the network, since you have to go to the machine to put a blank cd in the drive anyway...As mentioned before I love the registered to "Toast Deluxe" guess the new serial surfers was updated..


-cS

[::maroma::]

Originally posted by cSurfr:
I'm curious, as I don't have 2 macs, or toast 6 even...how does Toast Anywhere work ? I assume you have to have a copy of toast on both machines, and it detects the other burner over the network ? What is the difference between copying the files over the network to the other machine then burning? Wouldn't there be a problem with congestion, or the other machine not being fast enough to transfer the data to toast a.k.a buffer underrun (sp)? I think it could be a neat feature, but it just seems easier to copy the data over the network, since you have to go to the machine to put a blank cd in the drive anyway...As mentioned before I love the registered to "Toast Deluxe" guess the new serial surfers was updated..


-cS

Yes, you must have Toast on both machines. And all it does is transfer the data to the host machine (the one with the burner), presumably in a disk image format. Then once data is copied, it burns from host computer. It's kinda neat, and makes it simpler for my girlfriend to burn things from her iBook across the room from my machine (with the burner).

[Severed Hand of Skywalker]

Ok I just got Toast 6. You guys are right, the interface is messed up. It took a step back in some ways for sure.

Ah well, it is still awesome though.

[absmiths]

Originally posted by ::maroma:::
Yes, you must have Toast on both machines. And all it does is transfer the data to the host machine (the one with the burner), presumably in a disk image format. Then once data is copied, it burns from host computer. It's kinda neat, and makes it simpler for my girlfriend to burn things from her iBook across the room from my machine (with the burner).

More importantly - does it require a separate license for each machine? There should definitely be an option to install a remote-only version for simplicity without extra licenses.

[madcran]

Originally posted by absmiths:
More importantly - does it require a separate license for each machine? There should definitely be an option to install a remote-only version for simplicity without extra licenses.

No it doesn't. I installed it on two machines and it has no licence dupication detection like Microsoft Office does.

[Zimphire]

I am just glad it didn't use it's own "stripes"

So I don't have to hack them out.

[DaedalusDX]

has anyone mentioned here yet that the Toast 6 UI seems to be very very slow?

My computer isn't the fastest machine around, granted, but it definitely isn't too slow that it cannot run Mac OS X apps... 733 G4, and the toast 6 window is painfully slow to drag around my screen while everything else is pretty much liquid smooth.

Toast 5 was much smoother on my computer in that respect. Any comments on that?

[Socially Awkward Solo]

Originally posted by DaedalusDX:
has anyone mentioned here yet that the Toast 6 UI seems to be very very slow?

My computer isn't the fastest machine around, granted, but it definitely isn't too slow that it cannot run Mac OS X apps... 733 G4, and the toast 6 window is painfully slow to drag around my screen while everything else is pretty much liquid smooth.

Toast 5 was much smoother on my computer in that respect. Any comments on that?

Yes, dragging the window on a Dual 1.25 is slow also.

[gizmovision]

I think the drawer should open on the right side or atleast have an option to open on that side if the main window when it is close to the edge of the left side of the screen instead of pushing the main screen over to make room. I also found that the drawer ends up on top of the main window sometimes when switching back and forth between apps and when coming out of a window shade [ I don't know if that is a window shade problem or not...]
I also miss the feature of just making a vcd without haveing to reencode everything for that format. I would figure if I d/l a VCD formatted file( or made a DVD or S/VCD) I could just burn-it outright. Maybe I didn't find that operation yet?

[Langdon]

So far I haven't read much that would make up upgrade from 5 to 6. I am not sure what is eating up so much CPU power but maybe that will improve.
But I do have a question about disc encryption.
How well does it work? And can those CDs only be unlocked on Macs running Toast 6?

[C.J. Moof]

Originally posted by madcran:
No it doesn't. I installed it on two machines and it has no licence dupication detection like Microsoft Office does.

Just 'cuz it installed and runs doesn't prove the license was followed.... I asked the same question when the Roxio rep was on Your Mac Life a few weeks ago. He acknowledged that per the license agreement, you need >1 license to make use of network burning, but if you recycled the same serial, they wouldn't know about it.

[cynikal]

speaking of thaat 'how much space is left on the disk' comment, does anyone know of a program that will identify where physically (i guess how far from the center) any given file/data is? I'm just curious because it seems certain files are read faster than others. this probably is due to the fact that tangental speed is faster on the outside than the inside. but where the file is would be nice to know in hopes of figuring out how the burning app decided where to put the data.

[Lyra]

TOAST 6 sucks ass!!!

It is WAAAAAAAAAAAY Too heavy and it does terrible copies of DVDs. Forget it, I am sticking with the 5.X till they get an update or I want my money back!!!

Very slow response time on everything... (Yes I have 1GB of ram)

This thing should run like a jaguar on well jaguar with an 800MhzG4!

[Blinger]

Originally posted by Langdon:
So far I haven't read much that would make up upgrade from 5 to 6. I am not sure what is eating up so much CPU power but maybe that will improve.
But I do have a question about disc encryption.
How well does it work? And can those CDs only be unlocked on Macs running Toast 6?

Encrypted discs can be decrypted by putting them onto ANY Mac running Mac OS X. The decryption software is built into Mac OS X... you do not need Toast 6 or any special software installed on the target system.

See the FAQ under the Toast 6 product pages at Roxio's web site.

[ReggieX]

Toast 5 was already a big step backwards from 4 when it comes to making Hybrid discs, and 6 doesn't make that any better.

Having the drawer open (hardwired to one side is BAD, Roxio) will kill your drag performance. If you don't need it open, close it!

[Oneota]

Can someone tell me what, if anything, I'm doing wrong? I've got a 619.8 MB MPEG2 file that I'm trying to burn as an SVCD. If I ask Toast to do this, it complains that it needs 776 MB, and only 700-something are available on the CD I inserted.

I turned off the menu feature, so that's not it. This file is intended to be burned as an SVCD, so I don't get what's going on.

[Edit: If it's relevant, the file is actually meant to be an XSVCD, but I'm not sure what the difference is. Its name just has .XSVCD.mpg at the end.]

[madra]

...but it is still UGLY and failed to follow Apple's HIG again.

i think apple lost the right to lecture anyone else on interface design when, with OSX, they introduced the concepts of "icon as moving target" [finder column view] and "one app elbowing its way in front of another" [ie. the way background apps are allowed to throw alerts and dialogues between you and the foreground app]

[Devin Lane]

I like toast 6. I think its interface sucks, but it it is a little better than toast 5. As far as human interface guidelines goes, Toast follows them pretty good in its sheets and drawers (and preferences), but not its main window.

[sushiism]

the icons on the interface look a bit xp'y with the green and all and the whole thing is generally uglier than 5

[Devin Lane]

Originally posted by sushiism:
the icons on the interface look a bit xp'y with the green and all and the whole thing is generally uglier than 5

Agreed with the xp thing. In fact, I think the entire window behaves like it is on win xp because all the icons change when you mouse over!

[Immortal K-Mart Employee]

Originally posted by Langdon:
So far I haven't read much that would make up upgrade from 5 to 6. I am not sure what is eating up so much CPU power but maybe that will improve.
But I do have a question about disc encryption.
How well does it work? And can those CDs only be unlocked on Macs running Toast 6?

It just makes an encrypted disk image like disk copy and burns that to the disk. When you put the disk in you see the image, click it it then mounts another volume on the desktop. you don't need toast, just disk copy. Not really worth the trouble though.

[sushiism]

Originally posted by Devin Lane:
Agreed with the xp thing. In fact, I think the entire window behaves like it is on win xp because all the icons change when you mouse over!

yeah it all looks a bit too much like xp's cartoony plastic, i mean i can see how they got to is seen as panther is less classy and glassy than jag but i think they missed the panther look and kinda ended up something that wouldnt look out of place on windows or linux, would have rather had just 5's interface without the stripes and with a regular osx progress bar at the bottom, but a non-animated one perhaps

[nobitacu]

I ordered mine online last Thursday, I should be it on Thursday in the mail. Unless UPS will be late that day.

Ming