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                        MUI - MagicUserInterface

                              Version 3.1

                  (c) Copyright 1993-95, Stefan Stuntz
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MUI  is  an object oriented system to create and maintain graphical user
interfaces.  From  a programmers point of view, using MUI saves a lot of
time  and  makes life much easier. Thinking about complicated terms like
window resizing or font sensitivity is simply not neccesary.

On  the  other hand, users of MUI based applications have the ability to
customize  nearly every pixel of a programs interface according to their
personal taste.

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Except  when  otherwise  stated  in the documentation, redistribution of
this  package  or  parts  of  this package is prohibited without written
permission  from the copyright holder. More information on this topic is
available in the documentation files in the "Docs" directory.
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Welcome  to  this  new  version of MUI!  If you would like to fire right
away  and  get  the  benefits of the many new features instantly without
studying  the  documentation,  please  take  a  few  minutes to read the
following  brief but important operating tips.  This will save you a lot
of time:


                     Important Operating Tips
                     ------------------------

Popup Menus:

MUI  Prefs  uses  object-specific  popup-menus.   Dependent on the mouse
position  on  the  window  you will see an edit menu with the well-known
options  'Reset  to  Defaults',  'Last  Saved',  'Restore' and 'Presets'
whenever  you press the right mouse button.  If the mouse was positioned
over  a  gadget,  these options will only affect this single gadget.  If
the  mouse  was positioned between any gadgets on the actual page, these
options  will  affect  all  objects  on  this  page.   If  the mouse was
positioned  over  the  left-hand  listview  where  all  pages  are being
displayed,  then  the  options from the menu will affect all settings of
the  actual  program  (e.g.   all  settings of MUI-Prefs).  On all other
positions  in  the  window  (e.g.   the window titlebar) the right mouse
button will open the standard menu of the specific window.

If  you  do  not have installed a popup-menu utility (as for example the
fabulous  MagicMenu) you will of course not see a popup-menu beneath the
mouse  pointer.   In  that  case  you must keep pressing the right mouse
button  while  moving the pointer to the menu bar in the upper screen to
see  the object-specific menu.  In any case you should instantly see the
specific  menu  title of the object on which you pressed the right mouse
button  and  thereby you'll always know which object will be affected by
the menu options.

Help Bubbles:

If  you stop the mouse pointer over a gadget and wait a few seconds, you
will  be  surprised  by a help bubble containing a context-specific help
text.   This  is the fastest and most comfortable way to inform yourself
about the functions of all gadgets of a program.  This will save you the
time you would need to study the whole documentation.

MagicWB:

MUI  uses  both externally and internally the colors and graphics of the
well-known  shareware  product MagicWB.  If you should not have set your
workbench  to the MagicWB color standard, you are able to catch up on it
by  clicking  on  the  icon 'ClickForColors' in the 'Goodies' directory.
You  will  be  rewarded by a much more colorful and pleasing look of MUI
and its icons.

Before  doing  that  you should set your screenmode to 8 colors and save
the  setting.   Then  start the aforementioned icon.  You will instantly
notice the new colors.  To avoid that this palette is lost after a reset
you  must  also  save  this  setting by starting the palette preferences
program and leaving it with clicking on the "Save" button.


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                             Major Changes
                             -------------

To  find a compromise between flexibility and resource usage, MUI 3 uses
a  completely  new  memory  management  concept. A lot of extra features
which  are  not  necessarily  needed to run applications have been moved
into  external libraries. Most of these libraries are not even loaded if
MUI  runs  with  its  default settings. With this new memory management,
users  have  the  the  ability  to  control  MUIs  memory usage by using
appropriate configurations.

MUI's  speed  has increased considerably compared with earlier versions.
This  speedup  depends  on the machine MUI is running on: the slower the
Amiga,  the more noticeable is the speed increase. Especially drawing of
GUI elements on ECS/AGA machines is a lot faster now due to a new way of
rendering.  Even  if  a  7  MHz  computer stil can't be considered as an
optimum MUI platform, applications should perform a lot better now.

The  slow and bulky preferences system was completely rewritten, the new
way  of handling settings is a lot clearer and more straight forward. An
applications  local  configuration is no longer adjusted from the global
preferences  editor.  Instead,  all MUI applications offer a way to open
their  private  MUI  settings  window.  This makes MUI look more like an
integral part of a program. Furthermore, the settings windows are better
structurized and offer easier access to all configuration option.

Public screen handling moved to an external program called "PSI" (Public
Screen  Inspector). PSI fixes all known bugs of MUI 2.x screens, is more
easy  to use and offers a few new features. Furthermore, PSI can also be
used independantly as screen manager for non-MUI programs.

All  accompanying  MUI  programs  make  extensive  use of brandnew MUI 3
programming  features  like  dynamic object creations, balancing groups,
popup  menus,  full  Drag&Drop support or Help bubbles. All those things
have  been  available  on  other  operating systems for a long time, its
about time to get them to the Amiga.

Of  course,  MUI  3 is completely compatible with previous releases, all
old MUI applications will continue to run and automatically benefit from
enhanced speed and from the new preferences system. In near future, most
new  MUI  applications  will require MUI 3 to make use of the new way of
programming.


I wish you a lot of fun with MUI 3!

Stefan Stuntz




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PS:  If  you  have bought MUI 3 at the Computer 95 show and sent in your
registration card, you'll be shipped a disk with a personally registered
MUI  3.1  in a few days. You can wait with updating your installation or
use  MUI 3.1 unregistered until your disk arrives. Thanks a lot for your
support!
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