Re: Graphic converter query - transparency

In article 
<1ijrs3v.1twsw9q1lmk19rN%real-address-in-sig@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>,
 real-address-in-sig@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
 (Rowland McDonnell) wrote:

> Jim <jim@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> 
> > Woody <usenet@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> > 
> > > > In the general case, it's impossible to tell what software does
from the
> > > > GUI.
> > > 
> > > I have never found that to be the case. I have always found it
> > > reasonably easy to work out what the software does from the UI.
> > 
> > Same here. In fact call me Mr. Silly but I thought that was the whole
> > _point_ of GUIs - to be able to use software (at a basic level at
least)
> > without having to use a manual.
>
> Not the way I've ever viewed it.  The aim was always to make it easier
> to learn how to use the software, not to replace the manual.
> 
> That's why almost all early Mac software came with excellent manuals
> (well into the System 7 era), and excellent multimedia tutorials in many
> cases.  It's how I learnt how to use MacDraw II and MacWrite II.

This was because in those days, before Win-3, very few people had come 
across GUIs, the mouse, pointing, etc etc. These days this sort of stuff 
is learnt at school (if the visit I paid to a village primary school in 
Norfolk on Friday is anything to go by).

> >If you want to know all the ins and outs
> > then yes, a well written manual is a must, but for basic general use a
> > manual is only required if the UI is bad.
> 
> I say `no', having tried it that way and having found out that the only
> way I can make proper use of any software other than the simplest is to
> read the manual.

If you know the basic GUI concepts of pointing, selecting, choosing from 
a menu, etc, then most people appear to be able to figure stuff out 
without a manual. Indeed, most people don't bother to consult it even 
when there's one available, in my experience.

You are obviously not in the "most people" category, as we have now 
figured out ad nauseam. Indeed, I would advise you not to use a mouse in 
future in case you put your eye out with it.