Author: Komputer Korner
Date: 21:51:27 11/23/98
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On November 24, 1998 at 00:35:54, Mig wrote: >While trying out different programs to get an overview for an article on >computer chess for a newspaper I found several popular programs are still using >DOS and still look as ugly as they did 15 years ago. > >In particular I was appalled by Rebel 10, one of the top programs out there by >general consent. After using ChessBase 7.0 and relatives for so long I couldn't >believe my eyes. The board and pieces in Rebel 10 look worse than some of the >klugy Java boards used for on-line viewing! (Maybe the guy's settings were >wrong? He didn't think so.) > >I'm no fan of fancy 3-D boards or medieval pieces, etc., but really, I'm sure >they could do better than that. Unless the program in question is dramatically >stronger than the competition to compensate (it's not) I can't imagine using >something that ugly regularly. (Not that I would anyway due to the lack of >multi-tasking.) > >How big of a factor is this considered to be in the marketplace? Beauty is only >skin deep, but there should be a minimum! > >Mig I think you are being a bit harsh. The pieces in Rebel are not as nice looking as the ones in ChessBase but they are pretty good. Rebel 10 runs in WINDOWS 9X with a desktop shortcut with huge hash tables and you can move all the windows around the screen. There are some disadvantages from being a DOS program but for the most part Rebel 10 does a good job of emulating it's windows counterparts. Read my review of Rebel 10 which details the minor disadvantages of Rebel 10 being a DOS program. Because the speed of DOS is not that much faster than the speed of Windows (2%), it seems to me that these minor advantages of Windows programs outweigh the DOS speed advantage however. See below for a small excerpt from the article which is on the CCC site. "So what if Rebel 10 is a DOS program? 1) It runs in Windows 9X with up to100 Mb of hash tables right from a desktop shortcut 2) and you can resize the board in 4 different sizes and 3) move all the window screens around just like any windows program using the right mouse with the one exception that they can’t overlap. 4) You can resize most windows in width and height 5) and you can remove them from the screen and bring on other ones. Every screen window can be removed except the board. 6) There are predefined layouts available with a keyboard shortcut and 7) you can customize your Rebel 10 desktop screen area to your heart’s content. 8) There are now 24 buttons that you can define menus for and these buttons can be removed from the screen if you don’t want them. 9) There are 8 removable symbol buttons ( +/= , =....etc ) 10) and 6 removable note buttons that represent notes like the !? marks that you are familiar with for annotating each move in the move list. Even the clocks and player names can be removed if that is your desire. 11) There are 2 extra menus for the 2 engine settings when playing engine vs engine and you can pick out a choice of 5 different Rebel engines. Almost everything can be customized for each engine with the submenus right on the Rebel 10 screen. 12) Rebel 10 now shows the opening name and ECO code at all times on the screen just above the board and each sub line of the opening is named. 13) The top menus are spelled out completely and the PGN menu is gone with the Layout menu taking its place. The POS menu has been renamed to the Start menu and the help? Icon menu is always present whenever the user clicks on one of the top menus. The more important sub menus can also be accessed by keyboard shortcuts. When you define the button sub menus for their 1-letter button icons the corresponding sub menus can also be accessed by pressing the Alt key and the letter." For the disadvantages of being a DOS program you will have to read the full article. -- Komputer Korner
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