Re: The splash screens

[Juri Linkov]

> In -nw mode:
>
> 1. There are much fewer options. Is this because of limited screen
> (terminal) estate?

I don't know.  Maybe this screen was designed with the requirement
of 25 lines for the terminal height.  In this case, with the addition
of useful tasks, the startup screen now has 28 lines, so 3 final lines
about recover-session are not visible on 80x25 terminals.

> 2. Only a few choices are "linked", why not make all of them linked so
> that you can navigate to them easily with TAB? In window mode they are
> all linked.

There are descriptions of key bindings after each item, but I agree
that better to turn them into links.

> 3. The layout and information is very different in some respects. In
> the window version there are links to Absence of Warranty and Getting
> New Versions, while in -nw mode this is expressed with a special
> section that comes below all the choices.

I don't know the reason, but we can add links for this text too.

> In window mode:
>
> 1. Why mention twice how to recover a crashed session? It feels like
> it would be enough to keep the note at the bottom of the screen
> (hopefully recovering crashed sessions is not so common so keeping it
> at the bottom is OK).

Yes, I agree.

> 2. The useful tasks like visiting a new file comes too far down, in my
> opinion. They are much more visible in -nw mode.
>
> 3. Do we really need to mention Useful File menu items? A user will
> find Exit Emacs easily enough and Recover Crashed Session is kind of
> self explaining as well. Removing this section would bring the Useful
> tasks more into focus.

Or we can move the "Useful tasks" section before the "Useful File menu"
section.

> 4. I think we could move the following to the bottom:
>
>  Absence of Warranty
>  Copying Conditions
>  Getting New Versions
>  More Manuals / Ordering Manuals

Yes, after the copyright line.

> General:
>
> Some items have the key bindings printed, some don't and I don't see
> any logic in which are printed and not. In window mode there are very
> few bindings printed.

Actually there are three different startup (and About) screens:

1. for graphic displays
2. for terminals with mouse available
3. for terminals without mouse

There are no bindings printed if the user can select menu items
using the mouse.

> I like the -nw splash screen better as it is shorter and more concise.

I agree that the graphic screen should be shorter.

-- 
Juri Linkov
http://www.jurta.org/emacs/