Fun500 Brandon Cornell
I started Fun500 in 2005 with a simple goal, to make a new DOS Shell for a 386 I had. Since then I've lost the 386, but I've gained a lot of programming knowledge though the various versions. The latest version can multi-task, manage files, view text files, and launch DOS applications.
Awards
Downloads
2005 -283 Downloads
2005 Bronze -161 Downloads
2005 Silver -156 Downloads
1.00 -173 Downloads
2.0 -157 Downloads
3 -154 Downloads
4 -160 Downloads
Fun500 5.1.1 Gold -179 Downloads
Fun500 2007 Gold -210 Downloads
6 Gold -226 Downloads
6 -191 Downloads
6.1 -145 Downloads
6.2.2 -207 Downloads
6.3 -372 Downloads
| News | | New F57 Status Image by Brandon | 2011-06-23 16:03:18 | To go with the Blog's generated one, I am making one:
http://brandoncornell.com/FUN500.PNG
  | | Comments | | A Desktop in Fun500? by Brandon | 2011-02-19 11:13:13 | | Yeah, it's what is next, I've added the basic UniDesk functionality so that it can launch apps from the desktop, now I need to allow you to add shortcuts. | | Comments | | Release: Fun500 6.3 by Brandon | 2011-02-18 16:21:34 | I spent my morning working on this new release, Fun500 6.3. New features: Application Selector Dialog, Paint fixes to help show transparent pixels, a minor QML rendering issue fix, and the RSS Reader is done.
6.3 | | Comments | | Release: Fun500 6.2.2 by Brandon | 2010-12-25 11:36:02 | I've been pretty busy lately, but I managed to find the time to recompile Fun500 6.2.1 with the latest FreeBASIC in hopes that it will lead to a more stable experience.
6.2.2 | | Comments | | Fun500: A RSS Reader by Brandon | 2010-11-13 14:32:02 | I've started work on a basic RSS reader, so far it just opens a local file and renders it's contents, I still have to add all the user input stuff, but it should be a great addition to Fun500.
 | | Comments |
Screenshots
         
Reviews
 Version: 6.0/6.0 Gold | Reviewer: HorvatM | Pros: * Multiple windows at the same time. Finally.
* A small yet clear monospaced font.
* As with the previous version, the clock.
* Customizable just as 5.x.
* Can launch DOS applications.
* The Gold version elegantly implements compatibility with 5.x apps, allowing outside developers to make their own applications (that unfortunately cannot be multitasked) with the easy to use 5.x SDK.
* Source included, for those who want it.
* Fast window redrawing, partially thanks to my font routine optimizations. The only thing that slows it down is the picture in the About window, however you won't usually have that open so it's not such a problem.
Cons: * Only built-in applications can be multitasked.
* There are limits to how many instances of a certain application you can have open; 2 windows of Text and FM each, and 1 window for other apps. Strangely, you can have an unlimited number of "5 menu" apps open, up to the global limit of 10 windows. Probably a coding oversight.
* The functionality is somewhat lacking. Without third-party apps, it is currently only useful for reading text files (up to 2 at once) and doing simple calculations and file management.
* Can't switch drives in the File Manager and file dialogs. That means you can't easily open files you have stored on volumes other than the one Fun500 is installed on.
* The startup screen forces you to press a key to proceed to the desktop - you can't click the mouse. In case you forgot to load your mouse driver you can still quit Fun500 by pressing a key, then typing Esc and Y to quit. You can also disable the startup screen altogether.
Other: * As listed in the About window, I (Matej Horvat) did optimizations to the font loading and drawing routines (which can be found in the source almost unchanged) and tested the prealpha and release candidate versions so they could be debugged. | | Version: 6.2.2 | Reviewer: HorvatM | Pros:
- Customizable colors. The default color scheme isn't hard on the eyes either.
- The resolution can be changed.
- A welcome screen that is shown at startup.
- If you manage to screw up the GUI's configuration to make it crash, there's a batch file you can run to reset it.
Cons:
- Small buttons are hard to click on. Some whitespace around would be nice.
- The icon editor ("Paint") is very basic.
- It's not a GUI you would enjoy using; there's not much you can use it for. A shell, yes, but you already have COMMAND.COM for that.
Other:
- I noticed CQML sometimes renders the page twice upon opening it.
- What's the point of having colors from 4 to 16 bits if you can't make use of it?
- The option to toggle the startup screen is called "Show Boot Screen" which is a bit misleading as by the time that screen shows up it's already booted. |
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2010-2011 Brandon Cornell and The GUI Blog Members
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