Documentation
From GEMWiki
This is the page for GEM documentation.
Introduction
If you are reading this, you have probably downloaded the Open Source Graphical Environment Manager for the Disc Operating System, from now on known as GEM/DOS, OpenGEM or simply GEM, and are curious as to how to operate it.
Simply put, the Manager is a graphical shell for DOS. It serves as a buffer zone between DOS and the user. If you have ever used "bare" DOS, you will know that it is difficult and boring to use due to its low degree of customisation and its command-driven interface.
In a command-driven interface, the user enters mumbo-jumbo into a computer and the computer regurgitates similar mumbo-jumbo. With GEM, these problems pass like a bad smell on a windy day! No more memorisation of commands. GEM does it for you! No more "Bad command or file name"! GEM doesn't handle commands! No more expensive, unstable shells like Windows 3.1 for pre-owned computers! GEM takes over for Windows -- and does it twice as well for zero times the cost!
With GEM, the computer turns from the silent character in the back of the shop doing work slowly and efficiently into a friendly character that everyone wants to talk to who still does work, but quickly and even more efficiently.
Although GEM differs slightly in look and greatly in architecture from Windows 3.1, Windows 9x/2k/XP/Vista, or the Macintosh operating system, it still works in much the same way. Like Windows 95, there is a workspace, called the desktop, and on this desktop there are little drawings called icons. Directories, which act in the same way as folders in a filing cabinet, organise files that the user writes.
Ready to be amazed? Good! It's time to make tracks for OpenGEM!
Installation
This section is not done yet as the packaging for OpenGEM is still under the microscope. When the issue of packaging is dealt with, this section will be written.
The Desktop
When GEM is started, the first thing that appears is the splash screen. This screen is simply a decal to let the user know that GEM is starting up and will be a minute. Once this screen has gone, welcome to the GEM world!
Immediately upon logging in, two windows, roughly analogous to open folders in a paper office, will appear immediately. The top window, called the C:\ drive, is, put very simply, the most basic contents of your computer with no diskettes or removable media attached. The bottom window is the HelpZone. This is the place to get additional help for topics not covered by this manual.
To close the HelpZone, briefly press and release the left mouse button twice on the heavy black dot in the corner of the window. This action is called double-clicking, and is the second-most commonly performed mouse action in GEM.
