JCE Software, 1D1: Editorial

Why Windows?

John W. Moore
University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706-1396

Note:
This issue is out of print.

This is the first issue of JCE: Software to consist exclusively of Windows programs, and it represents another milestone in our development. You will also find a new look in the layout of the printed documentation, and a completely new JCE: Software Setup program to help you load the programs in this issue on your hard disk. These have been created by assistant editor Elizabeth Moore and Technical Editor Jon Holmes, both of whom have spent enormous effort on making this issue easier for you to use. I hope you are as pleased with it as I am.
Why a Windows series? One reason is the big difference between computer hardware sufficient to run DOS programs and what is required to run Windows. Last year we published two Windows programs in Series B (for IBM PS/2, PC, and compatibles), but I suspect that a lot of subscribers to Series B do not have computers sufficiently powerful to run the Windows software they received. Even more do not have enough such computers for most of their students to run the software. Consequently, mixing Windows programs with DOS programs means diluting software that everyone can use with software that some cannot use. It seemed more appropriate to put the software that requires high-powered hardware all in one place so that our subscribers would have a choice.
Another reason has to do with submissions. We have begun to receive Windows submissions and we want to encourage more. We also have begun to develop a backlog of DOS submissions awaiting publication. Both of these factors argue for expanding the number of issues in which we publish software for IBM and compatible hardware. Initiation of Series D for Windows effectively doubles the number of IBM issues, providing room in which IBM programmers can publish what they have created.
A third reason has to do with looking toward the future and is perhaps the most important. In many ways (too many according to Apple) Windows is like the Macintosh environment. The Macintosh's operating system, user interface, and facility with graphics popularized a new way of interacting with a computer that ought to make it easier for us to help students learn chemistry. When what a student learns about the computer in his or her first encounter can be used subsequently to learn how to use other programs, the fraction of the student's time spent on learning about computers becomes smaller and smaller, and the fraction spent learning chemistry increases. The Macintosh, with its graphical user interface, pulldown menus, and standardized ways of doing things, was a real step forward in computing.
Unfortunately these same features made the Mac difficult to program at first, and made it nearly impossible to keep using the same software that people had been using before. Project SERAPHIM faced this problem in the early Macintosh years. Some programmers tried to take programs they had written for Apple II or IBM PC computers and make them run on the Macintosh. The programs did run, but did not take advantage of the features of the Macintosh, and did not look right on the Macintosh. The trouble it took to reprogram them was not really worthwhile. Only after the development of software tools that made it easier to create new programs that took full advantage of a graphical user interface did a significant body of Mac software begin to develop.
Windows has similar characteristics and problems, but it has two advantages. First, a computer that will run Windows will still run DOS programs, and so it is not necessary to make a quantum leap into a new operating environment. Second, Windows' great popularity and the large number of computers already in the field that can run it have generated a lot more software tools. These can be used by chemist/programmers to create new programs with lots of graphics, menus, and animations much more readily than before. Even so, the fraction of a programmer's time spent on the user interface has been growing continuously since the early days of instructional computing, and shows no signs of leveling off.
An example of innovative use of a new tool is Dick Cornelius' AnswerSheets in this issue. Dick has used Microsoft Excel as a programming language. Each AnswerSheet is programmed as an Excel macro, although it would be difficult to tell from what appears on the screen that one is dealing with a spreadsheet. Using Excel made it relatively easy for Dick to develop AnswerSheets on both Macintosh and IBM platforms, and we will soon publish AnswerSheets in a Macintosh issue as well as this Windows issue.
Cross-platform development goes on all the time in the commercial software world, and it makes sense also for instructional computing. Since most of the hardware currently available is IBM or Macintosh, cross-platform development currently means Windows and Macintosh. This kind of user interface is clearly the direction of the future in the commercial world and I believe in the instructional world as well. As a result the Macintosh and Windows platforms are rapidly moving closer and closer together, and I expect that in the not too distant future there will be little or no distinction between them. JCE: Software hopes to be at the forefront of instructional software development for both, and this Windows issue is a major step in that direction.

First Published: June 1993
Citation: Moore, J. W. Why Windows? J. Chem. Educ. Software 1D1
Keywords:

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JCE Online | Journal | Software | Internet | Happenings | About JCE | Contact JCE

Last Updated: April 26, 2001
Created: December 3, 1996 Created by: J. L. Holmes
Comments to: jceonline@chem.wisc.edu

© 1997 Division of Chemical Education, Inc., American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.



Why Windows?
John W. Moore University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI 53706-1396

Note:	This issue is out of print.

This is the first issue of JCE: Software to consist exclusively of Windows programs, and it represents another milestone in our development. You will also find a new look in the layout of the printed documentation, and a completely new JCE: Software Setup program to help you load the programs in this issue on your hard disk. These have been created by assistant editor Elizabeth Moore and Technical Editor Jon Holmes, both of whom have spent enormous effort on making this issue easier for you to use. I hope you are as pleased with it as I am. Why a Windows series? One reason is the big difference between computer hardware sufficient to run DOS programs and what is required to run Windows. Last year we published two Windows programs in Series B (for IBM PS/2, PC, and compatibles), but I suspect that a lot of subscribers to Series B do not have computers sufficiently powerful to run the Windows software they received. Even more do not have enough such computers for most of their students to run the software. Consequently, mixing Windows programs with DOS programs means diluting software that everyone can use with software that some cannot use. It seemed more appropriate to put the software that requires high-powered hardware all in one place so that our subscribers would have a choice. Another reason has to do with submissions. We have begun to receive Windows submissions and we want to encourage more. We also have begun to develop a backlog of DOS submissions awaiting publication. Both of these factors argue for expanding the number of issues in which we publish software for IBM and compatible hardware. Initiation of Series D for Windows effectively doubles the number of IBM issues, providing room in which IBM programmers can publish what they have created. A third reason has to do with looking toward the future and is perhaps the most important. In many ways (too many according to Apple) Windows is like the Macintosh environment. The Macintosh's operating system, user interface, and facility with graphics popularized a new way of interacting with a computer that ought to make it easier for us to help students learn chemistry. When what a student learns about the computer in his or her first encounter can be used subsequently to learn how to use other programs, the fraction of the student's time spent on learning about computers becomes smaller and smaller, and the fraction spent learning chemistry increases. The Macintosh, with its graphical user interface, pulldown menus, and standardized ways of doing things, was a real step forward in computing. Unfortunately these same features made the Mac difficult to program at first, and made it nearly impossible to keep using the same software that people had been using before. Project SERAPHIM faced this problem in the early Macintosh years. Some programmers tried to take programs they had written for Apple II or IBM PC computers and make them run on the Macintosh. The programs did run, but did not take advantage of the features of the Macintosh, and did not look right on the Macintosh. The trouble it took to reprogram them was not really worthwhile. Only after the development of software tools that made it easier to create new programs that took full advantage of a graphical user interface did a significant body of Mac software begin to develop. Windows has similar characteristics and problems, but it has two advantages. First, a computer that will run Windows will still run DOS programs, and so it is not necessary to make a quantum leap into a new operating environment. Second, Windows' great popularity and the large number of computers already in the field that can run it have generated a lot more software tools. These can be used by chemist/programmers to create new programs with lots of graphics, menus, and animations much more readily than before. Even so, the fraction of a programmer's time spent on the user interface has been growing continuously since the early days of instructional computing, and shows no signs of leveling off. An example of innovative use of a new tool is Dick Cornelius' AnswerSheets in this issue. Dick has used Microsoft Excel as a programming language. Each AnswerSheet is programmed as an Excel macro, although it would be difficult to tell from what appears on the screen that one is dealing with a spreadsheet. Using Excel made it relatively easy for Dick to develop AnswerSheets on both Macintosh and IBM platforms, and we will soon publish AnswerSheets in a Macintosh issue as well as this Windows issue. Cross-platform development goes on all the time in the commercial software world, and it makes sense also for instructional computing. Since most of the hardware currently available is IBM or Macintosh, cross-platform development currently means Windows and Macintosh. This kind of user interface is clearly the direction of the future in the commercial world and I believe in the instructional world as well. As a result the Macintosh and Windows platforms are rapidly moving closer and closer together, and I expect that in the not too distant future there will be little or no distinction between them. JCE: Software hopes to be at the forefront of instructional software development for both, and this Windows issue is a major step in that direction.


News \| Issues \| CD-ROM / Video \| Find It! \| Technical Support \| For Authors
JCE Online \| Journal \| Software \| Internet \| Happenings \| About JCE \| Contact JCE

Last Updated: April 26, 2001 Created: December 3, 1996	Created by: J. L. Holmes Comments to: jceonline@chem.wisc.edu

© 1997 Division of Chemical Education, Inc., American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.