The Palo Alto-based XSoft arm of Xerox Corp has applied its observation into how people work with and without computers to create Rooms for Windows, a program designed to simplify and enhance the Microsoft Corp Windows 3.0 and 3.1 graphical user interface. Rooms for Windows takes the window-based interface of Windows to the next logical step – incorporating an interface metaphor called Rooms. Each Room contains several windows, and functions like a separate computer monitor, or virtual desktop, devoted to a specific task, client or project. The program is claimed dramatically to increase the amount of information that can be displayed on the screen, and organises information the way people work on a real desk, not the way a computer’s video desktop forces people to work. It is designed to organises applications and data according to task, client or project; give Gives the user more room for work; eliminate the constant shuffling of applications; automatically open all files, window placements, icons and applications the way they were left the last time the computer was used; provide an easy way to navigate between tasks; and manage MS-DOS and Windows applications from a common interface. A problem with window-based interfaces, XSoft suggests, is their inability to display more than a few windows at once. Once a few windows are open, most of the icons, windows and applications on the desktop are covered, resulting in windows thrashing as the user struggles to switch from one window to the next, and becomes even more awkward when the user attempts to use multiple applications simultaneously.Changes to an object in one Room can, if desired, affect all copies of that object in all Rooms. If files and applications are placed in a special Overlay Room, they will automatically appear in every Room. The program sells for $100 and it will be available sometime this quarter.
