measekite wrote:
>
>
> TJ wrote:
>> measekite wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>
>>> The one thing about Windows is there is a standard printer widget and
>>> just about all applications use it. Standardization not just in
>>> printing has helped get Windows the market share it has today.
>>
>> I'm not sure how you can type "Standardization" and "Windows" in the
>> same sentence with a straight face. Microsoft ignores all established
>> standards when designing their products and tries to dictate their
>> own. Superior marketing and monopolistic practices are what got
>> Microsoft the market share it has today. Following standards had very
>> little to do with it.
>>
>> And by the way, that market share is dropping, while Mac and Linux are
>> on the increase.
>
> OK lets agree to replace the word standardization with uniformity. Most
> of the software applications in Windows use the same or very similar
> Print Dialog Box so if you do a File Print in one application and then
> from another you see basically the same thing. This is not true in
> Linux Unbuntu. For my Canon printer in Linux I need to install it as a
> Postscript printer with an im****ted (pdd file from Canon Japan) to print
> for Gimp and install it as a Cups printer to print elsewhere like in
> Open Office. You get different dialog boxes. Still other applications
> use different widget dialog boxes with some or all of the features of
> the printer. For my HP990Cse there is somewhat more uniformity.
>
I don't know what version of Gimp you're using, but mine, 2.4.6 (using
Mandriva 2008.1 Linux), gives me the choice of printing using Gutenprint
or CUPS with my Deskjet 5650 and Officejet 6110. The dialog box I get
with CUPS is the same one with both printers, and lets me choose which
of the two printers to use. It's the same dialog box I see with Firefox,
Thunderbird, and just about any other application. The Gutenprint dialog
box is different from the CUPS box, but it too is the same for both
printers. Mandriva also has an "HP Device Manager" that lets you set the
defaults of various features like duplex, paper size, etc., depending on
the capabilities of the device.
My experience with using different printer brands with Windows is
limited to Windows 98. With that, I can tell you that while you did get
the same dialog box when you say "Print," much like you do with CUPS,
from there they differ, according to the driver provided by the
manufacturer. My Epson Stylus Color 800 and HP Deskjet 672C were very
different in the things you could do with basic print dialog boxes.
Also, some Windows 98 apps would remember the settings you just used to
make a print, while others would reload the defaults every time the
"Print" dialog box came up.
> In Linux depending on the application the print dialog box may allow you
> to switch trays or do duplex or whatever depending on the printer. In
> Windows you get the same box (when you select properties) with all of
> the choices for your printer. The main reason for the properties being
> complete is they are installed with the driver form the printer mfg.
>
> Basically, Windows has the hardware sup****t that until Linux gets there
> is not way it will catch up.
> The Gimp dialog box with the choices are terrible when compared to
> Photoshop under Windows. But Gimp has a real long way to go to be even
> on the same playing field with Photoshop. You need at the very least
> better printer sup****t and adjustment layers as well as the newer tools
> like shadow highlight.
You sound like one of those people who moves out to the country to
escape the ratrace of the city, only to start trying to change their new
home into something like they just left. You have the wrong idea about
Gimp, and about Linux. Gimp is not meant to be an alternative to
Photoshop, any more than Linux is meant to be just an alternative to
Windows. Each stands on its own merits.
TJ
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