There may be situations where it is desirable to remove ArcaOS Desktop (note that it is generally not required to uninstall ArcaOS Desktop when installing XWorkplace). There are some post-uninstall tasks which you may want to consider to make the system more user-friendly, and some things will be relocated after the removal of the ArcaOS Desktop WPS objects.
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ArcaOS Desktop Startup and Shutdown Folders
After removal of ArcaOS Desktop, these folders, if they existed previously, will be converted to standard WPS folders. Their content will remain intact, but will no longer be automatically processed during startup or shutdown. You may wish to relocate the content of the ArcaOS Desktop Startup Folder(s) to the system Startup folder. Likewise, any programs which should run at shutdown may be added to the Styler Programs list (see Shutdown options, below).
Screen, FOC, and Dynamic Icons settings
You will find all of these items in the System object in the System Setup folder, relocated from the (removed) Screen and Workplace Shell objects.
Shutdown options
Generally, without the WarpCenter (see later in this page) or the Toolbar, you will need to use the desktop’s context menu to shut down the system. You may then press C-A-D to reset or power off manually. As an option, you may customize the behavior of the desktop’s shutdown command using Styler (add reboot and power off options, program terminations, etc.). To do this, open an OS/2 or 4OS2 window, and start Styler with the “s” option, specifying its full path, as in:
[c:\] c:\sys\apps\styler\styler.exe s
Enable Styler’s extended shutdown by checking the box on the Shutdown page, and set other options as desired (the Styler help should provide sufficient guidance). After this, selecting the power icon on the WarpCenter, from the Toolbar, or the option from the desktop context menu should present a dialog with your configured options.
Tip: Create an object for Styler’s Shutdown options in your System Setup folder.
WarpCenter and Toolbar
The venerable WarpCenter is still available in ArcaOS. To start WarpCenter, open CONFIG.SYS in a text editor, and append WARPCENTER to the AUTOSTART line, as in:
SET AUTOSTART=PROGRAMS,TASKLIST,FOLDERS,CONNECTIONS,WARPCENTER
If you prefer or would like to add the Warp 3-style LaunchPad (Toolbar), simply append LAUNCHPAD to the AUTOSTART line:
SET AUTOSTART=PROGRAMS,TASKLIST,FOLDERS,CONNECTIONS,WARPCENTER,LAUNCHPAD
(WARPCENTER is not required when using LAUNCHPAD. The above example merely shows both options enabled.)
Select Properties… from the context menu of either object to adjust its behavior to your liking.
There are also several environment variables which may be set in CONFIG.SYS to further enhance your WarpCenter configuration:
| SET SCCANBENUKED=1 (or ON) | allows the WarpCenter to be deleted |
| SET SCKILLFEATUREENABLED=1 (or ON) | Ctrl-LMB on window list button to select task to kill |
| SET SCKILLCONFIRMDISABLED=1 (or ON) | do not ask for confirmation when killing task – CAUTION! |
| SET SCFINDUTILITY=<OBJECT_ID> | specify custom find utility |
| SET SCUSEPRETTYCLOCK=1 (or ON) | display fancy clock object |
Add one or more of these to CONFIG.SYS as desired (by default, ArcaOS enables SCCANBENUKED and SCKILLFEATUREENABLED).
Trivia: Why are the above variables all prefixed with “SC”? The WarpCenter was inherited by OS/2 with IBM’s acquisition of Lotus, where the SmartCenter made its debut as part of Lotus SmartSuite.
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