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revision 1.20 by rms, Tue Oct 30 18:26:57 2001 UTC revision 1.20.4.1 by miles, Fri Apr 4 06:20:46 2003 UTC
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1  @c This is part of the Emacs manual.  @c This is part of the Emacs manual.
2  @c Copyright (C) 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001 Free Software Foundation, Inc.  @c Copyright (C) 2002 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
3  @c See file emacs.texi for copying conditions.  @c See file emacs.texi for copying conditions.
4    
5  @node Antinews, Mac OS, X Resources, Top  @node Antinews, Mac OS, X Resources, Top
6  @appendix Emacs 20 Antinews  @appendix Emacs 21.3 Antinews
7    
8    For those users who live backwards in time, here is information about    For those users who live backwards in time, here is information about
9  downgrading to Emacs version 20.  We hope you will enjoy the greater  downgrading to Emacs version 21.3.  We hope you will enjoy the greater
10  simplicity that results from the absence of many Emacs 21 features.  simplicity that results from the absence of many newer features.
11    
12  @itemize @bullet  @itemize @bullet
13  @item  @item
14  The display engine has been greatly simplified by eliminating support  The input methods for Emacs are included in a separate distribution
15  for variable-size characters and other non-text display features.  This  called ``Leim''.  To use them, you must extract the Leim tar file on
16  avoids the complexity of display layout in Emacs 21.  To wit:  top of the Emacs distribution, into the same directory, before you
17    build Emacs.
18    
 @itemize @minus  
19  @item  @item
20  Variable-size characters are not supported in Emacs 20.  You cannot use  The file position and line number information is now at the end
21  fonts which contain oversized characters, and using italic fonts can  of the mode line.
 result in illegible display.  However, text which uses variable-size  
 fonts is unreadable anyway.  With all characters in a frame laid out on  
 a regular grid, each character having the same height and width, text is  
 much easier to read.  
22    
23  @item  @item
24  Emacs does not display images, or play sounds.  It just displays text,  When a file is managed with version control, the command @kbd{C-x C-q}
25  as you would expect from a @strong{text} editor.  (whose general meaning is to make a buffer read-only or writable) now
26    does so by checking the file in or out.  Checking the file out makes
27    the buffer writable; checking it in makes the buffer read-only (at
28    least with RCS).
29    
30  @item  You can still use @kbd{C-x v v} to do these operations if you wish;
31  Specification of the font for a face now uses an XLFD font name, for  its meaning is unchanged.  If you want to control the buffer's
32  compatibility with other X applications.  This means that font  read-only flag without performing any version control operation,
33  attributes cannot be merged when combining faces; however, experience  use @kbd{M-x toggle-read-only}.
 shows that mergers are bad economics.  Face inheritance has also been  
 removed, so no one can accumulate ``too much face.''  
   
 @item  
 Several face appearance attributes, including 3D, strike-through, and  
 overline, have been eliminated.  
   
 @item  
 Emacs now provides its own ``lean and mean'' scroll bars instead of using  
 those from the X toolkit.  Toggle buttons and radio buttons in menus now  
 look just like any other menu item, which simplifies them, and prevents  
 them from standing out and distracting your attention from the other  
 menu items.  
   
 @item  
 There are no toolbars and no tooltips; in particular, @acronym{GUD}  
 mode cannot display variable values in a tooltip when you click on  
 that variable's name.  Instead, Emacs 20 provides a direct interface to  
 the debugger, so that you can type appropriate debugger commands, such  
 as @kbd{display foo} and @kbd{print bar}.  As these commands use  
 explicit words, their meaning is more self-evident.  
   
 @item  
 Colors are not available on text-only terminals.  If you @emph{must}  
 have colors, but cannot afford to run X, you can now use the MS-DOG  
 version of Emacs inside a DOS emulator.  
   
 @item  
 The mode line is not mouse-sensitive, since it is meant only to  
 display information.  Use keyboard commands to switch between buffers,  
 toggle read-only and modified status, switch minor modes on and off,  
 etc.  
   
 @item  
 The support for ``wheeled'' mice under X has been removed, because  
 of their slow scroll rate, and because you will find fewer and fewer of  
 these mice as you go back in time.  Instead Emacs 20 provides the  
 @kbd{C-v} and @kbd{M-v} keys for scrolling.  (You can also use the  
 scroll bar, but be advised that it, too, may be absent in yet earlier  
 Emacs versions.)  
   
 @item  
 Busy-cursor display is gone, as it was found to be too hard to draw on  
 displays whose resolution is getting lower and lower.  This means that  
 you get the standard kind of cursor blinking that your terminal  
 provides.  
   
 @item  
 Some aspects of Emacs appearance, such as the colors of the scroll bar  
 and the menus, can only be controlled via X resources.  Since colors  
 aren't supported except on X, it doesn't make any sense to do this in  
 any way but the X way.  For those users who aren't privy to X arcana,  
 we've provided good default colors that should make everybody happy.  
34    
35  @item  @item
36  Emacs 20 adds new lines to the buffer when you move down from the last  Filesets are not supported.
 line with @kbd{C-n} or a down-arrow.  
37    
38  @item  @item
39  The variable @code{show-trailing-whitespace} has no special meaning, so  For simplicity, windows always have fringes.  We wouldn't want
40  trailing whitespace on a line is now always displayed correctly: as  to in-fringe anyone's windows.  Likewise, horizontal scrolling
41  empty space.  To see if a line ends with spaces or tabs, type @kbd{C-e}  always works the same automatic way.
 on that line.  Likewise, empty lines at the end of the buffer are not  
 marked in any way; use @kbd{M->} to see where the end of the buffer is.  
42    
43  @item  @item
44  The spacing between text lines on the display now always follows the  When you are logged in as root, all files now give you writable
45  font design and the rules of your window manager.  This provides for  buffers in Emacs reflecting the fact that you can write any files.
 predictable appearance of the displayed text.  
 @end itemize  
   
 @item  
 Emacs 20 has simpler support for multi-lingual editing.  While not as  
 radical a simplification as Emacs 19 will be, it goes a long way toward  
 eliminating some of the annoying features:  
   
 @itemize @minus  
 @item  
 Translations of the Emacs reference cards to other languages are no  
 longer part of the distribution, because in the past we expect  
 computer users to speak English.  
   
 @item  
 To avoid extra confusion, many language environments have been  
 eliminated.  For example, @samp{Polish} and @samp{Celtic} (Latin-8)  
 environments are not supported.  The Latin-9 environment is gone,  
 too, because you won't need the Euro sign in the past.  
   
 @item  
 Emacs 20 always asks you which coding system to use when saving  
 a buffer, unless it can use the same one that it used to read the buffer.  
 It does not try to see if the preferred coding system is suitable.  
46    
47  @item  @item
48  Commands which provide detailed information about character sets and  Unicode support and unification between Latin-@var{n} character
49  coding systems, such as @code{list-charset-chars},  sets have been removed.  Cutting and pasting X selections does not
50  @code{describe-character-set}, and the @kbd{C-u C-x =} key-sequence,  support ``extended segments'' so there are certain coding systems
51  no longer exist.  The less said about non-ASCII characters, the  it cannot handle.
 better.  
52    
53  @item  @item
54  The terminal coding system cannot be set to something CCL-based, so  @kbd{C-w} in an incremental search always grabs an entire word
55  keyboards which produce @code{KOI8} and DOS/Windows codepage codes  into the search string.  More precisely, it grabs text through
56  cannot be supported directly.  Instead, you should use one of the input  the next end of a word.
 methods provided in the Leim package.  
 @end itemize  
   
 @item  
 As you move back through time, some systems will become unimportant or  
 enter the vaporware phase, so Emacs 20 does not support them:  
   
 @itemize @minus  
 @item  
 Emacs 20 cannot be built on GNU/Linux systems running on IA64 machines,  
 and you cannot build a 64-bit Emacs on Solaris or Irix even though there  
 are still 64-bit versions of those OSes.  
   
 @item  
 LynxOS is also not supported, and neither is the Macintosh, though they  
 still exist.  
 @end itemize  
57    
58  @item  @item
59  The arrangement of menu bar items differs from most other @acronym{GUI}  Yanking now preserves all text properties that were in the killed
60  programs.  We think that uniformity of look-and-feel is boring, and that  text.  The variable @code{yank-excluded-properties} has no meaning.
 Emacs' unique features require its unique menu-bar configuration.  
61    
62  @item  @item
63  You cannot save the options that you set from the @samp{Options}  Occur mode, Info mode, and Comint-derived modes now control
64  menu-bar menu; instead, you need to set all the options again each time  fontification in their own way, and @kbd{M-x font-lock-mode}
65  you start a new session.  However, if you follow the recommended  has nothing to do with it.  To control fontification in Info
66  practice and keep a single Emacs session running until you log out,  mode, use the variable @code{Info-fontify}.
 you won't have to set the options very often.  
67    
68  @item  @item
69  Emacs 20 does not pop up a buffer with error messages when an error is  In Dired's @kbd{!} command, @samp{*} and @samp{?} now
70  signaled during loading of the user's init file.  Instead, it simply  cause substitution of the file names wherever they appear---not
71  announces the fact that an error happened.  To know where in the init  only when they are surrounded by whitespace.
 file that was, insert @code{(message "foo")} lines judiciously into the  
 file and look for those messages in the @samp{*Messages*} buffer.  
72    
73  @item  @item
74  Some commands no longer treat Transient Mark mode specially.  For  Minibuffer completion commands now always complete the entire
75  example, @code{ispell} doesn't spell-check the region when Transient  minibuffer contents, just as if you had typed them at the end
76  Mark mode is in effect and the mark is active; instead, it checks the  of the minibuffer, no matter where point is actually located.
 current buffer.  (Transient Mark mode is alien to the spirit of Emacs,  
 so we are planning to remove it altogether in an earlier version.)  
77    
78  @item  @item
79  @kbd{C-Down-Mouse-3} does not show what would be in the menu bar  An unquoted @samp{$} in a file name is now an error, if the following
80  when the menu bar is not displayed.  name is not recognized as an environment variable.  Thus,
81    the file name @file{foo$bar} would probably be an error.  Meanwhile,
82    the @code{setenv} command does not expand @samp{$} at all.
83    
84  @item  @item
85  For uniformity, the @key{delete} function key in Emacs 20 works exactly like  Commands to set the mark at a place away from point, including
86  the @key{DEL} key, on both text-only terminals and window systems---it  @kbd{M-@@}, @kbd{M-h}, etc., don't do anything special when you repeat
87  always deletes backward.  This eliminates the inconsistency of Emacs 21,  them.  In most cases, typing these commands multiple times is
88  where the key labeled @key{delete} deletes forward when you are using a  equivalent to using them once.  @kbd{M-h} does not use its numeric
89  window system, and backward on a text-only terminals.  argument.
90    
91  @item  @item
92  The ability to place backup files in special subdirectories (controlled  @kbd{C-@key{SPC} C-@key{SPC}} has no special meaning and neither does
93  by @code{backup-directory-alist}) has been eliminated.  This makes  @kbd{C-u C-x C-x}.
 finding your backup files much easier: they are always in the same  
 directory as the original files.  
94    
95  @item  @item
96  Emacs no longer refuses to load Lisp files compiled by incompatible  There is no horizontal-bar cursor.
 versions of Emacs, which may contain invalid byte-code.  Instead,  
 Emacs now dumps core when it encounters such byte-code.  However, this  
 is a rare occurrence, and it won't happen at all when all Emacs  
 versions merge together, in the distant past.  
97    
98  @item  @item
99  The @kbd{C-x 5 1} command has been eliminated.  If you want to delete  The faces @code{minibuffer-prompt} and @code{mode-line-inactive}
100  all the frames but the current one, delete them one by one instead.  do not exist, and the features they control don't exist either.
101    
102  @item  @item
103  CC Mode now enforces identical values for some customizable options,  The default value of @code{keyboard-coding-system} is always @code{nil}.
104  such as indentation style, for better consistency.  In particular, if  Emacs does not set it based on your locale settings.
105  you select an indentation style for Java, the same style is used  If you want some other value, you must set it yourself.
 for C and C@t{++} buffers as well.  
106    
107  @item  @item
108  Isearch does not highlight other possible matches; it shows only the  SGML mode does not handle XML syntax, and does not have indentation support.
 current match, to avoid distracting your attention.  @kbd{Mouse-2} in  
 the echo area during incremental search now signals an error, instead of  
 inserting the current selection into the search string.  But you can  
 accomplish more or less the same job by typing @kbd{M-y}.  
109    
110  @item  @item
111  The ability to specify a port number when editing remote files with  The @kbd{C-h} subcommands have been rearranged--especially those that
112  @code{ange-ftp} was removed.  Instead, Emacs 20 provides undocumented  display specific files.  Type @kbd{C-h C-h} to see a list of these
113  features in the function @code{ange-ftp-normal-login} (@cite{Use the  commands; that will show you what is different.
 source, Luke!}) to specify the port.  
114    
115  @item  @item
116  Emacs 20 does not check for changing time stamps of remote files, since  Emacs does not read @file{~/.abbrev_defs} automatically; if you want
117  the old FTP programs you will encounter in the past could not provide  to load abbrev definitions from a file, you must always do so
118  the time stamp anyway.  Windows-style FTP clients which output the  explicitly.
 @samp{^M} character at the end of each line get special handling from  
 @code{ange-ftp} in Emacs 20, with unexpected results that should make  
 your life more interesting.  
119    
120  @item  @item
121  Many complicated display features, including highlighting of  The @samp{--fullwidth}, @samp{--fullheight} and @samp{--fullscreen}
122  mouse-sensitive text regions and popping up help strings for menu items,  command line options are not supported.
 don't work in the MS-DOS version.  Spelling doesn't work on MS-DOS,  
 and Eshell doesn't exist, so there's no workable shell-mode, either.  
 This fits the spirit of MS-DOS, which resembles a dumb character  
 terminal.  
123    
124  @item  @item
125  The @code{woman} package has been removed, so Emacs users on non-Posix  The @samp{--geometry} option now entirely applies only to the initial
126  systems will need @emph{a real man} to read manual pages.  (Users who  frame.
 are not macho can read the Info documentation instead.)  
127    
128  @item  @item
129  @code{recentf} has been removed, because we figure that you can remember  Many commands have been removed from the menus or rearranged.
 the names of the files you edit frequently.  With decreasing disk size,  
 you should have fewer files anyway, so you won't notice the absence of  
 this feature.  
130    
131  @item  @item
132  The @code{field} property does not exist in Emacs 20, so various  Many @code{etags} features for customizing parsing using regexps
133  packages that run subsidiary programs in Emacs buffers cannot in general  have been removed.
 distinguish which text was user input and which was output from the  
 subprocess.  If you need to try to do this nonetheless, Emacs 20  
 provides a variable @code{comint-prompt-regexp}, which lets you try to  
 distinguish input by recognizing prompt strings.  
134    
135  @item  @item
136  We have eliminated the special major modes for Delphi sources,  The CUA, ido, table, tramp, reveal, ruler-mode, and ibuffer packages
137  PostScript files, context diffs, and @file{TODO} files.  Use Fundamental  have been removed.  So has the spreadsheet, SES, and the algebraic
138  Mode instead.  calculator, Calc.  (We distribute Calc separately.)
139    
140  @item  @item
141  Many additional packages that unnecessarily complicate your life in  The kmacro package has been removed.  To start a keyboard macro you
142  Emacs 21 are absent in Emacs 20.  You cannot browse C@t{++} classes with  must use @kbd{C-x (}; to end one, @kbd{C-x )}; to execute the last
143  Ebrowse, access @acronym{SQL} data bases, access @acronym{LDAP} and  one, @kbd{C-x e}.
 other directory servers, or mix shell commands and Lisp functions using  
 Eshell.  
144    
145  @item  @item
146  To keep up with decreasing computer memory capacity and disk space, many  To keep up with decreasing computer memory capacity and disk space, many
147  other functions and files have been eliminated in Emacs 20.  other functions and files have been eliminated in Emacs 21.3.
148  @end itemize  @end itemize

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