The Modernization of Emacs: exists already

[Xah Lee]

Here are some Frequently Asked Questions about The Modernization of
Emacs.

They are slightly lengthy, so i've separated each item per post. The
whole article can be found at
http://xahlee.org/emacs/modernization.html
------------

Q: Aquamacs already does what you want.

A: Aquamacs is a emacs variant based on emacs, for Apple's Macintosh
computers, created in about 2004 by David Reitter. Aquamacs modifies
emacs so that its user interface follows modern (Mac OS X)
conventions. For example, copy, paste, undo shortcuts are cmd-c, cmd-
v, cmd-z. Open file is cmd-o, saving is cmd-s. Close window is cmd-w.
There is a redo command by default, with shortcut cmd-shift-z. By
following a modern user interface, almost all points mentioned in this
article are fixed in Aquamacs. For more info, see: Wikipedia Aquamacs↗
and Aquamac's home page at: Aquamacs.org ↗

As a emacs variant, it does help in spreading the idea that emacs user
interface should be modernized. However, a third-party variant
software is irrelevant to the modernization issue.

For example, suppose Microsoft Word remained with its DOS era command
line interface, for example, file is opened with [Esc] (to open the
menus), [T] (for Transfer), [L] (for Load). Suppose Microsoft hired a
third party to release a variant called MS AquaWord. This would not
help Microsoft Word the software itself, and is likely to complicate
the issue around Microsoft Word.

  Xah
  xah at xahlee.org
∑ http://xahlee.org/