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This section provides information on the XOSL Preference dialog, which is opened by clicking on the Preference button.
Because most display controllers are configured differently, XOSL uses the VESA VBE 1.2 and 2.0 (16-bit) standard. The display driver created for XOSL should operate fine for any display controller compliant with VESA VBE version 1.2 or higher.
Some later version of XOSL will feature a driver that will include full VBE 3.0 support (including refresh rate options).
XOSL supports five different graphics modes: 640x480, 800x600, 1024x768, 1280x1024 and 1600x1200. This last mode is not a video mode defined by the VESA standard. Because of this, XOSL will determine the metrics of every VESA graphics mode it found. Note also that even if your display controller does provide support for 1600x1200, it might not be implemented for the VESA standard, which means XOSL cannot use it.
Before switching to a different video mode, it is recommended to first test whether or not the video mode is supported by the monitor. If the monitor does not support the mode, the graphics will not be displayed correctly, and it may even damage the monitor. All modes displayed by XOSL are supported by the display controller.
Use linear frame buffer
When the linear frame buffer option is used, screen updates take less
time, which in order increases performance. If your display controller
provides a linear frame buffer, this option should be enabled in XOSL.
In general only display controllers compliant with VESA VBE 2.0 or
higher will provide a linear frame buffer, although also some VBE 1.2
display controller will have it available. It is highly recommended you
enable this option when available. Note that you will have to hit Test
and Apply before it will take effect. If your
display controller does not have a linear frame buffer, this option
will be disabled.
Show window contents while dragging
When enabled, the content of a window is visible while dragging it over
the screen. When disabled, only a frame will be visible. This option
should only be used with fast machines on which the linear frame buffer
option is supported. It may not work on slower machines, due to the
fact that interrupts are not handled while in protected mode. This
means that at the time the graphics are drawn the mouse is ignored.
This will be solved in later releases.
Use additional font
XOSL currently provides two different fonts by default. The default
font is 10 point Arial (default.xff), while the additional is 8 point
Sans Serif (extra.xff). From the download section at http://xosl-ow.sourceforge.net
you can download XOSL Font Viewer & Creator,
a Windows [Win32] application, with which you can convert any Windows
font to an XOSL font.
Invert mouse cursor color
XOSL provides two different mouse cursor colors. Default is a white
cursor with a black border. Inverted is a black cursor with a white
border.
Use wallpaper
XOSL currently provides one wallpaper. When enabled the wallpaper is
drawn, when disabled the background color is drawn. Whether you should
use the wallpaper or not entirely depends on what you like. Using a
wallpaper will not slow down the system in anyway, except that
initialization will take longer (probably not noticeable).
Display boot item index
When enabled, the index (1, 2, ...) of each boot item will be displayed
in front of the boot item name on the main window.
Disable fade-in
When enabled, the fade-transition from the splash screen to the boot
manager screen will be skipped.
Disable fade-out
On default XOSL will do a fast fade-out (screen fades to black) when
the boot button is clicked. Because it takes a noticeable amount of
time, it is possible to disable fade-out.
Clear screen (before booting)
Normally, when XOSL boots, it will restore the text screen as it was
before XOSL was started. When this option is enabled, XOSL will clear
the screen instead.
Animate controls
When enabled (default), XOSL will animate all active control. That is,
when the mouse cursor is moved over a control, the control will be
drawn with more depth. When disabled, all controls will always be
displayed 'flat'.
XOSL provides a set of color schemes. These are closely related to the color schemes found in Microsoft Windows 9x/NT 4.0. The color of individual sections of windows can't yet be changed.
In addition to the color schemes, XOSL provides some additional color changing features. The Hue, Saturation and Luminance of the entire screen can be changed.
This option will change the intensity of the fade-in color. 0% will make it black, 100% will make it white.
XOSL currently supports two mouse types:
It is also possible to disable the mouse (select None) and operate XOSL with keyboard only. Mouse usage is highly recommended.
For both serial and PS/2 mice, the mouse speed can be changed. Ten different speed settings are available, although just five of them or used for PS/2 (1st, 3rd, …). When set to the highest speed it is possible that moving of windows (namely when the window contents is shown while dragging) is performed incorrect. This means that the system is not fast enough. The speed should be set to a lower value. This will be solved in later version.
With PS/2 mice, it is possible to set the sampling rate. The sampling rate ranges from 10 to 200 samples per second. By default it is set to 100 samples per second. Sampling rate does not affect the speed of the mouse cursor, it has only affect on the smoothness of moving the cursor.
Seven different sampling rates are available:
10 20 40 60 80 100 200
The list box provides a set of keyboard layouts. When selected, XOSL will match the layout as close as possible. Currently only the US (default) and French (azerty) keyboard layouts are implemented. More will be implemented soon (first Danish and Czech). If you find that there is no implementation for your keyboard layout, please report it at the XOSL general yahoo discussion list on http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/xosl.
Enhanced keyboard support
When enabled, XOSL will provide support some additional keys, which are
not supported by the default BIOS handler (e.g. F11, F12, Alt-TAB,
etc). Although recommended to enable this option, it may happen that it
is not supported by your BIOS. In that case you simply cannot use it.
Also, this feature has not been fully tested yet. There might still be
some keys or key-combinations that are not interpreted right by XOSL.
If you find one, please report it at the XOSL general yahoo discussion
list on http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/xosl.
In general unsupported keys will empty a hotkey edit box.
XOSL provides password protection for opening the XOSL Boot item configuration and XOSL Preference windows. This way it is only possible for the 'administrator' to change settings. When the password is set, XOSL will ask for it when either clicking the Setup or the Preference button. An opened window is not protected.
To assign a hotkey, select the specific edit box and hit the key or key-combination you want to assign. If nothing happens, the hotkey is not supported (for instance ‘F12').
Cycle windows
This hotkey is used to cycle through the open windows. Thus pressing
this key (combination) will activate the next open windows. The default
hotkey is Alt-W.
Restart XOSL
By pressing this hotkey, XOSL will restart. Why you want to restart may
have different reasons, for instance: you have selected an video mode
not supported by your monitor. The default hotkey is F10.
Cold reboot
Your system will perform a cold reboot when this key is pressed. The
default hotkey is Alt-F10.
Shutdown
When this hotkey is pressed, XOSL will be terminated and when selected,
power-off your system.
Soft power off
This feature is still experimental and is therefore disabled on
default. When enabled, XOSL will try to power-off your system when the shutdown
hotkey is pressed. Note that even if your system has full support for
soft power-off, XOSL might not support it.
Auto save
When enabled (default), All changes made at Preference and Setup are
automatically saved when either the dialog is closed, or when the boot
button is pressed.
No auto boot dialog
When enabled, instead of the auto boot dialog, XOSL will display the
auto boot progress on the main dialog. In both cases the mouse is
disabled. However, keys are handled as if auto boot is not used, which
means you can use hotkeys, etc.
Auto boot last boot item
When enabled, XOSL will automatically boot (with time-out) the boot
item that was last booted. It is set as default
boot item.
Allow active partition per HD
When enabled (default), XOSL will allow one active
partition per fixed disk. When disabled, XOSL will allow only one
activate partition in your entire system.
MBR virus protection
When enabled, on start-up XOSL will compare the master boot record
against the master boot record installed by XOSL (found in
CURR_MBR.XCF). If they are not equal, XOSL will issue a warning and
provide the ability to restore the (XOSL) master boot record again.
XOSL now comes with Ranish Partition Manager 2.44 beta. From the install utility it can be chosen whether or not to install it together with XOSL. To start Ranish Partition Manager a hotkey can be specified, which defaults to Ctrl-P. For security Ranish Partition Manager is protected by the password specified at Preference/Password.
Ranish Partition Manager is written by Mikhail Ranish. Note that certain circumstances exist where it is not free to use. Refer to http://www.ranish.com/part for details.