Welcome to BlueNexus
An eComStation Website
eCS
Software
reviews,
comparisons
Application Review
eCo
Market
Review
by: Craig Miller – 09/15/11
OS Reviewed on: eComStation
2.1
Audio: Uniaud16 V1.9.25 & Uniaud32 V2.1.2
Video
Card Driver: Panorama (eCS 2.1 package)
Year:
2011
Version: 20110807
Game Type: Software
Distribution
Developed by: eCo
Software
Published by: eCo
Software
Homepage
Link: Click
Here
Online List: Click
Here
Download
eCo Market New!
This
version is 20110807 – File size - 93KB
You can see if
new versions are up by clicking here.
(1)
Introduction:
What is eCo Market?
Eco Market is a catalog of popular software for eComStation and IBM OS/2 Warp.
Manager of Software Packages
Feedback agregator: the users can send shot messages to the developers of an application.
************************
To me, I see eCo Market as a new platform for eCS to deliver software to it's user-base, giving old and new users alike the ability to see what programs/games/utilities/whatever are out there without having to search the Internet.
eCo Market is a gateway for 3rd party application to be delivered and are both free and for purchase. To buy a program (or sponsor a programmer/application), you must buy an eCo Software Gift Card, this does not look possible at the time of the review, if you go to the “load your account” page, it says it's not available at this time, when it is though, it seems that you will have to goto Mensy's site to charge the card.
(2) Installation:
The install is very easy as eCo Market is packaged in WarpIn. Just a few steps after downloading the program and you will be running it in no time.
|
|
|
|
|
There is one or two other windows but they just confirm your choices. I'm not going into much because I have several times with other review. The install is straight forward with where you are going to install eCo Market the hardest part. While I might sound board about this process, this is actually good. Really, your don't want an “exciting” install. Easier the better. |
(3)
Startup:
After the WarpIn install of eCo Market, you will get one icon on your desktop.
Pretty. Anyways, double clicking on the eCo Market will take you to the main window where all your “shipping” will take place.
As you can see, you have two separate windows, neither are named so I will call them the category window (left) and software window (right).
There is a title window but showing the eCo Market icon, clicking on it shows just general tasks such as maximize and exit. Basicly, there are no options, nothing to setup. Depending on the level of expertise you have, this could be a good or bad thing.
(4) The Program:
eCo Market is relatively a new application, but it is being updated quite often. Each update seems to make it even more useful than the last one.
The basic idea for eCo Market is three fold:
1. Give eCS users an easy method of finding great eCS software without getting lost on the Internet. Connect with the programmers if they have a question
2. Give programmers a way to directly connect with users, and hopefully make some money as well as some feedback.
3. Show the most updated software (free and not), allow people to easily download this software and install it.
The layout is as basic as you can get, Clicking on any of the files on the category window (left side) will then show the software window (right) the appropriate programs to view and download.
So for an example, if I wanted PMMail/2 (seen below) you simply double click (or right click) the mouse and click on “start download”. The software will start to download with a progress bar. Once done, you can again click on the program you just downloaded to open that folder. There, most of the programs are in WarpIn format and just take one click to get the install going, if not, they are in .Zip format. Hopefully the program is in WarpIn, so if your even lazier then that (me), you can just start the “WarpIn install” from the menu screen.
Another nice thing is that the once you have download a program, the menu will update to say that it has been, thus you will not forget.
Only one program at a time can be downloaded. While you download one program, all others are in que and will be downloaded one after another. I had no issues with this as it went off without a hitch.
A helpful option from the menu is the ability to view a programs home page so you can learn more about it without having to Google it.
By far though the best service eCo Market has is the ability for a user to send a message to the developer questions/comments/support directly by choosing the “Message for developer” option. A new window will come up with only three places to fill in. Easy. Again, I cannot stress it enough that eCs Market needs to be simple, and it does a good job of that.
The
more you message a developer, the more they will do!
eCo Market is missing somethings I think would make it easier for new and old eCS users. The left frame, the categories, is fine, maybe they could get some nice icons there, the plane white ones look like they are just place holders. People are visual and I think it would be easier to see what to pick and then see the name. That's just my preference though.
Looking at the main window as a new user, one wonders what is what, are these programs worth downloading? With the addition of the general comment under the program name, I think there needs to be one more frame to the right. Thus making the “Software” window the center focus, clicking on a program will then bring up additional info on the “new” frame to the far right.
Yep,
I did this as an example, it's more work, but people know what
they are downloading then!
With this design, the third frame could be used for screen shots, rating (maybe 1 to 5 stars?), and user comments. This would get the community also involved with the programmers.
It would also be nice to have a number maybe in the toolbar that tells the user how many apps are in the eCo Market, maybe even the last update. This will help users know the eCo Market has been updated.
Lastly, I think there should be a homepage that it starts off with with maybe recommended programs or a program of the week. This can help developers showcase their programs, maybe pay eCo Market a few bucks to do this, everyone wins.
There were never issues with eCo Market, no crashes, no lag. You can re-size the window for whatever you see fit. Since eCo Market is a native eCS program, it's fast to start and only needs a few seconds to update itself.
(5) Final Thoughts:
eCo Market has a bright future as long as it is updated. It is a missing piece of software that I honestly believe needs to be part of the eCS install experience so that it sits on the desktop on the first boot up. This way, new eCS users (and ones that are rusty) can just jump into finding software they can use.
eCo Market is free to download and use. I highly suggest downloading it and getting used to it, as I do think it has a place in eCS's future.
(6) Updates after the review:
09-18-11 - eCo Market's Eugene Gorbunoff emailed me to give me some additional news on eCo Market after I posted my review.
1)
Plans for future:
* eCenter widget aimed to notify users about
updates
* Description of applications
* Search in the
catalog
2) Messages for users:
*
users can send suggestions what apps to include to the catalog
*
the developers can add their apps to the catalog
* users can
translate descriptions of apps to other languages
3)
Importance of eCo
Market:
http://ru.ecomstation.ru/projects/ecomarket/?action=why
