OSNews

@ Don Cox


"Don't you use a screens menu? It works just like the menu on the Mac - you get a list of currently running programs and select the one you want. I find this simpler and more elegant that the Windows task bar (clutter) or Alt-Tab (which is a similar list but you have to do it
several times to get to the one you want)."

First of all, AmigaOS does not include any sort of screens menu by default. There are also Windows-like taskbars available as third-party tools for AmigaOS, yet I do not consider these as a part of Workbench/the Amiga GUI.

As for the Windows task bar, the Start button has one major advantage: Whatever program you are currently running, you can always start additional applications with just a few mouse clicks. In AmigaOS, you usually have to switch back to Workbench first, before you can start any software at all. This can be ineffective at times. (Yes, I am aware of things like ToolsDaemon but this is - again - not part of the UI that was designed by the CBM/Amiga guys. Also, note that ToolsDaemon is not something you would expect novice users to configure themselves.)


"I have a lot of experience of using Macs from 1986-96, and the reason I never bought one for my own use is the infuriating way in which all the programs fight for use of the Finder screen."

Yes, I also like the Amiga way of having one screen for each (big) application. For some programs, it just makes sense to use a different resolution than for the desktop/Finder.

In Windows, all applications run essentially on the very same screen at the very same resolution. This may be acceptable in an everyday life situation, but from a graphician's point of view this can be annoying sometimes.


"But in general, after many years of using Macs, Windows and Amiga, I found that a modern Amiga (ie with a current type of monitor) is the easiest to use."

Well, please keep in mind that you are an expert user. AmigaOS definetely has its merits if you have learned how to use it over the years. But it is not too well suited for novice users, for instance.


"That's why I use them. Nothing stops me using another platform if I preferred it."

I am not saying that Workbench is a bad interface. However, it is old and MacOS/Windows do a couple of things better by now.


"However, the point is not which interface is better, but that the "experts" have no experience at all of using Amiga (or BeOS) on a regular basis."

Well, the BeOS interface ignores a couple of rather important interface design rules.

According to Fitt's law, corners and edges of the screen are special because they are infinitely large. No matter how far you move your mouse up, once it hits the top of the screen, it stays there. You cannot overshoot your target!

Unfortunately, the BeOS UI was not designed in a way to make actually use of this.

Same about the menu bar at the top of the screen found in AmigaOS and MacOS. You cannot overshoot it which makes it very easy to pick. In BeOS, however, the menu bar is put in a window which can be moved around. This is proved to be less efficient!

While I have always been interested in BeOS ever since it was announced, I must say that the BeOS UI definetely could have been better. It offers hardly anything that other OSes should try to imitate...