OSNews

The most important thing during a startup I believe, is to learn from the experts who have created great operating systems before. Like Mac OSX or BeOS.

Designing an OS for the masses is about creating that ultimate user experience. It is about designing something to increase workflow and productivity, without having the users fiddling around with the default settings just to get some tasks done. The masses are those who are afraid of a command-line interface (CLI), and if a Graphical User Interface (GUI) is designed with a CLI as a central core or generator for everything else, it is designed to fail in its mass appeal.

Although I'm primarily a Windows user, I believe I know why the Mac GUIs have such a long standing in their user friendliness. Many users who have had no prior computer experience have been captivated by the Mac GUI and stuck with it over the years despite the instability and sluggish performance. The secret to this success lies in the hiding of its CLI. The Mac OS designers have gone to great lengths to either eliminate the CLI (older Mac OS), or hide the CLI (Mac OSX). Microsoft knew from the start the importance of hiding the CLI (DOS) and "borrowed" the idea from Apple. Hiding the CLI meant that everything that could possibly be done should now be possible with the GUI. With this regard, Linux may never take off as a desktop OS, as long as the CLI is kept in the foreground, and that users would still have to grapple with it, even if it's a simple command.

1. "Hiding the Command Line Interface"
2. "Usabilty and Design Aesthetics"
3. "The Default Interface"
4. "Packaged Ability"
5. "Speed, Power, Efficiency"