Federkiel writes: "People working with Apple computers are used to a very consistent user experience. For a large part this stems from the fact that the Lisa type of GUI does not have the fight between MDI and SDI. The question simply never arises, because the Lisa type of GUI does not offer the choice to create either of both; it's something different all along. I usually think of it as 'MDI on steroids unified with a window manager'. It virtually includes all benefits of a SDI and and the benefits of an MDI." Read on for how I feel about this age-old discussion.
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Member since:2005-07-06
Quite true. It had to do with the Safari font rendering on Windows:
http://www.joelonsoftware.com/items/2007/06/12.html
The gist:
Apple font rendering honors the design of the typeface, at the expense of blurriness. MSWindows hammers the fonts into the pixel grid for greater legibility, at the expense of the look of the font.
Users generally like the one that they're used to.
Member since:2006-09-01
What does this have to do with what I posted?
I was commenting on UI packaging and the shallowness of people when it comes to choosing a UI. They don't sit down and consider all the fine grained details like button placement; they go after whatever shiny widget catches their eye.
My roommate's girlfriend want Ubuntu with Beryl because the windows would jiggle like Jello. Not for any other reason.
I posted farther down that UI gurus are just snake oil salesmen, and a good UI is totally subjective.
Member since:2005-07-07
I see I replied to the wrong person, it was meant as a reply to what Thom said above.
Anyway, I don't think a good UI is totally subjective. It's pretty easy to imagine two interfaces which do the same task, one being horribly complex, the other one needing just a few mouseclicks. Things like non-resizable dialogs, overcrowded toolbars, badly designed configure sections etc - it makes a difference.
Until you've worked with em long enough. After a few months, you'll prefer the one you're used to, no matter how horrific it is...
Member since:
2005-07-07
Even saying a design is better FOR YOU just means it's what you're used too... Wasn't there an article about this, ppl who simply preferred a familiar interface over another one, even if the second one was 'objectively' much more usable... ???