An interesting article has been making its way around the internet the past few days, titled "Top 10 Usability Highs Of Mac OS". Mac OS X indeed does some things very, very right, just like many other operating systems and graphical environments do some things very, very right. The issue with the list of the article in question is that many of the items on the list are not exactly examples of "Usability Highs" at all.
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Member since:2006-02-05
Member since:2005-07-06
It doesn't help the end user - but if the end user has to bring in a support tech, they can usually decipher the error code (even if "deciphering" means "search for it in Google", which is usually the case with Windows BSODs).
IMO, the ideal would be a terse "an error has occurred" message - with an option to show more details.
That said, both of my biases are showing. As a result of doing a lot of technical support, I believe that computer software/hardware should be evaluated based on how easy it is to diagnose and fix problems when they occur (and not just how well it works in normal situations).
And as a BeOS devotee, the "ideal" I described is essentially how things work(ed) with that OS: you get a "Welcome to Kernel Debugging Land" message, with a prompt that lets you run a stack crawl, etc, if you need more details.
Member since:2008-05-12
"Guru Meditation"
None of what follows is meant to suggest that the average user is expected to know, or even want to know all of this - but some users do...
I can work with Windows BSODs and they can be helpful, but they are far from elegant.
However, for the user who bothers to learn there is a related tool that can be quite helpful in determining the reason for the kernel panic.
If the computer has Windows and reboots instantly than it is unlikely that anything was written anywhere. But if it BSODs you will most likely have a MiniDump file. (Haven't you ever wondered why it sometimes takes so long just to display a blue screen with white text on it?)
The OS writes something to the Event Log, which does help, but even better are the MiniDump files. But it should be understood that when you first try to view a MiniDump file the process feels quite sadistic.
I mean, here you have a file that might just tell you all the intimate details about the crash that just happened, only there is nothing on your computer that can read it. I wish Microsoft didn't make accessing them so difficult.
You have to install the Debugging Tool, and the Debug files for your OS in order to properly access the Mini Dumps. You also need to know where they are written - this will be in the Windows folder, but (I am not positive) I think the location may vary from OS to OS.
Anyway, the BeOS method sounds like the better one to me, of the ones described. It gives a simple message, allows you to dig in deeper, if you want, and the OS already includes the necessary tools.
Whatever OS I use, I just continue to hope for fewer kernel panics, and better tools for problem solving when the inevitable occurs.
I appreciate it when the OS uses its last dying breath to give me clues as to who the killer is, and I hate digging deeper and deeper only to find more and more cryptic messages that have fewer returns when searching the related OS forums.
Edited 2008-08-14 22:14 UTC
Member since:2005-07-06
It helps me, and I'm sure lot's of other people that look after Windows systems. Generally speaking, the first point of call for a bugcheck code is support.microsoft.com, then Google.
And the bugcheck code get's written to the event log, even if the system reboots (unless the system really locks, then there is no evidence).
Official Apple statement on PRISM and privacy: "Regardless of the circumstances, our Legal team conducts an evaluation of each request and, only if appropriate, we retrieve and deliver the narrowest possible set of information to the authorities. In fact, from time to time when we see inconsistencies or inaccuracies in a request, we will refuse to fulfill it." This is basically Apple re-publishing their earlier statement in a more official manner. You either believe it, or you don't.
The open source Contiki operating system and its commercial Thingsquare distribution are making strides towards the connected home. According to a Computerworld article, a new LED light bulb manufacturer is putting small computers into their light bulbs. Each computer runs the Contiki OS, which gives each bulb an IP address and allows them to be controlled with a smartphone application. To connect the bulbs to the application, the bulbs use both Wi-Fi and the much lower power IEEE 802.15.4 mesh technology.
"Google asked the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court on Tuesday to ease long-standing gag orders over data requests it makes, arguing that the company has a constitutional right to speak about information it's forced to give the government. The legal filing, which cites the First Amendment's guarantee of free speech, is the latest move by the California-based tech giant to protect its reputation in the aftermath of news reports about sweeping National Security Agency surveillance of Internet traffic." Draining the ditch after the cow has drowned in it."I can't find one person who has been using the Nexus 7 for an extended period of time, and hasn't seen a massive downgrade in performance. Just what kind of downgrade are we talking here? I cannot pick up my Nexus 7 without experiencing problems like a lag of ten seconds, or more, just to rotate the display; touches refusing to acknowledged; stuttering notification panel actions; and unresponsive apps." Fully and utterly agreed. My Nexus 7 was blazing-fast and awesome for a few months, and at some point, it just started sucking. Just like that. I've tried loads of ROMs, and nothing helps.A new release of the hobby operating system MenuetOS! The release notes are a bit non-descript, but you'll have to take what you can get: "updates and improvements (picview, httpc, ehci, ...)"."The Internet is one of the most transformative technologies of our lifetimes. But for 2 out of every 3 people on earth, a fast, affordable Internet connection is still out of reach. And this is far from being a solved problem. There are many terrestrial challenges to Internet connectivity - jungles, archipelagos, mountains. There are also major cost challenges. Right now, for example, in most of the countries in the southern hemisphere, the cost of an Internet connection is more than a month's income. Solving these problems isn't simply a question of time: it requires looking at the problem of access from new angles. So today we're unveiling our latest moonshot from Google[x]: balloon-powered Internet access." Insane.
"MineAssemble is a tiny bootable Minecraft clone written partly in x86 assembly. I made it first and foremost because a university assignment required me to implement a game in assembly for a computer systems course. Because I had never implemented anything more complex than a 'Hello World' bootloader before, I decided I wanted to learn about writing my own kernel code at the same time. Note that the goal of this project was not to write highly efficient hand-optimized assembly code, but rather to have fun and write code that balances readability and speed. This is primarily accomplished by proper commenting and consistent code structuring." Just cool.
Jon Rubinstein, former CEO of Palm: "Well, I'm not sure I would have sold the company to HP. That's for sure. Talk about a waste. Not that I had any choice because when you sell a company you don't get to decide that. Obviously, the board and shareholders decide that. If we had known they were just going to shut it down and never really give it a chance to flourish, what would have been the point of selling the company? I think the deal we had with Verizon really hurt us, but who knew that at the time? These things are all hindsight.""And so it is with Dell's Alienware X51 R2, a small form factor gaming PC in console digs. It's shaped similar to Microsoft's Xbox 360 Slim, and though it's slightly larger than either a 360 or PlayStation 3, the X51 R2 would be right at home in a living room setting nestled next to a large screen TV. Indeed, it's adept at running Steam's Big Picture mode, and if your primary objective is to play games in the living room, go ahead and consider the X51 R2 a hybrid game console." This is obviously not the only machine like this - still, these are very valid console alternatives even for those that don't like being hunched over with a cramped WASD-claw. Also, PC gamers among us: could you get away with the $699 model for gaming?
From Bloomberg: "Microsoft, the world's largest software company, provides intelligence agencies with information about bugs in its popular software before it publicly releases a fix, according to two people familiar with the process. That information can be used to protect government computers and to access the computers of terrorists or military foes." The lid has officially been blown off.
Member since:
2005-07-06
ignorance is a bliss, right? ...
And a laundry list of 'codes' helps the end user - how? Microsoft have already demonstrated that they refuse to make available the list of error codes for BSOD's when they occur; heck, Microsoft has gone so far as to have automatic reboots instead of actually showing a BSOD.
The laundry list of Linux codes - that helps the user how? again, there is no standardised error codes, nor is there a single place to look up those error codes.
Screaming about the wonders of actually seeing a dump from a kernel panic may get your loins excited, but for the average end user - it is all Greek to them.