Linked by Thom Holwerda on Fri 31st Oct 2008 14:47 UTC
Yes, we're still on the subject of Windows 7's user interface overhaul. We know what's going to change, we know what it looks like, but there's one important question that has not really been given much stage time: why? At PDC, one session was dedicated to just that question. Speaking is Chaitanya Sareen [.wmv], part of the windows user interface team. He'll place the changes in Windows 7 into context, talk about Windows' user interface history, and he'll explain why certain changes were made. An interesting insight into the goals of the Windows 7 interface.
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RE[3]: Change it, but don't change anything!
by sorpigal on Mon 3rd Nov 2008 11:33
in reply to "RE[2]: Change it, but don't change anything!"
Member since:2005-11-02
And this is where you are wrong! Vista does a lot things different then XP not for the sake of making things different. Like it or not, there is a concept behind removing things like the "One folder up"-Button. Just click on any part of the path in the bread-crumb-thingie and you jump to any folder above in the tree. Getting two fodlers up now takes one click instead of two = improvement.
This is one of those 'improvements' that I don't like. Yes, it *can* be better and I generally approve of this feature. But... removing the "up one" button is *still* bad. If you have a long path and want to go up to a folder *just left* of the leftmost displayed it takes much longer than moving your mouse pointer once and rapidly clicking one button.
I like the vista 'breadcrumbs' navigation stlye. I liked it when people proposed it for GTK's file chooser dialog in 2005, I think MS implemented it just right. I think it's the one thing in vista they got exactly right. I think they were fools to remove the up one folder button.
This is what I *hate* about UI improvement wonks. Just because they've decided doing something else is 'better' for everyone they want to *force* me to do it. They do not realize that they are not all-knowing. This is like Nautilus spatial mode all over again. The message was: We know how you should be working, so we wont give you an option of doing what you want. Our way is better, just conform to our expectations!
Member since:
2008-10-11
And this is where you are wrong! Vista does a lot things different then XP not for the sake of making things different. Like it or not, there is a concept behind removing things like the "One folder up"-Button. Just click on any part of the path in the bread-crumb-thingie and you jump to any folder above in the tree. Getting two fodlers up now takes one click instead of two = improvement. This is just an example of course. Of course you can not make everyone happy, you always have to target Mr.& and Mrs. Average.
And even if there is no obvious reason behind a change: Sometimes you need to make a change to see if it is an improvement or not because in a lot of scenarios only reallife use will tell.
And now you say: But give me the option to change it back the way it was. And the answer is: This is exactly the thing that leads to the kind of "bloat" (I hate that term) that you are brandmarking. You need to have millions and millions of options and different user interfaces, maintain more code just to satisfy a small percentage of users (and they are small).
And if you do not like it, who forces you to upgrade? Just stick with your old computer from 1995. Mine still works perfectly at my parents house.