Linked by Thom Holwerda on Sun 22nd Jul 2012 17:05 UTC
Mike Elgan at Cult of Mac: "It must surely be a sign of the impending apocalypse that Microsoft's operating systems have 'more taste' than Apple's. I'm referring, of course, to Apple's inexplicable use of skeuomorphic design in iOS and OS X apps, and contrasting that with Microsoft's stark avoidance of such cheesy gimmickry in the Windows 8 and Windows Phone user interfaces. A skeuomorphic design in software is one that 'decorates' the interface with fake reality - say, analog knobs or torn paper. The problem is worse than it sounds." Won't come as a surprise to anyone that I wholeheartedly agree with this one. iOS and Mac OS X are ruined by an incredibly high Microsoft BOB factor. I have no idea how - or if - Apple will address this, or if the current downward spiral is going to continue.
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RE[4]: OS Usability over time VS Expectations from OS
by Morgan on Mon 23rd Jul 2012 12:52
in reply to "RE[3]: OS Usability over time VS Expectations from OS"
Member since:2005-06-29
The bigger issue is that we're moving away again from the document-centric ideal, back to an application-centric world...
In a document-centric world, applications must get out of your way and hence they ought to be as consistent and unobtrusive as possible...with document calling individual components instead of entire applications.
In a document-centric world, applications must get out of your way and hence they ought to be as consistent and unobtrusive as possible...with document calling individual components instead of entire applications.
I swear, there are times when I wonder if you and I are long lost brothers or something; I feel like I'm reading my own quotes up there. I've been pushing for a return to document/workflow-centric paradigms for many years now, but I think you're right: We are losing that war.
RE[4]: OS Usability over time VS Expectations from OS
by siraf72 on Mon 23rd Jul 2012 13:39
in reply to "RE[3]: OS Usability over time VS Expectations from OS"
Member since:2006-02-22
Do you mean Document-centric in an OpenDoc type approach?
For me, I find documents becoming less and less relevant as the Data they contain (including presentation of the data) tends to exist in various places. I might have a .doc a pdf and a copy on google docs of the same document. Only the actual data within it matters. Increasingly, applications pass data to each other via APIs and keep local (often hidden documents).
What difference does it make if where the focus lies? If applications are too cumbersome they will be replaced by less cumbersome ones.
For me, I think looking for a one size fits all document-centric approach sounds nice but also like an impossible ideal.
RE[5]: OS Usability over time VS Expectations from OS
by Thom_Holwerda on Mon 23rd Jul 2012 13:49
in reply to "RE[4]: OS Usability over time VS Expectations from OS"
Member since:2005-06-29
What difference does it make if where the focus lies?
A huge one. Now, if I want to edit a bit of text in a word document, I have to load up ALL of Word - even if the doc only has text in it, it still loads up everything else, unrelated to text editing.
In a proper document-centric approach, you'd load up the doc, and when you start editing text, it automatically loads the appropriate text editing engine (preferably all standardised), and ONLY that. If you double click on a picture in the doc, the picture editing component is loaded.
An ideal, for sure, but something I always thought we were working towards.
RE[4]: OS Usability over time VS Expectations from OS
by redshift on Wed 25th Jul 2012 02:48
in reply to "RE[3]: OS Usability over time VS Expectations from OS"
Member since:2006-05-06
The bigger issue is that we're moving away again from the document-centric ideal, back to an application-centric world. In the latter, the application is the star, and as such, gets more attention than what actually matters (the document or content).
It is one of the reasons I find iOS difficult for content creation. The creative work I do on the desktop is made much harder for me when I can't freely move my content between apps as I can in the desktop world. Each app is its own walled garden for content due to a lack of filesystem management and interoperability.
Features
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/20/13 11:29 UTC
The day has finally come! Jolla has finally announced the launch device for its Sailfish operating system - and by god this is a looker. It's decidedly different from other phones out there, but it has good specifications and carries a relatively reasonably price tag - EUR 399, and it's up for pre-order today, shipping in the fourth quarter of this year.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/18/13 21:33 UTC
Why does Google get so much credit in the technology industry? Why, despite the company's many obvious failings, do many geeks and enthusiasts still hold a somewhat positive view on the all-knowing technology giant? A specific talk at Google I/O this week provides the answer.
Linked by David Adams on 05/16/13 4:23 UTC
OSNews is a sponsor of this year's O'Reilly OSCON in Portland, Oregon, USA. A lucky OSNews reader will win a free three-day pass, including two tutorials days. To win the pass, post a comment on this story saying something about Open Source Software or OSCON. We'll pick a winner at random next week. If you don't have an OSNews account, you may email us your entry. Part of the conference is the 9th annual Open Source Awards, and today the 16th is the deadline for nominations. If you'd like to nominate an outstanding open source contributor, do it here. Read on for more information about OSCON. Update: The 20% discount code for OSNews readers is "OSN."
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/11/13 21:41 UTC
"Windows is indeed slower than other operating systems in many scenarios, and the gap is worsening." That's one way to start an insider explanation of why Windows' performance isn't up to snuff. Written by someone who actually contributes code to the Windows NT kernel, the comment on Hacker News, later deleted but reposted with permission on Marc Bevand's blog, paints a very dreary picture of the state of Windows development. The root issue? Think of how Linux is developed, and you'll know the answer.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/08/13 14:22 UTC
This is one of those news items that's fun to write, fun to read, fun to comment on, and where no one will be able to say anything unkind. It's all just one big ball of awesome fluffiness. TuneTracker, the BeOS radio automation software, has just released something very special: TuneTracker System 5, the first version designed entirely and specifically for Haiku. In fact, it actually includes Haiku in the software package. Better yet, TuneTracker also unveiled several system-in-a-box products - which have Haiku and TuneTracker pre-installed.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 05/02/13 15:28 UTC
Exactly twenty years ago, a document was published that played a huge role in establishing the web as we know it today. Twenty years later, and this simple and straightforward document is proof of an irrefutable fact: while closed technologies can change markets, open technologies can change the world.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/29/13 21:06 UTC
Oh multitasking. That staple of computing that got thrown out the window with many modern smartphones. We got some rudimentary thing in its place - but even as multitasking on phone and tablets improves, its user-visible side remains cumbersome. Windows 8 has a neat implementation, and now it's time Android follows in it footsteps.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/24/13 22:24 UTC
They're here! Whether that excites you or not remains to be seen, but the Galaxy S4, which will most likely become the best selling Android smartphone of the year by a huge margin, has been reviewed by all the major sites, and there's lots of interesting conclusions in there - although I think most of you will get the gist.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/18/13 11:21 UTC
Nokia has posted its quarterly results for the first quarter of 2013, and just like the quarters that came before, there's not a whole lot of good news in there. The rise in Lumia sales still can't even dream of making up for the sales drop in Symbian phones, and when broken down in versions, the sales figures for Windows Phone 8 Lumias in particular are very disappointing. In North America, Nokia is getting slaughtered.
Linked by Thom Holwerda on 04/16/13 9:29 UTC
The day has finally come: Google has started shipping Google Glass to the lucky few early adopters. Now that it's shipping, Google has also unveiled a lot more about the API and the specifications of the device itself. While the company had already given out substantial details at earlier occasions, there are still a few surprises here.More Features »
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Member since:
2005-06-29
The bigger issue is that we're moving away again from the document-centric ideal, back to an application-centric world. In the latter, the application is the star, and as such, gets more attention than what actually matters (the document or content).
In a document-centric world, applications must get out of your way and hence they ought to be as consistent and unobtrusive as possible - with the ultimate goal being that applications become loose collections of components, with document calling individual components instead of entire applications.
I always thought this was what we were working towards, but somewhere we did a 180 and regressed back to the MS-DOS days. What a shame. I don't give a rat's ass about applications or their developers - I care about my shit.