So that, when you've spent many years navigating multiple desktops using Ctrl-Arrow, you now end up moving through them single file. As opposed to when they're arranged in a 2x2 grid, being able to get to any desktop with a single Ctrl-Arrow.
Sure, I'm slowly getting used to Ctrl-1, Ctrl-2, but my brain just prefers the concept of directional movement rather than numbering systems (numbering systems are for libraries).
This is a ridiculously picky complaint.
Apple revamped all of the Desktops and Expose and put them all into one coherent framework. They even managed to keep Ctl-Arrow just for you and you're complaint that it now takes two hits on the arrow key instead of one because the arrangement is linear instead of a grid?
Why don't you just shoot yourself if you find life that difficult? I bet you complain if your teabag is dunked the incorrect number of times also.
... I feel that Explorer is vastly superior to Finder for anyone who actually uses the file system. ... An indication of Finder weakness is the number of Finder add ons that have found a market. You just don't see that among Windows users. Another indication is the typical Mac user's overloaded desktop.. ...
I'm calling 100% BS on both of these statements and I bet you can't back up or prove either one in any way.
I'm only aware of one or two Finder add-ons and only one that has any traction in the market at all. I'm going to say (without any proof at all just like you), that the absolute number of Windows Explorer ad-ons is double or triple the number of Finder add-ons. I know I've dealt with Macs by the dozen every day for the last ten years or so and have literally *never* seen anyone use a Finder add-on at all.
I get to see a lot of user desktops and the giant field of icons on the desktop is pretty much the norm for a novice user on both sides of the OS fence. I've never seen any indication that Mac users do this and Windows users don't. People tend to use the desktop to organise all their files and all their downloads in both OS's, and they rarely organise stuff more than one folder deep.
While I have few usability issues with ribbon, such as header text offering little clarity yet occupying precious space, if properly applied, ribbon can be (1) an effective way to discover new features that users may otherwise not be exposed to and (2) provide context sensitive options that are relevant to selected items at hand.
Unfortunately, Windows 8 is an example of ribbon abuse.
The whole "clipboard" section is unnecessary and adds to confusion. Although clipboard can be used to copy, delete, and move files and directories, using clipboard for file management is ambiguous and made redundant with "organization" section that immediately follows.
What's the difference between "open" and "edit"?
"Select" section is also after thought. If they care about usability, learn from how email clients handle selection and put checkbox next to each file and directory.
Ultimately, Explorer/Finder are supposed to do just one of two functions: (1) helping users organize and (2) helping users find stuff. Apple is moving towards the direction of nixing Finder altogether (on iOS, you don't worry about organizing files... it just works). But Microsoft is choosing to stay in the past.
FYI, the ribbon is collapsible so you don't ever have to see it unless you want to. It will most likely not be used, but
Cut, Copy, and Paste function differently than Move To and Copy To. Like the Send To option when your right-click a file, they probably have system-defined selections such as, "Desktop", "Documents", "Removable Disk", etc.
Open may "open" a picture in a photo viewer while "edit" may open it in image manifulation program. Open a webpage in the browser, edit in site builder program. Get it?
They started putting the option for checkboxes in Vista. You can enable it in Folder Options.
I doubt most people will use it, but similarly to what you said, it could help people do thinks they didn't know was possible otherwise. Apple can nix the Finder, it's crap anyway compared to Windows Explorer, IMO of course. Microsoft isn't staying in the past. Traditional computing isn't going away any time soon and if Microsoft gets the dual interface right, which I'm confident they will, there's no reason it ever should.
Spaces mostly copied multiple desktops from decades past with some nifty UI additions. Remember they now have fullscreen apps which are in themselves a space. Now consider you can then no longer just build out columns and rows of your desktops do this fundamental and useful change to fullscreen apps. Would you just have blank spaces for when the grud numbers weren't right or would you have a completely different way of accessing fullscreen apps? Doesn't that defeat the purpose of fullscreen apps?
I never use fullscreen apps except for watching movies. In which case, I'm not doing anything else and so I don't need access to other apps.
Sure, I do like having one app per desktop in order to eliminate clutter (the whole point of multiple desktops for me). But sometimes I may pull up a small app like Calculator or a Terminal window and squeeze it beside the other (main) app because it's needed in the same workflow for a bit. In which case I don't want to have a fullscreen app because it just gets in the way.
You can say what you like about Apple trying to add their own spin to an old concept, but for me it's always been about creating an efficient and uncluttered workflow -- work on one desktop, communication on another, etc. That allows me to deeply focus on one thing at a time without getting distracted.
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What about the other two things Aquatic mentioned: Exposé and Dashboard. I don't see how those are worsened with Lion. If anything I'd say the biggest shortcoming of Dashboard is the lack of updated Widgets.
Again, I never use Dashboard because most of the things I do require heavyweight apps. If I need to check the weather or an RSS feed quickly, I have my iPhone beside me for that (another "desktop", so to speak). I guess I just don't like the feeling of having things piled on top of each other for some reason -- even if there are transparency effects and whatnot. It just feels messy to me.
As for Expose -- again, because I tend to have one app per desktop, I don't have to use it that much. However, I'd prefer if there was a hotkey to spread out all of the windows on a particular desktop (rather than just for a single application).
Apple revamped all of the Desktops and Expose and put them all into one coherent framework. They even managed to keep Ctl-Arrow just for you and you're complaint that it now takes two hits on the arrow key instead of one because the arrangement is linear instead of a grid?
Why don't you just shoot yourself if you find life that difficult? I bet you complain if your teabag is dunked the incorrect number of times also.
I've only been organizing my applications into virtual desktops this way for almost 20 years. With probably well into hundreds of thousands of virtual desktop changes during that time over the course of writing dozens of large pieces of software, juggling that with many thousands of email messages, IM conversations, technical documentation lookups, etc. But what do I know?
It amazing to see people who are just so blindly in love with Apple that they believe they "let" you do things (re. the Ctrl-Arrow which has been in use since virtual desktops were first invented). Apple made it a "coherent framework". Hilarious. Fandom is such a comedy...
As for Expose -- again, because I tend to have one app per desktop, I don't have to use it that much. However, I'd prefer if there was a hotkey to spread out all of the windows on a particular desktop (rather than just for a single application).
Three-finger swipe up shows all windows for the current desktop in Exposé, and three-fingers to the right/left switches between desktops showing all the windows in Exposé.
Cut, Copy, and Paste function differently than Move To and Copy To. Like the Send To option when your right-click a file, they probably have system-defined selections such as, "Desktop", "Documents", "Removable Disk", etc.
I don't think so. In Windows 7 Explorer there are "Copy to folder" and "Move to folder" options under the "Edit" menu.
It looks like in Windows 8 they are just exposing this functionality.
I think for novice users "Copy to folder" and "Move to folder" actually makes more sense than cut/copy/paste.
I use Mac OS at work and Windows 7 at home. I've owned a dozen of Macs, but I prefer Windows. To me Mac OS is very overrated. While graphically Mac OS is more elegant, Windows provides better usability.
1. Simple example: resizing a window.
Mac OS: if a lower part of a window is below the edge of my screen I have to make extra clicks to move it up so I can access lower right corner. Also maximize button does not work as well on Mac.
Windows: any window can be resized from any side and any corner.
2. Another example: dual monitor setup.
Mac OS: if you move application window to a secondary monitor, your top menu remains on primary monitor. Very odd
3. Another example: you trying to login to OS and you Caps are Locked.
Windows will tell you right away: Mac OS won't
4. Windows Library folders. In a library, you can collect files of various sorts without moving them from the folder where they're stored; libraries can even collect files from different disks. It's easy to create these collections of whatever you'd like and pin them to the left-hand side of the window.
Mac OS can't do this.
5. Windows is more keyboard friendly offering more keyboard shortcuts.
and the list can go on 6, 7, 8... I don't like MS Office ribbon though.
They are not adding, only exposing. Much as I can see, all of those features are already available in Windows 7 Explorer, from right-click menu or "Organize" menu. So people who don't like right-click (Apple converts? ) or menus will have everything on screen. Those who don't like clutter can use handy-dandy little arrow next to Help button to minimize ribbon.
There is not much doubt existing users will do it traditional way, through shortcuts or right-click... but I think it makes sense for new users. Time will tell.
You are, of course, 100% correct.
Or maybe more like 99%. We don't have to wait to see if "time will tell" because it makes sense for new users. No "ifs" or "buts" about it.
This ribbon stuff is a small productivity version of what Job's did with the iPad. People will complain and say what they want, but the key is to give them what why need, and Microsoft have a long history of telemetry data showing the productivity increase after moving toward the ribbon.
Personally I'll probably just stick to context menus and shortcuts... but even for me there is something in this as after minimizing the ribbon there is considerably more vertical resolution available compared to Windows 7.
The most interesting part of the blog post for me was how Microsoft are de-emphasizing Explorer as a media manager.
IMO this is what most "normal" consumers are doing with their PCs, which means Microsoft are essentially de-emphasizing Explorer itself.
I think it will end up that what the Windows Live group (which has been rolled into the Windows group under the direction of Sinofsky) is working on will be far more interesting than a change in the Explorer UI.
I use Mac OS at work and Windows 7 at home. I've owned a dozen of Macs, but I prefer Windows. To me Mac OS is very overrated. While graphically Mac OS is more elegant, Windows provides better usability.
1. Simple example: resizing a window.
Mac OS: if a lower part of a window is below the edge of my screen I have to make extra clicks to move it up so I can access lower right corner. Also maximize button does not work as well on Mac.
Windows: any window can be resized from any side and any corner.
1) You can resize a window from any edge in Lion.
2) There is no Maximize button in Mac OS X, it's an Optimize button.
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2. Another example: dual monitor setup.
Mac OS: if you move application window to a secondary monitor, your top menu remains on primary monitor. Very odd
Seems to be a common enough complain but I've never understood why someone would want to have their Menu Bar on a non-primary display. That's just backasswards.
Quote:
3. Another example: you trying to login to OS and you Caps are Locked.
Windows will tell you right away: Mac OS won't
That's a bald face lie.
Quote:
4. Windows Library folders. In a library, you can collect files of various sorts without moving them from the folder where they're stored; libraries can even collect files from different disks. It's easy to create these collections of whatever you'd like and pin them to the left-hand side of the window.
Mac OS can't do this.
You can pin anything you'd like to the sidebar in Finder. You can pin things to the Dock.
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5. Windows is more keyboard friendly offering more keyboard shortcuts.
Do you not understand the concept of a keyboard shortcut. You see you enable/disable, change the keys, and add/remove items right from System Preferences.
While I have few usability issues with ribbon, such as header text offering little clarity yet occupying precious space, if properly applied, ribbon can be (1) an effective way to discover new features that users may otherwise not be exposed to and (2) provide context sensitive options that are relevant to selected items at hand.
Unfortunately, Windows 8 is an example of ribbon abuse.
The whole "clipboard" section is unnecessary and adds to confusion. Although clipboard can be used to copy, delete, and move files and directories, using clipboard for file management is ambiguous and made redundant with "organization" section that immediately follows.
What's the difference between "open" and "edit"?
"Select" section is also after thought. If they care about usability, learn from how email clients handle selection and put checkbox next to each file and directory.
Agreed.
Things like copy/paste/rename/select all do not need dedicated buttons. Even my mum knows to use ctrl+c etc. Why do they need to take up so much space with visual clutter?
But the tabs are really what kills the ribbon. Why not just allow drag and drop customisation of a single menu bar? Power users should be able to take off the training wheels and have all the tools they actually use a single tap away instead of having to juggle back and forth between nested menus.
Tool you need not on the ?Home? tab? Well you could sit there for ten minutes internally pondering the conceptual reality of whether the task is more a ?view? task or a ?page layout? task but it?s probably just quicker to blindly page through all the tabs until you find what you?re looking for.
Older versions of Word at least had a mechanism, albeit convoluted, for customising the menu bars. It was a pain, but once it was set up my productivity skyrocketed.
The role of the OS should be to fade into the background and allow the user?s content to stand out. But good design can train people to adopt an efficient way of working. It seems like they always chase the lowest common denominator of computer user. High-contrast, Fisher Price colours.
Even the way Apple labels buttons with [Save] [Quit] [Cancel] is so much more efficient than Microsoft dialog boxes, which always read something like:
?Are you really sure you don?t want to cancel quitting the program without saving? Warning: Moving your mouse on the screen may expose your computer to malicious software.? [Yes] [No] [Cancel]
But the tabs are really what kills the ribbon. Why not just allow drag and drop customisation of a single menu bar? Power users should be able to take off the training wheels and have all the tools they actually use a single tap away instead of having to juggle back and forth between nested menus.
You mean like allowing a power user to customize the Quick Access Toolbar and minimize the ribbon?
Things like copy/paste/rename/select all do not need dedicated buttons. Even my mum knows to use ctrl+c etc. Why do they need to take up so much space with visual clutter?
Your mom doesn't represent to majority of the world. My mom knows them too but unfortunately now she's a stroke victim and is paralyzed on her left side. This new interface would actually be easier for her because most of the buttons are big and clearly labled. I also know plenty of people who don't know any keyboard shortcuts. You don't have to use the ribbon, you can collapse it, but it doesn't mean it isn't useful for other people.
Lets just be honest here guys. No matter what MS does with Windows 8 you will say it is terrible. But if Apple added the exact same feature into OSX you would praise it as revolutionary.
These things are just operating systems some people like OSX some like Windows, both have their advantages; does it have to turn into a war?
I use Mac OS at work and Windows 7 at home. I've owned a dozen of Macs, but I prefer Windows. To me Mac OS is very overrated. While graphically Mac OS is more elegant, Windows provides better usability.
1. Simple example: resizing a window.
Mac OS: if a lower part of a window is below the edge of my screen I have to make extra clicks to move it up so I can access lower right corner. Also maximize button does not work as well on Mac.
Windows: any window can be resized from any side and any corner.
2. Another example: dual monitor setup.
Mac OS: if you move application window to a secondary monitor, your top menu remains on primary monitor. Very odd
3. Another example: you trying to login to OS and you Caps are Locked.
Windows will tell you right away: Mac OS won't
4. Windows Library folders. In a library, you can collect files of various sorts without moving them from the folder where they're stored; libraries can even collect files from different disks. It's easy to create these collections of whatever you'd like and pin them to the left-hand side of the window.
Mac OS can't do this.
5. Windows is more keyboard friendly offering more keyboard shortcuts.
and the list can go on 6, 7, 8... I don't like MS Office ribbon though.
Not meaning to be harsh but I'm often.
1. Moot point as of Lion. Also, expose and spaces means that window sizing is a "set once and forget" activity.
2. Agreed. Macs or not optimised for dual monitor set-ups. Though in all other instances having the menu bar at the top of the screen (rather than in the window) makes it much faster to access drop down menus (because targets at the top of the screen have an infinite height).
3. Doesn't the login screen just ignore Caps Lock regardless of whether it's on or off? That's even more elegant.
4. It sounds like a search folder but I have found spotlight search on an as needed basis is more efficient than manually archiving stuff.
5. Such as? Spacebar to quicklook a file. Command+space type then enter to search or open any application. So useful. Command+, to access preferences for any program. Neat.
I think Windows Explorer looks better than Lion Finder from a distance. Mainly because Apple took all the colour out, and I never liked the combined title bar/tool bar look anyway.
But the Finder is undoubtedly easier to use, I find ribbon apps hard to learn in general. And as the article states, who really cares anyway, because Apple is de-emphasizing the file system. That will be the ultimate Fix The Finder - make it irrelevant.
I know. I use it everyday. But unlike previous incarnations it can only support a single row of icons!!! This is not enough space to hold the text editing tools in addition to the other tools so you still end up having to juggle back and forth between the ribbon.
Comments
So that, when you've spent many years navigating multiple desktops using Ctrl-Arrow, you now end up moving through them single file. As opposed to when they're arranged in a 2x2 grid, being able to get to any desktop with a single Ctrl-Arrow.
Sure, I'm slowly getting used to Ctrl-1, Ctrl-2, but my brain just prefers the concept of directional movement rather than numbering systems (numbering systems are for libraries).
This is a ridiculously picky complaint.
Apple revamped all of the Desktops and Expose and put them all into one coherent framework. They even managed to keep Ctl-Arrow just for you and you're complaint that it now takes two hits on the arrow key instead of one because the arrangement is linear instead of a grid?
Why don't you just shoot yourself if you find life that difficult? I bet you complain if your teabag is dunked the incorrect number of times also.
... I feel that Explorer is vastly superior to Finder for anyone who actually uses the file system. ... An indication of Finder weakness is the number of Finder add ons that have found a market. You just don't see that among Windows users. Another indication is the typical Mac user's overloaded desktop.. ...
I'm calling 100% BS on both of these statements and I bet you can't back up or prove either one in any way.
I'm only aware of one or two Finder add-ons and only one that has any traction in the market at all. I'm going to say (without any proof at all just like you), that the absolute number of Windows Explorer ad-ons is double or triple the number of Finder add-ons. I know I've dealt with Macs by the dozen every day for the last ten years or so and have literally *never* seen anyone use a Finder add-on at all.
I get to see a lot of user desktops and the giant field of icons on the desktop is pretty much the norm for a novice user on both sides of the OS fence. I've never seen any indication that Mac users do this and Windows users don't. People tend to use the desktop to organise all their files and all their downloads in both OS's, and they rarely organise stuff more than one folder deep.
While I have few usability issues with ribbon, such as header text offering little clarity yet occupying precious space, if properly applied, ribbon can be (1) an effective way to discover new features that users may otherwise not be exposed to and (2) provide context sensitive options that are relevant to selected items at hand.
Unfortunately, Windows 8 is an example of ribbon abuse.
- The whole "clipboard" section is unnecessary and adds to confusion. Although clipboard can be used to copy, delete, and move files and directories, using clipboard for file management is ambiguous and made redundant with "organization" section that immediately follows.
- What's the difference between "open" and "edit"?
- "Select" section is also after thought. If they care about usability, learn from how email clients handle selection and put checkbox next to each file and directory.
Ultimately, Explorer/Finder are supposed to do just one of two functions: (1) helping users organize and (2) helping users find stuff. Apple is moving towards the direction of nixing Finder altogether (on iOS, you don't worry about organizing files... it just works). But Microsoft is choosing to stay in the past.FYI, the ribbon is collapsible so you don't ever have to see it unless you want to. It will most likely not be used, but
- Cut, Copy, and Paste function differently than Move To and Copy To. Like the Send To option when your right-click a file, they probably have system-defined selections such as, "Desktop", "Documents", "Removable Disk", etc.
- Open may "open" a picture in a photo viewer while "edit" may open it in image manifulation program. Open a webpage in the browser, edit in site builder program. Get it?
- They started putting the option for checkboxes in Vista. You can enable it in Folder Options.
I doubt most people will use it, but similarly to what you said, it could help people do thinks they didn't know was possible otherwise. Apple can nix the Finder, it's crap anyway compared to Windows Explorer, IMO of course. Microsoft isn't staying in the past. Traditional computing isn't going away any time soon and if Microsoft gets the dual interface right, which I'm confident they will, there's no reason it ever should.Spaces mostly copied multiple desktops from decades past with some nifty UI additions. Remember they now have fullscreen apps which are in themselves a space. Now consider you can then no longer just build out columns and rows of your desktops do this fundamental and useful change to fullscreen apps. Would you just have blank spaces for when the grud numbers weren't right or would you have a completely different way of accessing fullscreen apps? Doesn't that defeat the purpose of fullscreen apps?
I never use fullscreen apps except for watching movies. In which case, I'm not doing anything else and so I don't need access to other apps.
Sure, I do like having one app per desktop in order to eliminate clutter (the whole point of multiple desktops for me). But sometimes I may pull up a small app like Calculator or a Terminal window and squeeze it beside the other (main) app because it's needed in the same workflow for a bit. In which case I don't want to have a fullscreen app because it just gets in the way.
You can say what you like about Apple trying to add their own spin to an old concept, but for me it's always been about creating an efficient and uncluttered workflow -- work on one desktop, communication on another, etc. That allows me to deeply focus on one thing at a time without getting distracted.
What about the other two things Aquatic mentioned: Exposé and Dashboard. I don't see how those are worsened with Lion. If anything I'd say the biggest shortcoming of Dashboard is the lack of updated Widgets.
Again, I never use Dashboard because most of the things I do require heavyweight apps. If I need to check the weather or an RSS feed quickly, I have my iPhone beside me for that (another "desktop", so to speak). I guess I just don't like the feeling of having things piled on top of each other for some reason -- even if there are transparency effects and whatnot. It just feels messy to me.
As for Expose -- again, because I tend to have one app per desktop, I don't have to use it that much. However, I'd prefer if there was a hotkey to spread out all of the windows on a particular desktop (rather than just for a single application).
This is a ridiculously picky complaint.
Apple revamped all of the Desktops and Expose and put them all into one coherent framework. They even managed to keep Ctl-Arrow just for you and you're complaint that it now takes two hits on the arrow key instead of one because the arrangement is linear instead of a grid?
Why don't you just shoot yourself if you find life that difficult? I bet you complain if your teabag is dunked the incorrect number of times also.
I've only been organizing my applications into virtual desktops this way for almost 20 years. With probably well into hundreds of thousands of virtual desktop changes during that time over the course of writing dozens of large pieces of software, juggling that with many thousands of email messages, IM conversations, technical documentation lookups, etc. But what do I know?
It amazing to see people who are just so blindly in love with Apple that they believe they "let" you do things (re. the Ctrl-Arrow which has been in use since virtual desktops were first invented). Apple made it a "coherent framework". Hilarious. Fandom is such a comedy...
As for Expose -- again, because I tend to have one app per desktop, I don't have to use it that much. However, I'd prefer if there was a hotkey to spread out all of the windows on a particular desktop (rather than just for a single application).
Three-finger swipe up shows all windows for the current desktop in Exposé, and three-fingers to the right/left switches between desktops showing all the windows in Exposé.
Cut, Copy, and Paste function differently than Move To and Copy To. Like the Send To option when your right-click a file, they probably have system-defined selections such as, "Desktop", "Documents", "Removable Disk", etc.
I don't think so. In Windows 7 Explorer there are "Copy to folder" and "Move to folder" options under the "Edit" menu.
It looks like in Windows 8 they are just exposing this functionality.
I think for novice users "Copy to folder" and "Move to folder" actually makes more sense than cut/copy/paste.
Office 2011 is a real shame. Horribly complicated... Almost like they deliberately went out of their way to make it less usable.
Are you high and drunk? Office 2011 is more usable than 04 and 08 with their terrible floating bars. It is also more powerful than iWork.
1. Simple example: resizing a window.
Mac OS: if a lower part of a window is below the edge of my screen I have to make extra clicks to move it up so I can access lower right corner. Also maximize button does not work as well on Mac.
Windows: any window can be resized from any side and any corner.
2. Another example: dual monitor setup.
Mac OS: if you move application window to a secondary monitor, your top menu remains on primary monitor. Very odd
3. Another example: you trying to login to OS and you Caps are Locked.
Windows will tell you right away: Mac OS won't
4. Windows Library folders. In a library, you can collect files of various sorts without moving them from the folder where they're stored; libraries can even collect files from different disks. It's easy to create these collections of whatever you'd like and pin them to the left-hand side of the window.
Mac OS can't do this.
5. Windows is more keyboard friendly offering more keyboard shortcuts.
and the list can go on 6, 7, 8... I don't like MS Office ribbon though.
They are not adding, only exposing. Much as I can see, all of those features are already available in Windows 7 Explorer, from right-click menu or "Organize" menu. So people who don't like right-click (Apple converts?
There is not much doubt existing users will do it traditional way, through shortcuts or right-click... but I think it makes sense for new users. Time will tell.
You are, of course, 100% correct.
Or maybe more like 99%. We don't have to wait to see if "time will tell" because it makes sense for new users. No "ifs" or "buts" about it.
This ribbon stuff is a small productivity version of what Job's did with the iPad. People will complain and say what they want, but the key is to give them what why need, and Microsoft have a long history of telemetry data showing the productivity increase after moving toward the ribbon.
Personally I'll probably just stick to context menus and shortcuts... but even for me there is something in this as after minimizing the ribbon there is considerably more vertical resolution available compared to Windows 7.
The most interesting part of the blog post for me was how Microsoft are de-emphasizing Explorer as a media manager.
IMO this is what most "normal" consumers are doing with their PCs, which means Microsoft are essentially de-emphasizing Explorer itself.
I think it will end up that what the Windows Live group (which has been rolled into the Windows group under the direction of Sinofsky) is working on will be far more interesting than a change in the Explorer UI.
I use Mac OS at work and Windows 7 at home. I've owned a dozen of Macs, but I prefer Windows. To me Mac OS is very overrated. While graphically Mac OS is more elegant, Windows provides better usability.
1. Simple example: resizing a window.
Mac OS: if a lower part of a window is below the edge of my screen I have to make extra clicks to move it up so I can access lower right corner. Also maximize button does not work as well on Mac.
Windows: any window can be resized from any side and any corner.
1) You can resize a window from any edge in Lion.
2) There is no Maximize button in Mac OS X, it's an Optimize button.
2. Another example: dual monitor setup.
Mac OS: if you move application window to a secondary monitor, your top menu remains on primary monitor. Very odd
Seems to be a common enough complain but I've never understood why someone would want to have their Menu Bar on a non-primary display. That's just backasswards.
3. Another example: you trying to login to OS and you Caps are Locked.
Windows will tell you right away: Mac OS won't
That's a bald face lie.
4. Windows Library folders. In a library, you can collect files of various sorts without moving them from the folder where they're stored; libraries can even collect files from different disks. It's easy to create these collections of whatever you'd like and pin them to the left-hand side of the window.
Mac OS can't do this.
You can pin anything you'd like to the sidebar in Finder. You can pin things to the Dock.
5. Windows is more keyboard friendly offering more keyboard shortcuts.
Do you not understand the concept of a keyboard shortcut. You see you enable/disable, change the keys, and add/remove items right from System Preferences.
I don't think so. In Windows 7 Explorer there are "Copy to folder" and "Move to folder" options under the "Edit" menu.
It looks like in Windows 8 they are just exposing this functionality.
I think for novice users "Copy to folder" and "Move to folder" actually makes more sense than cut/copy/paste.
Aha, you are right. I never knew those options were there. I agree that might make more sense to novice users.
While I have few usability issues with ribbon, such as header text offering little clarity yet occupying precious space, if properly applied, ribbon can be (1) an effective way to discover new features that users may otherwise not be exposed to and (2) provide context sensitive options that are relevant to selected items at hand.
Unfortunately, Windows 8 is an example of ribbon abuse.
Agreed.
Things like copy/paste/rename/select all do not need dedicated buttons. Even my mum knows to use ctrl+c etc. Why do they need to take up so much space with visual clutter?
But the tabs are really what kills the ribbon. Why not just allow drag and drop customisation of a single menu bar? Power users should be able to take off the training wheels and have all the tools they actually use a single tap away instead of having to juggle back and forth between nested menus.
Tool you need not on the ?Home? tab? Well you could sit there for ten minutes internally pondering the conceptual reality of whether the task is more a ?view? task or a ?page layout? task but it?s probably just quicker to blindly page through all the tabs until you find what you?re looking for.
Older versions of Word at least had a mechanism, albeit convoluted, for customising the menu bars. It was a pain, but once it was set up my productivity skyrocketed.
The role of the OS should be to fade into the background and allow the user?s content to stand out. But good design can train people to adopt an efficient way of working. It seems like they always chase the lowest common denominator of computer user. High-contrast, Fisher Price colours.
Even the way Apple labels buttons with [Save] [Quit] [Cancel] is so much more efficient than Microsoft dialog boxes, which always read something like:
?Are you really sure you don?t want to cancel quitting the program without saving? Warning: Moving your mouse on the screen may expose your computer to malicious software.? [Yes] [No] [Cancel]
But the tabs are really what kills the ribbon. Why not just allow drag and drop customisation of a single menu bar? Power users should be able to take off the training wheels and have all the tools they actually use a single tap away instead of having to juggle back and forth between nested menus.
You mean like allowing a power user to customize the Quick Access Toolbar and minimize the ribbon?
They did that.
Agreed.
Things like copy/paste/rename/select all do not need dedicated buttons. Even my mum knows to use ctrl+c etc. Why do they need to take up so much space with visual clutter?
Your mom doesn't represent to majority of the world. My mom knows them too but unfortunately now she's a stroke victim and is paralyzed on her left side. This new interface would actually be easier for her because most of the buttons are big and clearly labled. I also know plenty of people who don't know any keyboard shortcuts. You don't have to use the ribbon, you can collapse it, but it doesn't mean it isn't useful for other people.
These things are just operating systems some people like OSX some like Windows, both have their advantages; does it have to turn into a war?
I use Mac OS at work and Windows 7 at home. I've owned a dozen of Macs, but I prefer Windows. To me Mac OS is very overrated. While graphically Mac OS is more elegant, Windows provides better usability.
1. Simple example: resizing a window.
Mac OS: if a lower part of a window is below the edge of my screen I have to make extra clicks to move it up so I can access lower right corner. Also maximize button does not work as well on Mac.
Windows: any window can be resized from any side and any corner.
2. Another example: dual monitor setup.
Mac OS: if you move application window to a secondary monitor, your top menu remains on primary monitor. Very odd
3. Another example: you trying to login to OS and you Caps are Locked.
Windows will tell you right away: Mac OS won't
4. Windows Library folders. In a library, you can collect files of various sorts without moving them from the folder where they're stored; libraries can even collect files from different disks. It's easy to create these collections of whatever you'd like and pin them to the left-hand side of the window.
Mac OS can't do this.
5. Windows is more keyboard friendly offering more keyboard shortcuts.
and the list can go on 6, 7, 8... I don't like MS Office ribbon though.
Not meaning to be harsh but I'm often.
1. Moot point as of Lion. Also, expose and spaces means that window sizing is a "set once and forget" activity.
2. Agreed. Macs or not optimised for dual monitor set-ups. Though in all other instances having the menu bar at the top of the screen (rather than in the window) makes it much faster to access drop down menus (because targets at the top of the screen have an infinite height).
3. Doesn't the login screen just ignore Caps Lock regardless of whether it's on or off? That's even more elegant.
4. It sounds like a search folder but I have found spotlight search on an as needed basis is more efficient than manually archiving stuff.
5. Such as? Spacebar to quicklook a file. Command+space type then enter to search or open any application. So useful. Command+, to access preferences for any program. Neat.
But the Finder is undoubtedly easier to use, I find ribbon apps hard to learn in general. And as the article states, who really cares anyway, because Apple is de-emphasizing the file system. That will be the ultimate Fix The Finder - make it irrelevant.
You mean like allowing a power user to customize the Quick Access Toolbar and minimize the ribbon?
They did that.
I know. I use it everyday. But unlike previous incarnations it can only support a single row of icons!!! This is not enough space to hold the text editing tools in addition to the other tools so you still end up having to juggle back and forth between the ribbon.