This animation has been in Mac OS since the beginning! The only difference is that where the old system used a zooming rectangle, now you actually see the contents. The current zoom takes no more time than the "zoomrects" and it provides excellent spacial feedback as to what you're navigating.
I don;t care how long it's been there, the effect is not necessary, i don;'t mind for Apps because Apps take a while to open and it just makes you more patient! BUT on windows, i want them straight away, I don't want a transition, if you use m$, which unfortunately i do sometimes, you can turn off their animations and this makes it a lot faster, window just appearing is nice and actually unexpected.
When you open from the dock, no animation occurs, can't the finder be the same? They should at least let you turn off animations, I use a slow 600 mhz iMac and it does slow it down!
I don;t care how long it's been there, the effect is not necessary, i don;'t mind for Apps because Apps take a while to open and it just makes you more patient! BUT on windows, i want them straight away, I don't want a transition, if you use m$, which unfortunately i do sometimes, you can turn off their animations and this makes it a lot faster, window just appearing is nice and actually unexpected.
When you open from the dock, no animation occurs, can't the finder be the same? They should at least let you turn off animations, I use a slow 600 mhz iMac and it does slow it down!
Does it really decrease you productivity that much? A window coming out of the icon is a good thing because it provides visual feedback about where that window originated from.
Actually I think trash in the sidebar totally makes sense. Then you can do all of your file manipulation in the finder.
Although, even though I suggested it! Apple has never, to my knowledge, allowed you to make copies of the trash, i think OS 8.6 - 9.2 always stopped you from making alias' of the trash can. I think Apple like having the trash in one place and one place only, and that'll be in the cock or in the sidebar. It needs to be in both really, but I don't know, it doesn't sound likely! Unless 10.4 will get rid of the dock!!!! Or make a new dock, with some kind of intelligence, it will suggest programs you might need, although this will be like m$ office and will just be annoying! I really don;t see Apple making two trash cans.
Does it really decrease you productivity that much? A window coming out of the icon is a good thing because it provides visual feedback about where that window originated from.
I know where it came from! I clicked on it. I just would like to be able to turn it off if i wanted to, i like it most of the time, i just would like to able to turn it off when I'm doing some heavy CPU work and just want to open a window or something. Or when I'm going through folders through the dock, I would like to turn off transparency to speed things up a little. Just the option would be nice!
That reminds me: another feature request for Tig(g)er would be to use the Trash as a truly universal trash can instead of having trash cans in iMovie, iPhoto, etc. So you could drag a transition or a picture to the trash can icon in the dock any time. It could somehow work like the SO X pasteboard which can hold multiple items and in several formats. You could empty the trash for everything from the Finder or just the Fidner items. In other apps, you could empty the trash and it would only discard the items you put in from that app. Hm, needs some work. But it seems like a simpler thing for the end user if you get it working right to have one trash can. Plus it would take advantage o fits position in the always-accessible Dock. Why should trash just be a folder when it could be taiored to its purpose more carefully? (A dangerous thing to say, I know.)
That reminds me: another feature request for Tig(g)er would be to use the Trash as a truly universal trash can instead of having trash cans in iMovie, iPhoto, etc. So you could drag a transition or a picture to the trash can icon in the dock any time. It could somehow work like the SO X pasteboard which can hold multiple items and in several formats. You could empty the trash for everything from the Finder or just the Fidner items. In other apps, you could empty the trash and it would only discard the items you put in from that app. Hm, needs some work. But it seems like a simpler thing for the end user if you get it working right to have one trash can. Plus it would take advantage o fits position in the always-accessible Dock. Why should trash just be a folder when it could be taiored to its purpose more carefully? (A dangerous thing to say, I know.)
Having trash in different programs is necessary for work flow. Sometimes mistakes are made and you have to be able to undo them, and if I trash a text file I don't want to have to trash my last 20 actions in Final Cut. Any pro users would understand.
That reminds me: another feature request for Tig(g)er would be to use the Trash as a truly universal trash can instead of having trash cans in iMovie, iPhoto, etc. So you could drag a transition or a picture to the trash can icon in the dock any time. It could somehow work like the SO X pasteboard which can hold multiple items and in several formats. You could empty the trash for everything from the Finder or just the Fidner items. In other apps, you could empty the trash and it would only discard the items you put in from that app. Hm, needs some work. But it seems like a simpler thing for the end user if you get it working right to have one trash can. Plus it would take advantage o fits position in the always-accessible Dock. Why should trash just be a folder when it could be taiored to its purpose more carefully? (A dangerous thing to say, I know.)
Also if you could open the trash folder and delete only certain items, not all at once, so you can select a few to be deleted but the rest can be left in the trash. I'm all too familiar with using someone else's computer, wanting to delete something but not wanting to delete their stuff, i have to be move all their stuff to the desktop then delete my thing and then move it all back! This needs to be addressed.
That reminds me: another feature request for Tig(g)er would be to use the Trash as a truly universal trash can instead of having trash cans in iMovie, iPhoto, etc. So you could drag a transition or a picture to the trash can icon in the dock any time.
It already works a lot like this. Developers (Apple included) just aren't taking advantage of it.
Take Safari, for example. Browse you bookmarks. Drag a bookmark from the list to the trash. Surprise!
I want the trash in the sidebar! there you go imagination. At least make it an option
Oh also, could they get rid of the transition when you open a folder, you know where it comes from, couldn't it just appear rather than 'grow' out of the folder icon.
make a link that points to ~/.Trash/ and throw that into the sidebar... works great... the icon doesn't always stick tho...
(there is a CLI command to make that link, but I can't seem to find it... it is around here somewhere tho...)
Having trash in different programs is necessary for work flow. Sometimes mistakes are made and you have to be able to undo them, and if I trash a text file I don't want to have to trash my last 20 actions in Final Cut. Any pro users would understand.
Yeah, I realized that you would have to invent some way of deleting some things and not others for reasons like that. Would that make it too complicated? I dunno, it might. My thought was that you could somehow arbitrarily look at the trash from FCP, or trash from iPhoto or all of it at once.
Brad, it works well in some places but then you have iPhoto's trash, iMovie's trash, almost no one else seems to take advantage of this, and I think it's for the sake of being wary with those kinds of deletions. As a destructive behavior, this one is particularly tricky, and I think even some of Apple's teams have erred on the side of caution by creating distinct trash cans within the apps as a buffer.
Actually, as a tangent to this, the Finder probably does the best job of using the trash as a contextual tool: eject, burn, cutting a toolbar icon, etc. I read an article from someone who praised iTunes' burn/browse/visualizer options button for its permutations per the context of where you are and what you have selected. The trash can in the Dock does the same sort of thing from the Finder at least. So long as this sort of contextual game is limited to certain places, this sort of thing would be nice to see where appropriate. I wouldn't want everything to become task-based but a more heterogenous environment like that might be a subtle improvement to the user experience.
It already works a lot like this. Developers (Apple included) just aren't taking advantage of it.
Take Safari, for example. Browse you bookmarks. Drag a bookmark from the list to the trash. Surprise!
iTunes works as well, when you delete a song it puts it into the normal trash, why can't iPhoto and iMovie all go to the same place? You wouldn't need categories in the trash because you could tell where it came from. I still like the idea of deleting certain items in the trash only.
Hw about a new version of Safari that supports graphite correctly...too much to ask...
I just toggled to graphite mode and Safari instantly changed everything as expected. Widgets, scroll bars, buttons... even the alternating stripes in the bookmarks page! What more would you expect?
I just toggled to graphite mode and Safari instantly changed everything as expected. Widgets, scroll bars, buttons... even the alternating stripes in the bookmarks page! What more would you expect?
Well, I just changed my appearance to Graphite too and if you click a button in Safari it's still blue.
I just toggled to graphite mode and Safari instantly changed...clipped
Those are all system level widgets, those change. What I'm talking about is Safari's custom UI elements, i.e., Back/Forward, URL Progress Indicator, small Add Bookmarks Folder Button in the Bookmarks Library. Those stay blue. Oh, and Safari 2...needed...with undo in text fields..
Now on to my other ideas...
Also, when switching to graphite folders should change, to graphite. And if you open a folder the folder icon should stay in the open state like how in 9 the icon would gray out if open.
Smart Everything, as in any program that supports a playlist type UI, like Address Book, Font Book, hey even the finder should have Smart Groups, Collections, Folders respectively. Also it should be made a API so other apps can as Apple would say get it for free. This in my opinion is what Apple has been doing, create a technology place it in there own apps then mature it into a public API, like for example SearchKit.
Mail...it in my opinion needs some drastic changes..in a few areas. For one they should adopt the column UI like outlook and even now Thunderbird where it goes Folder | Mail | Mail Viewer instead of Folders | Mail and Mailer Viewer under the Mail. Of course this would just be another option so people could change it, something like View Preview Pane: Under Mail, to the Right of Mail.
Also Folders should be removed and instead replaced with a iTunes type organizational scheme. where your inbox has all you email in it then the Folders on the left are just pointers to the various emails. This would allow you to have mail organized in multiple areas without having to copy it into separate mailboxes. This would also allow you to have Smart Mailboxes, kind of replacing rules.
Another thing is better support for HTML email, not in composing it, but in forwarding it, If I forward say a HTML mail with 20 linked images to a PC person (even another Mac user) they end up with a RTF email with 20 huge tiffs as attachments. Do a test, forward a Apple eNews to yourself and see the crap that mail sends to you. A better solution would be to have a sheet come down when you click Send giving you 3 options. Send HTML as is (this would act like every other email client and just send it as you got it), Strip HTML (would attempt to strip the HTML and send just text), and the best solution (IMO) Send as PDF...(where the email would be converted via Quartz to a PDF then attached and sent, this would be the most compatible and the person would get an exact copy of the email as you got it.)
File Sharing...
Well it needs to be much easier, something along the lines of how iTunes and iPhoto do it. Where you could select a folder or even individual files then select Share... and other Macs Via Rendezvous would just end up seeing it. A Shared Files element would appear in the SideBar like it does in iTunes and iPhoto and would allow you to get to the shared files. It would be broken down by Computer. You would control it via the Sharing PrefPane and also a Sharing option in the Finder Prefs.
Sharing of Stuff with people on the Same Computer...
Apple needs to implement a easy way to share things like iPhotos, Address Books, etc with other users on the same machine, it should just be an extension of how the Rendezvous sharing works, and it should just pop up in the application, for example I share my contacts with Joe, Joe's address book would just have a Blue group called Chris' Contacts.
Bluetooth: This is a jumbled mess which almost supercedes Windows in its windowsness. Try using a SE P900 with Salling Clicker and Address Book at the same time. Try to figure out how to connect to the Internet using your BT cellphone as a modem, especially complicated if you have several network places. I tried for a long time today and although I nearly suceeded - anyone less motivated wouldn't last five minutes...
Mail: Please make it stop messing up long URLs when sent to Windows Outlook recipients. This is a hallmark of Mac incompability in the eyes of many Windows users.
Kickaha...you didn't reply to my post you edited and overwrote it. I'm reposting what you wrote and restoring my original post.
Below is Kickaha's reply to my above post:
Quote:
Smart Everything, as in any program that supports a playlist type UI, like Address Book, Font Book, hey even the finder should have Smart Groups, Collections, Folders respectively. Also it should be made a API so other apps can as Apple would say get it for free. This in my opinion is what Apple has been doing, create a technology place it in there own apps then mature it into a public API, like for example SearchKit.
On the money.
This is what Apple *does*, if you look at the long-term development - try out new UI elements in various apps where they seem to make the most sense (iTunes search field, smart playlists, etc), migrate them to other apps (Finder, iPhoto, etc) and then finally make the API public after they've hammered it out into something more generalized and battle-tested in real-world apps, not just toy demos in SDKs.
Quote:
For one they should adopt the column UI like outlook and even now Thunderbird where it goes Folder | Mail | Mail Viewer instead of Folders | Mail and Mailer Viewer under the Mail.
Oh god I hope not. While this makes some conceptual sense of flow from general -> specific, it's also a massive waste of screen space. How many mail messages do you need to see the info for at once? 10? 20? With the column view, it's the height of your tallest view... which is generally the message viewer. So the msg viewer needs to be wide, and fairly tall. The mail selector window needs to be wide, but not tall. The folder window needs to (generally) be tall (many folders) but not wide (short names in most cases).
Three different spatial needs. Stacking the mail selector on top of the msg viewer is, IMHO, a good use of space and is simple to understand.
I agree with the Smart Mailboxes, BTW, but there are some issues based on IMAP servers that would have to be figured out.
Quote:
Sharing of Stuff with people on the Same Computer...
Apple needs to implement a easy way to share things like iPhotos, Address Books, etc with other users on the same machine, it should just be an extension of how the Rendezvous sharing works, and it should just pop up in the application, for example I share my contacts with Joe, Joe's address book would just have a Blue group called Chris' Contacts.
I like, and agree, but again, integrating this with larger issues such as LDAP servers that are designed for this would be potentially quite sticky. (Not to mention that they make good money off of MacOS X Server for meeting these sorts of needs across a network - would be interesting to see the economic model for partitioning the sharing tools across the client and server products... )
Oh god I hope not. While this makes some conceptual sense of flow from general -> specific, it's also a massive waste of screen space...clipped
and
I like, and agree, but again, integrating this with larger issues such as LDAP servers that are designed for this would be potentially quite sticky...clipped
Well I did say it should just be an option, possibly not the default behavior in mail. Just that the option would be a good idea for some people and situations. Choice is always good.
--
On the Address Book issue I wasn't saying that it should become a LDAP server but just the ability should be there to share contacts across users of the same machine, and now that I think about it via a Rendezvous network. I shouldn't have to set up and configure a LDAP server to share contacts with family members or even a small office (5-10 people). To keep people who would use a LDAP server from using it you cap it off...like only 10 computers can access the shared contacts. Its what Apple does with File Sharing in the client version.
Ack! Sorry about the misedit... I thought there was a missing quote tag, but... *sigh*
Bad mod.
Quote:
Originally posted by ChrisG
Well I did say it should just be an option, possibly not the default behavior in mail. Just that the option would be a good idea for some people and situations. Choice is always good.
As often and loudly stated on these boards and elsewhere... not really.
Not only in UI issues but in life in general, wide choices make people apathetic and nervous. Google for some recent publicized research into this area... it's quite fascinating.
Now, back to the UI issues... while there may not be a *best* approach in UI many times, one *can* usually select 'best tradeoff' fairly easily.
But that's another argument for another thread.
Quote:
On the Address Book issue I wasn't saying that it should become a LDAP server...
Neither was I, I was stating that integrating low-level sharing on the same machine and Rendezvous nets *WITH* LDAP servers would have to be hammered out beforehand. There are some intriguing usability issues there.
Aren't "smart" mailboxes just another implementation of rules in Mail and other e-mail apps? Seems like the stuff is there, just presented differently to the user.
Comments
Originally posted by Brad
I don;t care how long it's been there, the effect is not necessary, i don;'t mind for Apps because Apps take a while to open and it just makes you more patient! BUT on windows, i want them straight away, I don't want a transition, if you use m$, which unfortunately i do sometimes, you can turn off their animations and this makes it a lot faster, window just appearing is nice and actually unexpected.
When you open from the dock, no animation occurs, can't the finder be the same? They should at least let you turn off animations, I use a slow 600 mhz iMac and it does slow it down!
Originally posted by MacCrazy
I don;t care how long it's been there, the effect is not necessary, i don;'t mind for Apps because Apps take a while to open and it just makes you more patient! BUT on windows, i want them straight away, I don't want a transition, if you use m$, which unfortunately i do sometimes, you can turn off their animations and this makes it a lot faster, window just appearing is nice and actually unexpected.
When you open from the dock, no animation occurs, can't the finder be the same? They should at least let you turn off animations, I use a slow 600 mhz iMac and it does slow it down!
Does it really decrease you productivity that much? A window coming out of the icon is a good thing because it provides visual feedback about where that window originated from.
Originally posted by Mr Beardsley
Actually I think trash in the sidebar totally makes sense. Then you can do all of your file manipulation in the finder.
Although, even though I suggested it! Apple has never, to my knowledge, allowed you to make copies of the trash, i think OS 8.6 - 9.2 always stopped you from making alias' of the trash can. I think Apple like having the trash in one place and one place only, and that'll be in the cock or in the sidebar. It needs to be in both really, but I don't know, it doesn't sound likely! Unless 10.4 will get rid of the dock!!!! Or make a new dock, with some kind of intelligence, it will suggest programs you might need, although this will be like m$ office and will just be annoying! I really don;t see Apple making two trash cans.
Originally posted by hyperb0le
Does it really decrease you productivity that much? A window coming out of the icon is a good thing because it provides visual feedback about where that window originated from.
I know where it came from! I clicked on it. I just would like to be able to turn it off if i wanted to, i like it most of the time, i just would like to able to turn it off when I'm doing some heavy CPU work and just want to open a window or something. Or when I'm going through folders through the dock, I would like to turn off transparency to speed things up a little. Just the option would be nice!
Originally posted by BuonRotto
That reminds me: another feature request for Tig(g)er would be to use the Trash as a truly universal trash can instead of having trash cans in iMovie, iPhoto, etc. So you could drag a transition or a picture to the trash can icon in the dock any time. It could somehow work like the SO X pasteboard which can hold multiple items and in several formats. You could empty the trash for everything from the Finder or just the Fidner items. In other apps, you could empty the trash and it would only discard the items you put in from that app. Hm, needs some work. But it seems like a simpler thing for the end user if you get it working right to have one trash can. Plus it would take advantage o fits position in the always-accessible Dock. Why should trash just be a folder when it could be taiored to its purpose more carefully? (A dangerous thing to say, I know.)
Having trash in different programs is necessary for work flow. Sometimes mistakes are made and you have to be able to undo them, and if I trash a text file I don't want to have to trash my last 20 actions in Final Cut. Any pro users would understand.
Originally posted by BuonRotto
That reminds me: another feature request for Tig(g)er would be to use the Trash as a truly universal trash can instead of having trash cans in iMovie, iPhoto, etc. So you could drag a transition or a picture to the trash can icon in the dock any time. It could somehow work like the SO X pasteboard which can hold multiple items and in several formats. You could empty the trash for everything from the Finder or just the Fidner items. In other apps, you could empty the trash and it would only discard the items you put in from that app. Hm, needs some work. But it seems like a simpler thing for the end user if you get it working right to have one trash can. Plus it would take advantage o fits position in the always-accessible Dock. Why should trash just be a folder when it could be taiored to its purpose more carefully? (A dangerous thing to say, I know.)
Also if you could open the trash folder and delete only certain items, not all at once, so you can select a few to be deleted but the rest can be left in the trash. I'm all too familiar with using someone else's computer, wanting to delete something but not wanting to delete their stuff, i have to be move all their stuff to the desktop then delete my thing and then move it all back! This needs to be addressed.
Originally posted by BuonRotto
That reminds me: another feature request for Tig(g)er would be to use the Trash as a truly universal trash can instead of having trash cans in iMovie, iPhoto, etc. So you could drag a transition or a picture to the trash can icon in the dock any time.
It already works a lot like this. Developers (Apple included) just aren't taking advantage of it.
Take Safari, for example. Browse you bookmarks. Drag a bookmark from the list to the trash. Surprise!
Originally posted by MacCrazy
I want the trash in the sidebar! there you go imagination. At least make it an option
Oh also, could they get rid of the transition when you open a folder, you know where it comes from, couldn't it just appear rather than 'grow' out of the folder icon.
make a link that points to ~/.Trash/ and throw that into the sidebar... works great... the icon doesn't always stick tho...
(there is a CLI command to make that link, but I can't seem to find it... it is around here somewhere tho...)
Originally posted by ipodandimac
Having trash in different programs is necessary for work flow. Sometimes mistakes are made and you have to be able to undo them, and if I trash a text file I don't want to have to trash my last 20 actions in Final Cut. Any pro users would understand.
Yeah, I realized that you would have to invent some way of deleting some things and not others for reasons like that. Would that make it too complicated? I dunno, it might. My thought was that you could somehow arbitrarily look at the trash from FCP, or trash from iPhoto or all of it at once.
Brad, it works well in some places but then you have iPhoto's trash, iMovie's trash, almost no one else seems to take advantage of this, and I think it's for the sake of being wary with those kinds of deletions. As a destructive behavior, this one is particularly tricky, and I think even some of Apple's teams have erred on the side of caution by creating distinct trash cans within the apps as a buffer.
Actually, as a tangent to this, the Finder probably does the best job of using the trash as a contextual tool: eject, burn, cutting a toolbar icon, etc. I read an article from someone who praised iTunes' burn/browse/visualizer options button for its permutations per the context of where you are and what you have selected. The trash can in the Dock does the same sort of thing from the Finder at least. So long as this sort of contextual game is limited to certain places, this sort of thing would be nice to see where appropriate. I wouldn't want everything to become task-based but a more heterogenous environment like that might be a subtle improvement to the user experience.
Originally posted by Brad
It already works a lot like this. Developers (Apple included) just aren't taking advantage of it.
Take Safari, for example. Browse you bookmarks. Drag a bookmark from the list to the trash. Surprise!
iTunes works as well, when you delete a song it puts it into the normal trash, why can't iPhoto and iMovie all go to the same place? You wouldn't need categories in the trash because you could tell where it came from. I still like the idea of deleting certain items in the trash only.
Originally posted by ChrisG
Hw about a new version of Safari that supports graphite correctly...too much to ask...
Originally posted by Brad
Well, I just changed my appearance to Graphite too and if you click a button in Safari it's still blue.
Originally posted by Brad
Those are all system level widgets, those change. What I'm talking about is Safari's custom UI elements, i.e., Back/Forward, URL Progress Indicator, small Add Bookmarks Folder Button in the Bookmarks Library. Those stay blue. Oh, and Safari 2...needed...with undo in text fields..
Now on to my other ideas...
Also, when switching to graphite folders should change, to graphite. And if you open a folder the folder icon should stay in the open state like how in 9 the icon would gray out if open.
Smart Everything, as in any program that supports a playlist type UI, like Address Book, Font Book, hey even the finder should have Smart Groups, Collections, Folders respectively. Also it should be made a API so other apps can as Apple would say get it for free. This in my opinion is what Apple has been doing, create a technology place it in there own apps then mature it into a public API, like for example SearchKit.
Mail...it in my opinion needs some drastic changes..in a few areas. For one they should adopt the column UI like outlook and even now Thunderbird where it goes Folder | Mail | Mail Viewer instead of Folders | Mail and Mailer Viewer under the Mail. Of course this would just be another option so people could change it, something like View Preview Pane: Under Mail, to the Right of Mail.
Also Folders should be removed and instead replaced with a iTunes type organizational scheme. where your inbox has all you email in it then the Folders on the left are just pointers to the various emails. This would allow you to have mail organized in multiple areas without having to copy it into separate mailboxes. This would also allow you to have Smart Mailboxes, kind of replacing rules.
Another thing is better support for HTML email, not in composing it, but in forwarding it, If I forward say a HTML mail with 20 linked images to a PC person (even another Mac user) they end up with a RTF email with 20 huge tiffs as attachments. Do a test, forward a Apple eNews to yourself and see the crap that mail sends to you. A better solution would be to have a sheet come down when you click Send giving you 3 options. Send HTML as is (this would act like every other email client and just send it as you got it), Strip HTML (would attempt to strip the HTML and send just text), and the best solution (IMO) Send as PDF...(where the email would be converted via Quartz to a PDF then attached and sent, this would be the most compatible and the person would get an exact copy of the email as you got it.)
File Sharing...
Well it needs to be much easier, something along the lines of how iTunes and iPhoto do it. Where you could select a folder or even individual files then select Share... and other Macs Via Rendezvous would just end up seeing it. A Shared Files element would appear in the SideBar like it does in iTunes and iPhoto and would allow you to get to the shared files. It would be broken down by Computer. You would control it via the Sharing PrefPane and also a Sharing option in the Finder Prefs.
Sharing of Stuff with people on the Same Computer...
Apple needs to implement a easy way to share things like iPhotos, Address Books, etc with other users on the same machine, it should just be an extension of how the Rendezvous sharing works, and it should just pop up in the application, for example I share my contacts with Joe, Joe's address book would just have a Blue group called Chris' Contacts.
All for now...
Mail: Please make it stop messing up long URLs when sent to Windows Outlook recipients. This is a hallmark of Mac incompability in the eyes of many Windows users.
Below is Kickaha's reply to my above post:
Smart Everything, as in any program that supports a playlist type UI, like Address Book, Font Book, hey even the finder should have Smart Groups, Collections, Folders respectively. Also it should be made a API so other apps can as Apple would say get it for free. This in my opinion is what Apple has been doing, create a technology place it in there own apps then mature it into a public API, like for example SearchKit.
On the money.
This is what Apple *does*, if you look at the long-term development - try out new UI elements in various apps where they seem to make the most sense (iTunes search field, smart playlists, etc), migrate them to other apps (Finder, iPhoto, etc) and then finally make the API public after they've hammered it out into something more generalized and battle-tested in real-world apps, not just toy demos in SDKs.
For one they should adopt the column UI like outlook and even now Thunderbird where it goes Folder | Mail | Mail Viewer instead of Folders | Mail and Mailer Viewer under the Mail.
Oh god I hope not. While this makes some conceptual sense of flow from general -> specific, it's also a massive waste of screen space. How many mail messages do you need to see the info for at once? 10? 20? With the column view, it's the height of your tallest view... which is generally the message viewer. So the msg viewer needs to be wide, and fairly tall. The mail selector window needs to be wide, but not tall. The folder window needs to (generally) be tall (many folders) but not wide (short names in most cases).
Three different spatial needs. Stacking the mail selector on top of the msg viewer is, IMHO, a good use of space and is simple to understand.
I agree with the Smart Mailboxes, BTW, but there are some issues based on IMAP servers that would have to be figured out.
Sharing of Stuff with people on the Same Computer...
Apple needs to implement a easy way to share things like iPhotos, Address Books, etc with other users on the same machine, it should just be an extension of how the Rendezvous sharing works, and it should just pop up in the application, for example I share my contacts with Joe, Joe's address book would just have a Blue group called Chris' Contacts.
I like, and agree, but again, integrating this with larger issues such as LDAP servers that are designed for this would be potentially quite sticky. (Not to mention that they make good money off of MacOS X Server for meeting these sorts of needs across a network - would be interesting to see the economic model for partitioning the sharing tools across the client and server products...
Originally posted by Kickaha
Oh god I hope not. While this makes some conceptual sense of flow from general -> specific, it's also a massive waste of screen space...clipped
and
I like, and agree, but again, integrating this with larger issues such as LDAP servers that are designed for this would be potentially quite sticky...clipped
Well I did say it should just be an option, possibly not the default behavior in mail. Just that the option would be a good idea for some people and situations. Choice is always good.
--
On the Address Book issue I wasn't saying that it should become a LDAP server but just the ability should be there to share contacts across users of the same machine, and now that I think about it via a Rendezvous network. I shouldn't have to set up and configure a LDAP server to share contacts with family members or even a small office (5-10 people). To keep people who would use a LDAP server from using it you cap it off...like only 10 computers can access the shared contacts. Its what Apple does with File Sharing in the client version.
Bad mod.
Originally posted by ChrisG
Well I did say it should just be an option, possibly not the default behavior in mail. Just that the option would be a good idea for some people and situations. Choice is always good.
As often and loudly stated on these boards and elsewhere... not really.
Not only in UI issues but in life in general, wide choices make people apathetic and nervous. Google for some recent publicized research into this area... it's quite fascinating.
Now, back to the UI issues... while there may not be a *best* approach in UI many times, one *can* usually select 'best tradeoff' fairly easily.
But that's another argument for another thread.
On the Address Book issue I wasn't saying that it should become a LDAP server...
Neither was I, I was stating that integrating low-level sharing on the same machine and Rendezvous nets *WITH* LDAP servers would have to be hammered out beforehand. There are some intriguing usability issues there.