Ah, Luc, I see you and I are using the term "orthogonal" in very different ways: to me "orthogonal" means some encapsulating context in which some group of objects, or functionality, are: 1. integrally related 2. enveloped/contained/framed by a consistent "user-interface" for each integrally related "component." Would you say that a "garbage can" is orthogonal because you can stuff anything in it that will fit it in it ? :) Yes, that's an extreme "reductio ad absurdum:" but, to me, the Windows Control Panel, is just a container for a whole bunch of stuff, almost every one of which has a totally different UI, some of the Control Panel Items when opened then lead to even further radically different UI's. If there's one thing that has characterized Windows from early version right up to 7, it's lack of orthogonality: inconsistency in which some parts of the UI save their configurations, and others don't. For example: the order in which Date/Size/FileType/FileName are presented in Explorer Windows which may change based on no principle I can discover with the rational mind: or the sudden decision if you open a folder with .MP3 files, or photo files, to present all kinds of possibly not desired Explorer view columns. Bizarre UI inconsistencies like having a slider control in the View menu to switch between Icon/Detail views. Multiple UI pathways to configure different areas like Display characteristics. It's been much too long since I had a Mac to compare with, on these criteria, however. But, what can you expect from the evolution of dinosaurs ? :) Looking back, I wish Apple had acquired Be, not NeXT, but then there would have been no Steve Jobs to restore the company by making it into a mass-media-player and mobile-phone colossus. best, Bill
"It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it." Aristotle