Vista: first thoughts
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X| But I guess I should explain why I feel that way. It feels solid. There's plenty of security features, it updates drivers automatically (when it can find them) and the use of the GPU for screen display is certainly long overdue. But:
- Tasks seem to require even deeper dialog, page or menu digging than before. Also, tasks have now been reorganised so you have a window with tasks down the left hand side, looking like it all integrated with the current window. However, when you click a task a new window pops up instead of the current page simply being replaced with the UI of the new task. The maze of tasks and tabs and menus and windows and 54 items in the control panel is starting to freak me out. There is no way my parents will be able to do anything other than stick to basic default settings.
- Customising features such as the start menu is needlessly difficult. In fact the entire Start Menu has become a dog's breakfast.
- The new themes look horrible when compared to, say, MacOS. Black caption bar text on a transparent background is bad when the caption is over something that is itself dark.
- UAC is horrible. What an appallingly intrusive and klunky way to protect a computer.
- Everyone's already said it, but the inconsistency of the UI is really getting annoying. Back buttons in the top left instead of with the "Next". Menu options that either hard to decipher or don't reflect what the menu option actually leads to. Options that are sometimes 'Options' and sometimes 'Personalise'. Make up your mind.
- The reflections on all the UI elements seem cartoonish. I want my OS to sit there and let me be productive, not glitter and shine and have an overdone faux reflectivity that makes me bob my head trying to remove the "reflections" from the wording.
- Random programs now crash. Even something as innocuous as SyncToy died a horrible death.
I'm trying to give Vista a go but I just look at it and think "5 years??". The UI is just plain overdone. No subtlety or class at all, no unifying UI methodology or consistency. Lots of big pictures, pretty backgrounds and calming lists to make it look simple, but it all turns out to be a superficial cover to a needlessly convoluted system. Maybe I'm being harsh and will grow to enjoy it, but after using it for a day and feeling needlessly and continually frustrated I can't in good faith recommend it to friends and family. And that makes me sad.
cheers, Chris Maunder
Hey Chris, I've been using Vista Ultimate for a few weeks now, and I have to say I really like it. Navigating the system is different. At first I was unsure about it, but it didn't take long to get used to it. Most of the changes I really like now. The UI is much faster, and it definitely multi-tasks a lot smoother than XP. It is also more stable than XP when it first came out. Right now I have Virtual PC 2007 running with XP Pro, 2003 Server and 2000 Server. All are running at a moderate load, and I am running VS 2005 on Vista. I don't notice any significant slowdown, and the UI is still fast as ever. All my software has worked as well, only had problems with one application. It was writing the the "Program Files" folder, which we all know it should not be doing. Just adjusted some permissions for it, and it works fine now. Personally I like the eye candy in the UI, but that is subjective. The UI speed is definitely impressive (I have a GeForce 6600 w/ 256MB). That's just my $0.02 USD. ;) Best regards, Dana
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X| But I guess I should explain why I feel that way. It feels solid. There's plenty of security features, it updates drivers automatically (when it can find them) and the use of the GPU for screen display is certainly long overdue. But:
- Tasks seem to require even deeper dialog, page or menu digging than before. Also, tasks have now been reorganised so you have a window with tasks down the left hand side, looking like it all integrated with the current window. However, when you click a task a new window pops up instead of the current page simply being replaced with the UI of the new task. The maze of tasks and tabs and menus and windows and 54 items in the control panel is starting to freak me out. There is no way my parents will be able to do anything other than stick to basic default settings.
- Customising features such as the start menu is needlessly difficult. In fact the entire Start Menu has become a dog's breakfast.
- The new themes look horrible when compared to, say, MacOS. Black caption bar text on a transparent background is bad when the caption is over something that is itself dark.
- UAC is horrible. What an appallingly intrusive and klunky way to protect a computer.
- Everyone's already said it, but the inconsistency of the UI is really getting annoying. Back buttons in the top left instead of with the "Next". Menu options that either hard to decipher or don't reflect what the menu option actually leads to. Options that are sometimes 'Options' and sometimes 'Personalise'. Make up your mind.
- The reflections on all the UI elements seem cartoonish. I want my OS to sit there and let me be productive, not glitter and shine and have an overdone faux reflectivity that makes me bob my head trying to remove the "reflections" from the wording.
- Random programs now crash. Even something as innocuous as SyncToy died a horrible death.
I'm trying to give Vista a go but I just look at it and think "5 years??". The UI is just plain overdone. No subtlety or class at all, no unifying UI methodology or consistency. Lots of big pictures, pretty backgrounds and calming lists to make it look simple, but it all turns out to be a superficial cover to a needlessly convoluted system. Maybe I'm being harsh and will grow to enjoy it, but after using it for a day and feeling needlessly and continually frustrated I can't in good faith recommend it to friends and family. And that makes me sad.
cheers, Chris Maunder
It is certainly a departure from past versions of Windows (or is it). I've installed it 4 different times now. I ran it as the beta, once on my laptop and once on severely under-powered desktop. I'm now running on it a 1.2 gig AMD processor with 1.0 gig of RAM and it will stay on that box. I have zero need for that box and so Vista suits it well enough. Things I've observed using Vista. It's not an upgrade from XP. It's a total rewrite and there's little doubt to that. It annoys me. But does it annoy me because of my own prejudice or does it annoy me because of the way it's built (apart from what I'm used to)? I think it annoys me due to my own prejudice and the fact that after many, many years of XP I'm used to doing things a certain way. Which brings me to the question why do I use a computer? Better yet why is it I own a Mac, run Linux and several Windows machines? The answer I've come up with is that it's how I make my living. I write software for many systems and as such I have to run those systems and be prepared to support, diagnose and troubleshoot them. Okay, so where does that leave me. Do I only use a computer for work? Would I use one personally if I didn't need it for work? If that's the case do I care very much about design elements, dialogs, windows and verbosity? Probably not. Just like nobody notices the flaws in your home unless they work in real estate. I constantly read about technical people who are torched off or unimpressed with Vista. But I have all these conversations with non-technical people (lawyers, CPA's, doctors, receptionists). I say, "How do you like using Vista?" the response I overwhelmingly get is, "It's so much faster." I have to scratch my head at this as most of them have a new PC after their 4 year old PC died. Anything will be faster than hardware four years old. So then I talk to my moderately savvy tech users and ask them, "What do you think of Vista?" the response I get from them, "It has a small learning curve but I love using it. It's nice to look at something besides XP." I'm left with one impression. Nobody who's technical is going to be happy with a departure from doing things the way they used to do them. Most technical people I know bitch about Vista because it's A) The cool thing to do. B) It has some annoyances. C) It costs a lot of money. D) It's the cool thing to do. E) It's the cool thing to bitch about anything Microsoft. I just sit back and smile now. All the Vista-moaning I've ever encountered is from technical people. All the average PC users think,
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X| But I guess I should explain why I feel that way. It feels solid. There's plenty of security features, it updates drivers automatically (when it can find them) and the use of the GPU for screen display is certainly long overdue. But:
- Tasks seem to require even deeper dialog, page or menu digging than before. Also, tasks have now been reorganised so you have a window with tasks down the left hand side, looking like it all integrated with the current window. However, when you click a task a new window pops up instead of the current page simply being replaced with the UI of the new task. The maze of tasks and tabs and menus and windows and 54 items in the control panel is starting to freak me out. There is no way my parents will be able to do anything other than stick to basic default settings.
- Customising features such as the start menu is needlessly difficult. In fact the entire Start Menu has become a dog's breakfast.
- The new themes look horrible when compared to, say, MacOS. Black caption bar text on a transparent background is bad when the caption is over something that is itself dark.
- UAC is horrible. What an appallingly intrusive and klunky way to protect a computer.
- Everyone's already said it, but the inconsistency of the UI is really getting annoying. Back buttons in the top left instead of with the "Next". Menu options that either hard to decipher or don't reflect what the menu option actually leads to. Options that are sometimes 'Options' and sometimes 'Personalise'. Make up your mind.
- The reflections on all the UI elements seem cartoonish. I want my OS to sit there and let me be productive, not glitter and shine and have an overdone faux reflectivity that makes me bob my head trying to remove the "reflections" from the wording.
- Random programs now crash. Even something as innocuous as SyncToy died a horrible death.
I'm trying to give Vista a go but I just look at it and think "5 years??". The UI is just plain overdone. No subtlety or class at all, no unifying UI methodology or consistency. Lots of big pictures, pretty backgrounds and calming lists to make it look simple, but it all turns out to be a superficial cover to a needlessly convoluted system. Maybe I'm being harsh and will grow to enjoy it, but after using it for a day and feeling needlessly and continually frustrated I can't in good faith recommend it to friends and family. And that makes me sad.
cheers, Chris Maunder
wife got Vista on laptop. Hoem network has been running fine for over 3 years with XP and/or 2000. First there is the problem with Vista crashing the wireless router constantly. Need to disable the IPv6 + some of the other crap. Then there is the file/printer sharing. Still can't see anything on the Vista computer and it can't see me. We are on same workgroup, and file sharing si enabled everywhere I can click yes, but still no love. Wouldn't surprise me if this was a security feature to force users to upgrade entire networks to Vista rather then having mix-matched OS's. first impression...not impressed.
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wife got Vista on laptop. Hoem network has been running fine for over 3 years with XP and/or 2000. First there is the problem with Vista crashing the wireless router constantly. Need to disable the IPv6 + some of the other crap. Then there is the file/printer sharing. Still can't see anything on the Vista computer and it can't see me. We are on same workgroup, and file sharing si enabled everywhere I can click yes, but still no love. Wouldn't surprise me if this was a security feature to force users to upgrade entire networks to Vista rather then having mix-matched OS's. first impression...not impressed.
It's a setting in the control panel. You have to allow file sharing.
My name is Maximus Decimus Meridius, Commander of the Armies of the North, General of the Felix Legions, loyal servant to the true emperor, Marcus Aurelius. Father to a murdered process, husband to a murdered thread. And I will have my vengeance, in this life or the next. - Gladiator I work to live. I do not live to work. My clients do not seem capable of grasping this fact.
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Hey Chris, I've been using Vista Ultimate for a few weeks now, and I have to say I really like it. Navigating the system is different. At first I was unsure about it, but it didn't take long to get used to it. Most of the changes I really like now. The UI is much faster, and it definitely multi-tasks a lot smoother than XP. It is also more stable than XP when it first came out. Right now I have Virtual PC 2007 running with XP Pro, 2003 Server and 2000 Server. All are running at a moderate load, and I am running VS 2005 on Vista. I don't notice any significant slowdown, and the UI is still fast as ever. All my software has worked as well, only had problems with one application. It was writing the the "Program Files" folder, which we all know it should not be doing. Just adjusted some permissions for it, and it works fine now. Personally I like the eye candy in the UI, but that is subjective. The UI speed is definitely impressive (I have a GeForce 6600 w/ 256MB). That's just my $0.02 USD. ;) Best regards, Dana
I've not noticed any real speed differences since XP was already pretty good (at least for me). I will be trying to keep an open mind, though.
cheers, Chris Maunder
CodeProject.com : C++ MVP
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Well said.
Chris Maunder wrote:
Maybe I'm being harsh and will grow to enjoy it...
Not harsh at all. An operating system should be nearly transparent to the user, not "needlessly and continually frustrating" - and especially not for an expert! If you have to "grow to enjoy it", something is wrong.
Chris Maunder wrote:
And that makes me sad.
Me too. Microsoft and Intel have the clout to do great good for the industry and we get this kind of thing from them instead. Sad is right.
One thing you may find interesting is that while using and getting used to the new OS I constantly think about how new members and readers react when they approach CodeProject.com for the first time. It's a different resource/application for a different audience but I hope you are at least encouraged that while I was whining about Vista I was very conscious of your comments about CodeProject's UI. We have roughly zero spare resources at the moment but it is something very much at the top of my mind.
cheers, Chris Maunder
CodeProject.com : C++ MVP
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I've not noticed any real speed differences since XP was already pretty good (at least for me). I will be trying to keep an open mind, though.
cheers, Chris Maunder
CodeProject.com : C++ MVP
-
X| But I guess I should explain why I feel that way. It feels solid. There's plenty of security features, it updates drivers automatically (when it can find them) and the use of the GPU for screen display is certainly long overdue. But:
- Tasks seem to require even deeper dialog, page or menu digging than before. Also, tasks have now been reorganised so you have a window with tasks down the left hand side, looking like it all integrated with the current window. However, when you click a task a new window pops up instead of the current page simply being replaced with the UI of the new task. The maze of tasks and tabs and menus and windows and 54 items in the control panel is starting to freak me out. There is no way my parents will be able to do anything other than stick to basic default settings.
- Customising features such as the start menu is needlessly difficult. In fact the entire Start Menu has become a dog's breakfast.
- The new themes look horrible when compared to, say, MacOS. Black caption bar text on a transparent background is bad when the caption is over something that is itself dark.
- UAC is horrible. What an appallingly intrusive and klunky way to protect a computer.
- Everyone's already said it, but the inconsistency of the UI is really getting annoying. Back buttons in the top left instead of with the "Next". Menu options that either hard to decipher or don't reflect what the menu option actually leads to. Options that are sometimes 'Options' and sometimes 'Personalise'. Make up your mind.
- The reflections on all the UI elements seem cartoonish. I want my OS to sit there and let me be productive, not glitter and shine and have an overdone faux reflectivity that makes me bob my head trying to remove the "reflections" from the wording.
- Random programs now crash. Even something as innocuous as SyncToy died a horrible death.
I'm trying to give Vista a go but I just look at it and think "5 years??". The UI is just plain overdone. No subtlety or class at all, no unifying UI methodology or consistency. Lots of big pictures, pretty backgrounds and calming lists to make it look simple, but it all turns out to be a superficial cover to a needlessly convoluted system. Maybe I'm being harsh and will grow to enjoy it, but after using it for a day and feeling needlessly and continually frustrated I can't in good faith recommend it to friends and family. And that makes me sad.
cheers, Chris Maunder
I've tried to use Vista every month or so since around time of the second beta. Every time, by the time i have it set up and working the way i want it, i've lost the desire to actually use it. So now this past week, i installed it on my wife's laptop. I figure, she'll either have no problems, or i'll be forced to work on it - either way, i'll come away with a solid impression of how things work, and won't have to actually suffer through most of it myself...
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One thing you may find interesting is that while using and getting used to the new OS I constantly think about how new members and readers react when they approach CodeProject.com for the first time. It's a different resource/application for a different audience but I hope you are at least encouraged that while I was whining about Vista I was very conscious of your comments about CodeProject's UI. We have roughly zero spare resources at the moment but it is something very much at the top of my mind.
cheers, Chris Maunder
CodeProject.com : C++ MVP
Well, for one thing, I know I'd rather read this [^] than that [^]. The former looks exactly as the [guy who stole it from the] author intended, it is not surrounded by distractions, it is fully wysiwyg, it is printable in the exact same form, and it places the burden of formatting entirely on the author, not the CodeProject staff and software. But we've discussed this before. "Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away." - Antoine de Saint-Exupery Personally, I've always thought that quotation a bit wordy. ;)
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It is certainly a departure from past versions of Windows (or is it). I've installed it 4 different times now. I ran it as the beta, once on my laptop and once on severely under-powered desktop. I'm now running on it a 1.2 gig AMD processor with 1.0 gig of RAM and it will stay on that box. I have zero need for that box and so Vista suits it well enough. Things I've observed using Vista. It's not an upgrade from XP. It's a total rewrite and there's little doubt to that. It annoys me. But does it annoy me because of my own prejudice or does it annoy me because of the way it's built (apart from what I'm used to)? I think it annoys me due to my own prejudice and the fact that after many, many years of XP I'm used to doing things a certain way. Which brings me to the question why do I use a computer? Better yet why is it I own a Mac, run Linux and several Windows machines? The answer I've come up with is that it's how I make my living. I write software for many systems and as such I have to run those systems and be prepared to support, diagnose and troubleshoot them. Okay, so where does that leave me. Do I only use a computer for work? Would I use one personally if I didn't need it for work? If that's the case do I care very much about design elements, dialogs, windows and verbosity? Probably not. Just like nobody notices the flaws in your home unless they work in real estate. I constantly read about technical people who are torched off or unimpressed with Vista. But I have all these conversations with non-technical people (lawyers, CPA's, doctors, receptionists). I say, "How do you like using Vista?" the response I overwhelmingly get is, "It's so much faster." I have to scratch my head at this as most of them have a new PC after their 4 year old PC died. Anything will be faster than hardware four years old. So then I talk to my moderately savvy tech users and ask them, "What do you think of Vista?" the response I get from them, "It has a small learning curve but I love using it. It's nice to look at something besides XP." I'm left with one impression. Nobody who's technical is going to be happy with a departure from doing things the way they used to do them. Most technical people I know bitch about Vista because it's A) The cool thing to do. B) It has some annoyances. C) It costs a lot of money. D) It's the cool thing to do. E) It's the cool thing to bitch about anything Microsoft. I just sit back and smile now. All the Vista-moaning I've ever encountered is from technical people. All the average PC users think,
Interesting work hey! At work only with Mac OSX and XP!...
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X| But I guess I should explain why I feel that way. It feels solid. There's plenty of security features, it updates drivers automatically (when it can find them) and the use of the GPU for screen display is certainly long overdue. But:
- Tasks seem to require even deeper dialog, page or menu digging than before. Also, tasks have now been reorganised so you have a window with tasks down the left hand side, looking like it all integrated with the current window. However, when you click a task a new window pops up instead of the current page simply being replaced with the UI of the new task. The maze of tasks and tabs and menus and windows and 54 items in the control panel is starting to freak me out. There is no way my parents will be able to do anything other than stick to basic default settings.
- Customising features such as the start menu is needlessly difficult. In fact the entire Start Menu has become a dog's breakfast.
- The new themes look horrible when compared to, say, MacOS. Black caption bar text on a transparent background is bad when the caption is over something that is itself dark.
- UAC is horrible. What an appallingly intrusive and klunky way to protect a computer.
- Everyone's already said it, but the inconsistency of the UI is really getting annoying. Back buttons in the top left instead of with the "Next". Menu options that either hard to decipher or don't reflect what the menu option actually leads to. Options that are sometimes 'Options' and sometimes 'Personalise'. Make up your mind.
- The reflections on all the UI elements seem cartoonish. I want my OS to sit there and let me be productive, not glitter and shine and have an overdone faux reflectivity that makes me bob my head trying to remove the "reflections" from the wording.
- Random programs now crash. Even something as innocuous as SyncToy died a horrible death.
I'm trying to give Vista a go but I just look at it and think "5 years??". The UI is just plain overdone. No subtlety or class at all, no unifying UI methodology or consistency. Lots of big pictures, pretty backgrounds and calming lists to make it look simple, but it all turns out to be a superficial cover to a needlessly convoluted system. Maybe I'm being harsh and will grow to enjoy it, but after using it for a day and feeling needlessly and continually frustrated I can't in good faith recommend it to friends and family. And that makes me sad.
cheers, Chris Maunder
Simillar thoughts when i tried beta versions of vista but now i must say i like it . Some of the things i really love is 1. The Search 2. The preview handlers 3. Get old versions of the file / folder 4. And sidebar Gadgets ofcourse i think, any change even for better comes with a price and is painful
Omit Needless Words - Strunk, William, Jr.
Vista? VideoGadget here
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X| But I guess I should explain why I feel that way. It feels solid. There's plenty of security features, it updates drivers automatically (when it can find them) and the use of the GPU for screen display is certainly long overdue. But:
- Tasks seem to require even deeper dialog, page or menu digging than before. Also, tasks have now been reorganised so you have a window with tasks down the left hand side, looking like it all integrated with the current window. However, when you click a task a new window pops up instead of the current page simply being replaced with the UI of the new task. The maze of tasks and tabs and menus and windows and 54 items in the control panel is starting to freak me out. There is no way my parents will be able to do anything other than stick to basic default settings.
- Customising features such as the start menu is needlessly difficult. In fact the entire Start Menu has become a dog's breakfast.
- The new themes look horrible when compared to, say, MacOS. Black caption bar text on a transparent background is bad when the caption is over something that is itself dark.
- UAC is horrible. What an appallingly intrusive and klunky way to protect a computer.
- Everyone's already said it, but the inconsistency of the UI is really getting annoying. Back buttons in the top left instead of with the "Next". Menu options that either hard to decipher or don't reflect what the menu option actually leads to. Options that are sometimes 'Options' and sometimes 'Personalise'. Make up your mind.
- The reflections on all the UI elements seem cartoonish. I want my OS to sit there and let me be productive, not glitter and shine and have an overdone faux reflectivity that makes me bob my head trying to remove the "reflections" from the wording.
- Random programs now crash. Even something as innocuous as SyncToy died a horrible death.
I'm trying to give Vista a go but I just look at it and think "5 years??". The UI is just plain overdone. No subtlety or class at all, no unifying UI methodology or consistency. Lots of big pictures, pretty backgrounds and calming lists to make it look simple, but it all turns out to be a superficial cover to a needlessly convoluted system. Maybe I'm being harsh and will grow to enjoy it, but after using it for a day and feeling needlessly and continually frustrated I can't in good faith recommend it to friends and family. And that makes me sad.
cheers, Chris Maunder
I haven't spent much time playing with Vista, but I agree that the changes to the control panel and the like seem to have made things more difficult and more complicated. Microsoft does this all the time. It changes the UI just for the sake of it. I am sure that MS would claim that this is the result of testing and user feedback and all the rest, but the fact is that any substantial UI change means that users no longer know how to do things. Accordingly, the new design has to be pretty darn good to justify it. I am confident that a large majority of users would prefer to be able to continue doing things the old way. UI designers need to justify their positions, so they keep changing things. It is kind of ironic that the QWERTY keyboard is still with us for reasons of backward compatibility, yet the interface of our software changes so regularly. That said, I have to admit that my initial response to a new OS or new program isn't necessarily of major long term importance. Usually in the past I have gotten used to the new way of doing things. Probably that will happen with Vista too --- but it will waste a lot of my time in the meanwhile.
John Carson
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I haven't spent much time playing with Vista, but I agree that the changes to the control panel and the like seem to have made things more difficult and more complicated. Microsoft does this all the time. It changes the UI just for the sake of it. I am sure that MS would claim that this is the result of testing and user feedback and all the rest, but the fact is that any substantial UI change means that users no longer know how to do things. Accordingly, the new design has to be pretty darn good to justify it. I am confident that a large majority of users would prefer to be able to continue doing things the old way. UI designers need to justify their positions, so they keep changing things. It is kind of ironic that the QWERTY keyboard is still with us for reasons of backward compatibility, yet the interface of our software changes so regularly. That said, I have to admit that my initial response to a new OS or new program isn't necessarily of major long term importance. Usually in the past I have gotten used to the new way of doing things. Probably that will happen with Vista too --- but it will waste a lot of my time in the meanwhile.
John Carson
John Carson wrote:
It is kind of ironic that the QWERTY keyboard is still with us for reasons of backward compatibility, yet the interface of our software changes so regularly.
Heh. Good point...
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Well, for one thing, I know I'd rather read this [^] than that [^]. The former looks exactly as the [guy who stole it from the] author intended, it is not surrounded by distractions, it is fully wysiwyg, it is printable in the exact same form, and it places the burden of formatting entirely on the author, not the CodeProject staff and software. But we've discussed this before. "Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away." - Antoine de Saint-Exupery Personally, I've always thought that quotation a bit wordy. ;)
The Grand Negus wrote:
"Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away." - Antoine de Saint-Exupery
You will die with options if you enter CodeG*r*.:omg: I dont understand why would someone need those bulk of options making it look like a professional chat service. :doh: I think it's targeting orkut ;P
Press: 1500 to 2,200 messages in just 6 days? How's that possible sir? **Dr.Brad :**Well,I just replied to everything Graus did and then argued with Negus for a bit.
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Simillar thoughts when i tried beta versions of vista but now i must say i like it . Some of the things i really love is 1. The Search 2. The preview handlers 3. Get old versions of the file / folder 4. And sidebar Gadgets ofcourse i think, any change even for better comes with a price and is painful
Omit Needless Words - Strunk, William, Jr.
Vista? VideoGadget here
In addition to the "search", I love the search on the start menu. I now have a ton of programs installed and I only have to type the first couple of letter to find the app intead of navigating the nested menus. Pretty cool to say the least!
Rocky <>< Latest Code Blog Post: Continuing frustration with web "standards" Latest Tech Blog Post: Corel Lightning - what is the plan?
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The Grand Negus wrote:
"Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away." - Antoine de Saint-Exupery
You will die with options if you enter CodeG*r*.:omg: I dont understand why would someone need those bulk of options making it look like a professional chat service. :doh: I think it's targeting orkut ;P
Press: 1500 to 2,200 messages in just 6 days? How's that possible sir? **Dr.Brad :**Well,I just replied to everything Graus did and then argued with Negus for a bit.
VuNic wrote:
I dont understand why would someone need those bulk of options making it look like a professional chat service.
I suppose they just kept adding one more little thing... death by a thousand cuts.
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VuNic wrote:
I dont understand why would someone need those bulk of options making it look like a professional chat service.
I suppose they just kept adding one more little thing... death by a thousand cuts.
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X| But I guess I should explain why I feel that way. It feels solid. There's plenty of security features, it updates drivers automatically (when it can find them) and the use of the GPU for screen display is certainly long overdue. But:
- Tasks seem to require even deeper dialog, page or menu digging than before. Also, tasks have now been reorganised so you have a window with tasks down the left hand side, looking like it all integrated with the current window. However, when you click a task a new window pops up instead of the current page simply being replaced with the UI of the new task. The maze of tasks and tabs and menus and windows and 54 items in the control panel is starting to freak me out. There is no way my parents will be able to do anything other than stick to basic default settings.
- Customising features such as the start menu is needlessly difficult. In fact the entire Start Menu has become a dog's breakfast.
- The new themes look horrible when compared to, say, MacOS. Black caption bar text on a transparent background is bad when the caption is over something that is itself dark.
- UAC is horrible. What an appallingly intrusive and klunky way to protect a computer.
- Everyone's already said it, but the inconsistency of the UI is really getting annoying. Back buttons in the top left instead of with the "Next". Menu options that either hard to decipher or don't reflect what the menu option actually leads to. Options that are sometimes 'Options' and sometimes 'Personalise'. Make up your mind.
- The reflections on all the UI elements seem cartoonish. I want my OS to sit there and let me be productive, not glitter and shine and have an overdone faux reflectivity that makes me bob my head trying to remove the "reflections" from the wording.
- Random programs now crash. Even something as innocuous as SyncToy died a horrible death.
I'm trying to give Vista a go but I just look at it and think "5 years??". The UI is just plain overdone. No subtlety or class at all, no unifying UI methodology or consistency. Lots of big pictures, pretty backgrounds and calming lists to make it look simple, but it all turns out to be a superficial cover to a needlessly convoluted system. Maybe I'm being harsh and will grow to enjoy it, but after using it for a day and feeling needlessly and continually frustrated I can't in good faith recommend it to friends and family. And that makes me sad.
cheers, Chris Maunder
I haven't tried it, but if the new IE7 interface is a sneak preview I'm willing to consider Linux. Unfortunately our prefered provider at work is Dell, and they refuse to install XP on new machines, so there's a limit to how long I can hold out. XP was bad enough - a huge step toward unusability from 2000, and what I see of screenshots and descriptions of Vista indicates that MS has continued the process of making their products less usable. Soon enough I'll know - one of our people just ordered a new Dell, and I'll be expected to support it. X|
"A Journey of a Thousand Rest Stops Begins with a Single Movement"
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X| But I guess I should explain why I feel that way. It feels solid. There's plenty of security features, it updates drivers automatically (when it can find them) and the use of the GPU for screen display is certainly long overdue. But:
- Tasks seem to require even deeper dialog, page or menu digging than before. Also, tasks have now been reorganised so you have a window with tasks down the left hand side, looking like it all integrated with the current window. However, when you click a task a new window pops up instead of the current page simply being replaced with the UI of the new task. The maze of tasks and tabs and menus and windows and 54 items in the control panel is starting to freak me out. There is no way my parents will be able to do anything other than stick to basic default settings.
- Customising features such as the start menu is needlessly difficult. In fact the entire Start Menu has become a dog's breakfast.
- The new themes look horrible when compared to, say, MacOS. Black caption bar text on a transparent background is bad when the caption is over something that is itself dark.
- UAC is horrible. What an appallingly intrusive and klunky way to protect a computer.
- Everyone's already said it, but the inconsistency of the UI is really getting annoying. Back buttons in the top left instead of with the "Next". Menu options that either hard to decipher or don't reflect what the menu option actually leads to. Options that are sometimes 'Options' and sometimes 'Personalise'. Make up your mind.
- The reflections on all the UI elements seem cartoonish. I want my OS to sit there and let me be productive, not glitter and shine and have an overdone faux reflectivity that makes me bob my head trying to remove the "reflections" from the wording.
- Random programs now crash. Even something as innocuous as SyncToy died a horrible death.
I'm trying to give Vista a go but I just look at it and think "5 years??". The UI is just plain overdone. No subtlety or class at all, no unifying UI methodology or consistency. Lots of big pictures, pretty backgrounds and calming lists to make it look simple, but it all turns out to be a superficial cover to a needlessly convoluted system. Maybe I'm being harsh and will grow to enjoy it, but after using it for a day and feeling needlessly and continually frustrated I can't in good faith recommend it to friends and family. And that makes me sad.
cheers, Chris Maunder
Chris Maunder wrote:
UAC is horrible. What an appallingly intrusive and klunky way to protect a computer.
A few days ago, I rambled on about UAC in this post[^], and you'll be glad to know that there is a way to make it less clunky. There's a also a fairly good reason for its clunkiness, but I still prefer the less clunky version.
Sunrise Wallpaper Project | The StartPage Randomizer | A Random Web Page
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X| But I guess I should explain why I feel that way. It feels solid. There's plenty of security features, it updates drivers automatically (when it can find them) and the use of the GPU for screen display is certainly long overdue. But:
- Tasks seem to require even deeper dialog, page or menu digging than before. Also, tasks have now been reorganised so you have a window with tasks down the left hand side, looking like it all integrated with the current window. However, when you click a task a new window pops up instead of the current page simply being replaced with the UI of the new task. The maze of tasks and tabs and menus and windows and 54 items in the control panel is starting to freak me out. There is no way my parents will be able to do anything other than stick to basic default settings.
- Customising features such as the start menu is needlessly difficult. In fact the entire Start Menu has become a dog's breakfast.
- The new themes look horrible when compared to, say, MacOS. Black caption bar text on a transparent background is bad when the caption is over something that is itself dark.
- UAC is horrible. What an appallingly intrusive and klunky way to protect a computer.
- Everyone's already said it, but the inconsistency of the UI is really getting annoying. Back buttons in the top left instead of with the "Next". Menu options that either hard to decipher or don't reflect what the menu option actually leads to. Options that are sometimes 'Options' and sometimes 'Personalise'. Make up your mind.
- The reflections on all the UI elements seem cartoonish. I want my OS to sit there and let me be productive, not glitter and shine and have an overdone faux reflectivity that makes me bob my head trying to remove the "reflections" from the wording.
- Random programs now crash. Even something as innocuous as SyncToy died a horrible death.
I'm trying to give Vista a go but I just look at it and think "5 years??". The UI is just plain overdone. No subtlety or class at all, no unifying UI methodology or consistency. Lots of big pictures, pretty backgrounds and calming lists to make it look simple, but it all turns out to be a superficial cover to a needlessly convoluted system. Maybe I'm being harsh and will grow to enjoy it, but after using it for a day and feeling needlessly and continually frustrated I can't in good faith recommend it to friends and family. And that makes me sad.
cheers, Chris Maunder
Chris Maunder wrote:
In fact the entire Start Menu has become a dog's breakfast.
Amen to that. I *hate* it.
Chris Maunder wrote:
UAC is horrible. What an appallingly intrusive and klunky way to protect a computer.
Yes, there are MVPs who claim it rocks and all the complaints are unfounded. I think they are on crack. UAC is a disaster, and the worst part, is that when I get a virus, MS will say 'UAC would have protected you, you turned it off, you're on your own'. It looks to me like an exercise in diminished liability. No-one will put up with it.
Chris Maunder wrote:
The reflections on all the UI elements seem cartoonish. I want my OS to sit there and let me be productive, not glitter and shine and have an overdone faux reflectivity that makes me bob my head trying to remove the "reflections" from the wording.
That 'prettiness' is supposed to distract you from how much you paid for an OS that does nothing new.
Chris Maunder wrote:
Random programs now crash. Even something as innocuous as SyncToy died a horrible death.
What gets me is how many MICROSOFT programs won't install without a fight. don't the different teams talk to each other ? Isn't a new OS something important enough to make sure it works with my MS products ? And why doesn't the installer explain to me while it installs about things like 'run as admin' ? I mean, isn't that important ? They used to have splash screens that told me all sorts of useless junk. Now, there's something important going on, and it's a secret ?
Chris Maunder wrote:
Maybe I'm being harsh and will grow to enjoy it
I admit to starting the same way with XP. I still hate the XP menu, I always change it to 'classic'. And 'classic' view of the control panel is all that's ever useful. But, Vista sure feels like I'm far less likely to ever 'love' it.
Christian Graus - Microsoft MVP - C++ Metal Musings - Rex and my new metal blog "I am working on a project that will convert a FORTRAN code to corresponding C++ code.I am not aware of FORTRAN syntax" ( spotted in the C++/CLI forum )