Something tells me Microsoft just doesnt get it
Speaking of User Interface . . .
I’ve been using Windows Vista Beta on my home media center now for over a month. Needless to say, it’s a step up from XP, but I still cant get over just how sloppy it is. The “glass” interface is much cleaner and nicer to look at, and some elements, like the start menu, have major design improvements, making for much easier navigation. Here comes the but.
BUT
It crashes all the time. I’d simply write this off as an affect of beta software, but something tells me the Release version is still going to have problems with freezing up.
Pertaining more to this conversation, it’s not cohesive. As a whole the design and interface improvements are great – but thats the problem – they’re not whole. Most menu’s fit into the new ‘glass’ paradigm, but every once in a while you’ll get a dialog or a menu that looks like Windows ‘95, and you’re completely thrown off. Again, Id throw it off to the beta – then I found this little diddy? (Via blackrimglasses). At some levels I just cant fathom this. Does Microsoft just not have the resources? Did someone overlook this? Do they just not care?
User interface and cohesiveness, if they are to exist in a computer workstation, must start at the operating system. Users want need to be given a clear set of idioms for how they operate and use a computer. At the most basic level, the icon to close an application should probably look the same throughout an operating system.
One of the reasons I switched and will argue for Apple, is Aqua, the cohesive interface standard that makes Mac OS X so pretty. The interface for the operating system, menus, icons, toolbars, and even the Apple applications are completely standardized. Most third party applications even try to conform to this standard, which makes using a combination of Apple and third party apps so easy and seamless.
I feel one of Windows biggest problems is that they haven’t grasped this yet. Many application use completely different interfaces to stand out. Basic interface elements, like menus, toolbars, and icons should be inherited from the OS. Is Microsoft ever going to grasp this? Even at the most basic level of a font menu?
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