* Frank Ludolph <Frank.Ludolph at Sun.COM> [2008-08-08 21:37]: > I would say that it is still under discussion. The problem of putting a > reg icon on the desktop is that it does not allow for informing users of > incentives to register. We are investigating ways of presenting "Next > Steps" (and initiating registration) other than a simple web page. The > reg icon can always be added back to the desktop if other approaches don't > work out. I would vote for a simple "next steps" application, which would be a launcher, perhaps with some time-varying or external means of changing what tasks are emphasized, over using a browser.
> For 2008.11 the package manager GUI icon is being placed in the upper > panel next to FireFox and Thunderbird which makes it quite visible and it > won't be covered by windows. It will also get a tooltip to inform users of > its purpose, something that desktop icons do not have. The icon graphic will be unfamiliar--being new, if nothing else--so deciding to read the panel icon's tooltip requires some deliberate curiosity, whereas the desktop icon comes with a text label. Maybe there's a classic usability study that shows the distribution of curiosity for new users; an appropriate citation would be very soothing... - Stephen -- sch at sun.com http://blogs.sun.com/sch/
