On May 23, 2007, at 12:57 PM, Elijah Newren wrote:
>
> On 5/22/07, Matthew Paul Thomas <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>>
>> (I've rearranged them for myself, because having the close button
>> right next to the others is stupid. But I think that's an argument
>> for having a better default arrangement, not for making the
>> customization easier.)
>
> I imagine this is the kind of thing that would annoy users simply
> because it is change, but which is probably beneficial enough to
> change at some point anyway. I *hate* accidentally clicking maximize
> when I want a window closed. ;-) Anyway, I wonder if we should make
> a tracker bug about little things like this to change and then do them
> all at once. Anyone know of a relevant case for whether users tend to
> be happier about lots of changes once or lots of little interface
> changes over time?
I don't know whether people are happier if such small changes are
grouped with other changes, but it seems likely, because it's more of a
helpful visual reminder. (Especially if, for a while, you have to
switch between the old and new versions on different machines).
And it's certainly the historic pattern. Consider the two most relevant
examples:
* Windows 3.x (menu, title, minimize, maximize/restore) ->
Windows 95 (menu, title, minimize, maximize/restore, close)
- Accompanied by many GUI changes, including a new 3-D theme.
- Sudden change, except for people who used Encarta 95 (which used
Windows-95-lookalike title bars even on Windows 3).
- Microsoft have deprecated the menu button, but can't kill it.
<http://blogs.msdn.com/jensenh/archive/2006/06/08/621757.aspx>
* Mac OS 8~9 (close, title, zoom, collapse) ->
Mac OS X Beta (close, minimize, zoom, title, single-window mode) ->
Mac OS X (close, minimize, zoom, title, show/hide toolbars)
- Accompanied by many other GUI changes, including a new theme.
- Sudden change.
- The Classic environment for running old apps on OS X uses
old-style window frames (and old-style everything else).
And even less well-known examples:
* Mac System 1~3 (close, title) ->
Mac System 4~7 (close, title, zoom) ->
Mac OS 8~9 (close, title, zoom, shade)
- The Mac OS 8 change was accompanied by a new 3-D theme.
(That wouldn't have been feasible for the 1-bit System 4.)
- Small change in each case.
- Consistency of button position within Mac OS 8 was regarded as
more important than consistency of zoom button between 7 and 8.
<http://urlx.org/mactech.com/6c6a9>
* AmigaDOS 1.3 (close, title, back, front) ->
AmigaDOS 2.0 (close, title, maximize/restore, front/back)
- Accompanied by a new 3-D theme.
- Medium-sized change.
* OS/2 Warp 3 (menu, title, minimize, maximize) ->
OS/2 Warp 4 (menu, title, close, minimize, maximize)
- Accompanied by a different title bar button appearance.
- Small change.
So ... Anyone want to make a Clearlooks-NG to accompany a title bar
rearrangement? ;-)
Cheers
--
Matthew Paul Thomas
http://mpt.net.nz/
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