usability

[Col. Sanders]

Bah...not looking under the hood, and the frequent crashes it gives me, Win XP does not appeal to me. Aqua is so much simpler and professional. Those green and blue of XP, give me nightmares. I use both OSes at almost equal amounts.

[celeborn]

I just wish Apple had thought before making silly traffic light widgets with no other visual cues apart from the color. And as any user interface expert (and Apple's own Human Interface Guidelines) will tell you, colour alone is not enough! All UI elements should be obvious without colour (like the platinum widgets), and THEN perhaps color can be added to emphasize the design.
Well, thank God for Max Rudberg's Rhapsodized theme!

[bbloke]

Just thought I'd put in my two cents as well...

I use Windows XP (Professional) at work on Dell hardware because I have no option of using a Mac, basically, and I know I will have my pro-Mac bias but I try to keep an open mind about XP.

I've had XP lock up on me a few times (needing to physically switch off the computer), but in general it has been very stable. With OS X running on a QuickSilver G4, I have never had a kernel panic, but there have probably been a similar number (i.e. rare) of occurrences over a similar period of time where it seems to have not been responding and I rebooted in the end. However, I'd expect in those instances that if I had another computer connected with through ssh, I would have been able to kill offending processes and kick start OS X again without having to reboot (?).

Windows XP is not that bad for me, but I greatly prefer OS X. The Unix core really makes a big difference to me and opens up all sorts of possibilities to users, such as the installation of Unix/X11 programs. I often wondered about the relative arguments involved in the old BeOS vs. NeXT debate but, without wanting to start a different topic, I think opening up the Mac to the Unix world and all its existing software was actually a major bonus for Mac users. In my case, this makes OS X much more "usable," particularly as I can bring work home from Unix workstations in the office and communicate with them easily from home too.

In terms of the GUI, I do prefer Aqua, but that is perhaps a matter of opinion. I do not find the changes to the taskbar in XP (eg grouping of windows) to be a great improvement. One example is being able to move items around in the Dock is a good idea, which is something you can't do with the Windows XP taskbar to my knowledge. The iApps are also very good and I certainly use iTunes very frequently.

I'm also slightly perplexed when some people (not necessarily on this forum!) say OS X inhibits the user and XP doesn't. For instance, I am the administrator for this XP machine and when I first started it up, it hid the hard drive from me and would only allow access to "My Documents!" I also find the numerous assistants rather intrusive, though I can systematically start switching things off. To me, Aqua feels more friendly, while Luna feels a bit patronizing.

We will all have different definitions of usability and will have different opinions on what is important, so this is a difficult thing to nail down. In short, my opinion is that the Unix core really empowers Mac users and that Aqua is, overall, a more pleasant experience than Luna. Anyway, that's enough rambling for now, as I've been up early this morning and my brain has not yet started working! More factual/useful posts may follow some other time!

[boi]

i would just like to say that this is the most amount of text in a thread i've seen in a long time.

okay, as you were.

[MacLuv]

[MacLuv]

[MacLuv]

[BBenve]

First i want to reply to this sentence...:

And as any user interface expert (and Apple's own Human Interface Guidelines) will tell you, colour alone is not enough! All UI elements should be obvious without colour (like the platinum widgets), and THEN perhaps color can be added to emphasize the design.


Well that is what Apple didi...if you hover on the "silly traffic lights" you will see SIGNS coming out...that is more than a clue to me... even if you use the gray one..and the 3 buttons looks the same....hovering you ll still SEE the same thing...pretty obvious to me

AS FOR

And quite frankly, who the hell wants to use UNIX? Once upon a time we laughed at DOS, and now I find myself opening up a Terminal window again.

Well ... no one really wanted UNIX...but everyone wanted more APPS...the UNIX side gave us many programs....to name one... MAYA .....maya has been waiting for Apple to do something likre OS X for ages...even Lightwave...it was avaiable for os 9..but...man have you used the one on X?

PLus...DOS is not a UNIX operating system.... saying that DOS and UNIX are similar only because they have a similiar "interface" is like saying that an German and a Japanese are the same cause they speak a foreign language from the one you are used to...

I did not ask for UNIX... i Have it..and i am happy aboutit...cause i got more apps more support ....and more important..we gained a lot of users....that means to me...a bigger community...more places to find softwares (LEGAL shareware demo and freeware) and more people to chat with about my mac and my OS, more way to solve problems....and more way to play online and have some fun..

OH and of course... i do not have a crashing problem every hour.... that is what UNIX is for me.... not enought for you? well OS 9 is still avaiable..may be next release of X wuill be better for you.....i honestly hope for you...

NO one asked for USB and Firewire...but we re all glad they re here...no one asked for dual CPU...but they are here and w re happy about it...no one asked about UNIX...but many many many of us are happy about it..

You do not need to open the terminal....if you do...is because you are taking advantage of the UNIX side you did not ask for....but you re glad it's there...cause it let you do something you are trying to