Best UI?

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FOBSIDE

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Mar 16, 2000
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so what do you think the most intuitive user interface out there for an operating system? what about parts of an interface?

Windows Explorer is really good I think. Mac OS doesn't have anything like it natively. That's always something that bugged me.

The Windows taskbar is a good way to keep track of open windows. The Mac OS X dock is nice looking but it only keeps track of open applications, not open windows. You can right click and application icon and select from the open windows, but you can't get to a specific window with one click.

One thing I like about Mac OS that they haven't implemented into OS X yet is spring-loaded folders. You double click on a folder and hold down the mouse button. You can set the delay time but what happens is that the folder opens up, and while you're still holding the mouse button and you mouse over another folder, that folder opens up, and so on and so forth until you let go of the mouse. Then all the intermediary windows close, leaving you with only the final window you selected.

Most of the stuff I've seen in Linux seems to be copying existing stuff, but I haven't seen all the distros out there. Mutiple desktops I've seen mostly in Linux. That I always liked.

So what do you guys think? What have you seen?
 
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vash

Platinum Member
Feb 13, 2001
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My favorite GUI, hands down, is BeOS. Its very clean, Mac-like, but very easy to use and navigate. If someone would port that GUI to Linux, I'd be using Linux more often.

vash
 
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FOBSIDE

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Mar 16, 2000
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<< Heres one more person who likes BeOS. >>



what about the BeOS UI? ive used it a little bit but i dont remember anything so spectacular. remind me please.
 
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thornc

Golden Member
Nov 29, 2000
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Ximian Gnome!! Is very good, with a clean an intuitive interface!!

BlackBox rules on simplicity, and I also like the CDE of the old unixes that is now replicated by XFCE!

I don't particulary like the Explorer UI of windows, although I like the Explorer file manager! :p
 
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Barnaby W. Füi

Elite Member
Aug 14, 2001
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the great thing about unix style OS's is that you have lots of variety. you can choose what you like.

any and everyone interested in UI design should read this.

i use fluxbox on linux and i like it alot. its basically blackbox with some other features, the only one i use is the customizeable window buttons, which bb will probably have in the future. i like using the keyboard for things, it seems much faster than the mouse, especially on a 15" monitor @ 1024x768 (things can be a bit small). i have no buttons on my windows, i just use the titlebar to read the name of the program and to move them sometimes. you can also hold alt down and click anywhere in a window to move it, so i dont always use the title bar to move windows. resizing, you hold alt and use the right mouse button, and it resizes from the bottom right corner.

i use keybindings to close/maximize windows, and as far as the windows taskbar that everyone loves, well, using multiple desktops usually eliminates the need to have lots of windows on top of each other, and even when you do, you can double click the titlebar to shade it, and then you can see behind it.

as far as launching apps, i have a root menu right click menu which has 3 entries - terminal, irc terminal (bigger font), and mp3's. for everything else i just hit ctrl+shift+x and type the program in a run box (bbrun). really, i could go without the menu and just use bbrun to launch everything, but i figure if the menu's there, i might as well use it for something :p. i use ctrl+shift+F9 to launch my cpu and network monitors (dock apps), i use ctrl+shift+f10 to take a screenshot, i use ctrl+shift11 and 12 to lower/raise volume (i never really use those, i just use the volume knob :p) lets see...what else...ctrl+shift+c to launch galeon (web browser), and a couple others, but you get the point.

point being, i have put alot of work into making my UI conform to how i like to work, and it does it quite well. the sad thing is, in windows you cant really do the same. you're pretty much stuck with either the default windows stuff, or buggy, slow 3rd party apps.
 
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FOBSIDE

Platinum Member
Mar 16, 2000
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key bindings are great and thats one of the things i love about Mac OS. there so many built into the OS. although i like using the keyboard for a lot of things, they are not really part of the UI.
 
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yg17

Member
Jan 17, 2002
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there is no "best UI"

It all comes down to personal preference. Some people will say OS X is the best interface, yet others will swear Windows has the best interface.
 
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FOBSIDE

Platinum Member
Mar 16, 2000
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<< there is no "best UI"

It all comes down to personal preference. Some people will say OS X is the best interface, yet others will swear Windows has the best interface. >>



right. i never claimed there was one best. so what parts of each do you like? perhaps the title of the thread is not very good but reading the posts you can see this isnt about an absolute best and it is subject to personal preference.
 
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goob2k

Senior member
Aug 12, 2001
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I loved the BeOS tracker. Lately I've been kinda partial to Ximian GNOME + Sawfish + Crux theme. Windows Explorer is, hands down, the best file manager however (though Nautilius and Konquerer do a good job).
 
Nothinman

Nothinman

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Sep 14, 2001
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key bindings are great and thats one of the things i love about Mac OS. there so many built into the OS. although i like using the keyboard for a lot of things, they are not really part of the UI.

key bindingss are a big part of UI, I mean, I use them to interface with the OS right?
 
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Barnaby W. Füi

Elite Member
Aug 14, 2001
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<< key bindings are great and thats one of the things i love about Mac OS. there so many built into the OS. although i like using the keyboard for a lot of things, they are not really part of the UI.

key bindingss are a big part of UI, I mean, I use them to interface with the OS right? >>


yeah they're definitely part of the UI, i guess he's thinking GUI not UI.


<< there is no "best UI"

It all comes down to personal preference. >>


i totally agree. there are common things which are desireable in all UI's, but the specifics are really a matter of personal preference.
 
Nothinman

Nothinman

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Sep 14, 2001
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yeah they're definitely part of the UI, i guess he's thinking GUI not UI.

Even so, they're a part of the GUI too, sure they're not required, but any GUI that has no keybindings is going to be very slow and frustrating to anyone using it for a long period of time.
 
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FOBSIDE

Platinum Member
Mar 16, 2000
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whoops, i meant GUI. hehe. i guess this thread was originally talking about GUI, but UI talk is good too. what do you use your key bindings for? do they make a lot of the GUI unecessary? on Mac OS X i pretty much do everything in an application without using the mouse because a lot of the commands are standard key strokes. unfortunately i havent found a faster way to browse my directories quickly from the keyboard.
 
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FOBSIDE

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Mar 16, 2000
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<< unfortunately i havent found a faster way to browse my directories quickly from the keyboard. >>



funny that i should post that right after TheGrandCow posted:

"DOS all the way!
Command line interfaces forever!"
 
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NorthenLove

Banned
Oct 2, 2001
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<< DOS all the way!
Command line interfaces forever! >>



FLAME ON!! Screw DOS ! Nothing can beat a manly Unix/Linux based CLI for when you need to get things done. :p
 
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ThaGrandCow

Diamond Member
Dec 27, 2001
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<<

<< unfortunately i havent found a faster way to browse my directories quickly from the keyboard. >>



funny that i should post that right after TheGrandCow posted:

"DOS all the way!
Command line interfaces forever!" >>


LOL! I'm just that good :D
 
Nothinman

Nothinman

Elite Member
Sep 14, 2001
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DOS all the way!
Command line interfaces forever!

Command Lines are cool, DOS is not =)
 
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stirling

Member
Oct 29, 2001
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<< unfortunately i havent found a faster way to browse my directories quickly from the keyboard. >>



'ls -R' seems pretty fast to me

And that's a vote for *nix CLI. With readline, of course.
As far as guis go, I'm happy with my fluxbox/gtk setup that I rarely use.
 
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FOBSIDE

Platinum Member
Mar 16, 2000
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what about moving files around? unless you know exactly where you want everything, i prefer drag and dropping of the files using explorer. or perhaps moving a random half the files in a directory to another directory. cant beat the GUI there.
 
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Vadatajs

Diamond Member
Aug 28, 2001
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My favorite for getting things done quickly is Explorer. My favorites for overall looks are OSX, and Ximian Gnome.
 
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Barnaby W. Füi

Elite Member
Aug 14, 2001
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<< yeah they're definitely part of the UI, i guess he's thinking GUI not UI.

Even so, they're a part of the GUI too, sure they're not required, but any GUI that has no keybindings is going to be very slow and frustrating to anyone using it for a long period of time. >>


when i think of gui, i just think of the stuff thats rendered on screen, but i suppose key bindings are also a part of the gui.
 
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Barnaby W. Füi

Elite Member
Aug 14, 2001
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<< DOS all the way!
Command line interfaces forever! >>


you know that commercial where that guy reaches "the end of the internet", well, with dos, you could probably do everything there is to do in dos, in like, a day.

"you have reached the end of dos. please go back" :p
 
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fivepesos

Senior member
Jan 23, 2001
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best ui ever? hmm me behind the wheel of any rearwheel drive performance car ever made :)

second best ui... bash.

best gui... windowmaker (ximian gnome 1.4 is good but bloated).
 
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