Greatest OS feature of all time!!!!

[narzy]

Originally posted by: Money
macs do suck, 99% of the time on my macbook pro i'm using xp via parallels

the best OS feature of macs is Bootcamp, even though that still totally sucks with shitty drivers (hence me using parallels)

I'll give you 600 bucks for your macbook pro and you can go buy one of those HP laptops msft is pitching on their commercials. I've never had problems with bootcamp drivers...you must be doing something wrong.

 

[Oil]

Expose is one of the most convenient features of any OS, IMO

 

[GodlessAstronomer]

Originally posted by: halik

Originally posted by: hans030390
Maybe if OS X include a taskbar like seen in, oh, every version of Windows since 95 (and Linux), they wouldn't need to have such a feature. I look at what window or app I want to bring forward in the taskbar and click on it. This is improved even further with the taskbar in Windows 7.

If you ask me, OS X is more "cool" and "flashy", but a lot less intuitive with a lot of basic OS features.

And yes...I do use both.

Think about a pop-under scenario: one big firefox window and one small one behind it. Clicking on the taskbar won't help you, since the little window is still hidden behind the big one.

People here confuse usability studies with "idiot proof". Apple spends a ton of money of UI research to come up with all these things and anyone that's ever taken a UI class will tell you the same.

Expose should be faster if my math is right, since it eliminates the need of finding the application task bar entry and then holding a mouse over it (after that the processing time is same, since you're hunting the window in the little preview pane).

My UI prof in undergrad routinely gaves us optimization homeworks, where you take a piece of an OS and evolute the processing time.



Image recognition is faster than than reading btw * (ie if i give you a list of of words one being "Firefox" vs. a list of icons)

I suggest you retake that HCI class because you seem to have forgotten Fitt's Law of Pointing. Taskbar items have an infinite width, so we can point to taskbar items using a ballistic phase of motion. This is faster than pointing to a box on the screen, regardless of size. Your image recognition argument doesn't hold water for two reasons: Items in the Windows taskbar ARE represented by images (they're called icons, they've been around for a while) and modern versions of Windows give a live preview of the windows when the taskbar button is hovered over.

 

[GodlessAstronomer]

Originally posted by: n yusef

Originally posted by: ballmode

Originally posted by: Kev
i've never really felt the need to run 58 programs at once

Never more than a handful

I mean how much porn can you watch at a time?

Surprisingly, some people do work on their computers.

And why would someone have more than a handful of windows open while doing work? I do a ton of work on my PCs and rarely have more than half a dozen windows open. Keep in mind most software today is tabbed, eliminating the need for multiple instances.

When I'm programming I'll typically have one or 2 instances of Visual Studio (tabbed) open, one of two instances of Firefox or Chrome (tabbed) open, a command prompt window, an instance of Notepad++ (tabbed) and MSN Messenger.

When I'm editing photos I'll have one instance of Photoshop (tabbed), one instance of Bridge, one instance of Neat Image, one browser window (tabbed) and MSN Messenger.

I can't think of too many situations when you'd need more than 10 windows, and even that would be pretty extreme.

 

[Chaotic42]

Originally posted by: GodlessAstronomer
I can't think of too many situations when you'd need more than 10 windows, and even that would be pretty extreme.

I often have 10-20 windows open at any given time at work. Email, Excel, Word, Photoshop, IE, Visual Basic, mapping software, Acrobat, etc.

Many of them have multiple sub windows open.

 

[GodlessAstronomer]

Originally posted by: Chaotic42

Originally posted by: GodlessAstronomer
I can't think of too many situations when you'd need more than 10 windows, and even that would be pretty extreme.

I often have 10-20 windows open at any given time at work. Email, Excel, Word, Photoshop, IE, Visual Basic, mapping software, Acrobat, etc.

Many of them have multiple sub windows open.

Bah I forgot about Acrobat, why the hell doesn't that program have tabs? Hhmmm most of the smaller apps I use are browser based, I'll use GMail for email and Google Maps for mapping etc. Yeah I guess I can see it if you don't use a lot of browser based apps.

 

[PieIsAwesome]

I never really cared for it. I want a taskbar.

 

[StinkyPinky]

It's called a taskbar. It shows all running apps. Windows has had it since 1995.

 

[nakedfrog]

Yeah, I'm at 22 windows open right now, and it's not atypical.

 

[Chaotic42]

Originally posted by: GodlessAstronomer
Bah I forgot about Acrobat, why the hell doesn't that program have tabs? Hhmmm most of the smaller apps I use are browser based, I'll use GMail for email and Google Maps for mapping etc. Yeah I guess I can see it if you don't use a lot of browser based apps.

Well, my job is a rare case. I need a wide variety of programs to work. I have three monitors and I've tried to get three more to no avail.

As for Acrobat... why does Adobe do anything the way they do? Why did they make some horrible new half-assed interface for CS4? Why do their programs play so poorly with others?

They must be a weird bunch over there.

 

[Chaotic42]

Originally posted by: StinkyPinky
It's called a taskbar. It shows all running apps. Windows has had it since 1995.

But yet it doesn't have multimonitor taskbar support. If I could ask MS one question, it would be why not?

 

[GodlessAstronomer]

Originally posted by: Chaotic42
As for Acrobat... why does Adobe do anything the way they do? Why did they make some horrible new half-assed interface for CS4? Why do their programs play so poorly with others?

Yeah I want to hunt down and torture/murder whoever made the decision to give CS4 that crazy new interface.

 

[halik]

Originally posted by: GodlessAstronomer

Originally posted by: halik

Originally posted by: hans030390
Maybe if OS X include a taskbar like seen in, oh, every version of Windows since 95 (and Linux), they wouldn't need to have such a feature. I look at what window or app I want to bring forward in the taskbar and click on it. This is improved even further with the taskbar in Windows 7.

If you ask me, OS X is more "cool" and "flashy", but a lot less intuitive with a lot of basic OS features.

And yes...I do use both.

Think about a pop-under scenario: one big firefox window and one small one behind it. Clicking on the taskbar won't help you, since the little window is still hidden behind the big one.

People here confuse usability studies with "idiot proof". Apple spends a ton of money of UI research to come up with all these things and anyone that's ever taken a UI class will tell you the same.

Expose should be faster if my math is right, since it eliminates the need of finding the application task bar entry and then holding a mouse over it (after that the processing time is same, since you're hunting the window in the little preview pane).

My UI prof in undergrad routinely gaves us optimization homeworks, where you take a piece of an OS and evolute the processing time.



Image recognition is faster than than reading btw * (ie if i give you a list of of words one being "Firefox" vs. a list of icons)

I suggest you retake that HCI class because you seem to have forgotten Fitt's Law of Pointing. Taskbar items have an infinite width, so we can point to taskbar items using a ballistic phase of motion. This is faster than pointing to a box on the screen, regardless of size. Your image recognition argument doesn't hold water for two reasons: Items in the Windows taskbar ARE represented by images (they're called icons, they've been around for a while) and modern versions of Windows give a live preview of the windows when the taskbar button is hovered over.

You're playing into my argument - I have a hot spot on both bottom corners to activate expose and from there I recognize and point to the appropriate windows.

On windows, you can throw the mouse to the bottom (as quick as corner), but then you have navigate and READ which tab is what (say you have 3 firefox windows open, you'll need to read the headings to find the right window) or alternatively move the mouse over the task bar button and then recognize which window is which (much like expose).

Expose should end up being faster in most cases, because there are fewer mnemonic operations and the targets end up being larger also. The only case I can see taskbar being faster is if all the windows are from different applications and the icons are not similar.

 

[GodlessAstronomer]

Originally posted by: halik
You're playing into my argument - I have a hot spot on both bottom corners to activate expose and from there I recognize and point to the appropriate windows.

On windows, you can throw the mouse to the bottom (as quick as corner), but then you have navigate and READ which tab is what (say you have 3 firefox windows open, you'll need to read the headings to find the right window) or alternatively move the mouse over the task bar button and then recognize which window is which (much like expose).

Expose should end up being faster in any case, because there are fewer mnemonic operations and the targets end up being larger also.

Ok I've never actually used Expose, I assumed it required a key combo to bring it up. My bad.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: StinkyPinky
It's called a taskbar. It shows all running apps. Windows has had it since 1995.

/facepalm

This is not the same as the taskbar. It's a different (and better in the opinion of some) way to see what you have open and switch between windows. Same purpose, entirely different functionality.

Originally posted by: GodlessAstronomer
Ok I've never actually used Expose, I assumed it required a key combo to bring it up. My bad.

There are various ways to do it. I have it mapped to one of the extra buttons on my mouse, which makes it very easy to change between windows.

 

[zerocool84]

Mac users use to boast that their hardware was superior. They lost that battle and now all they have left is trying to say how much better their OS is and promote some feature that I just have to look at my taskbar for. I can even mouse over it and get a preview of it if I want to or I can even atl+tab or I can even windows key+tab. So many different ways to do it.

 

[halik]

Originally posted by: zerocool84
Mac users use to boast that their hardware was superior. They lost that battle and now all they have left is trying to say how much better their OS is and promote some feature that I just have to look at my taskbar for. I can even mouse over it and get a preview of it if I want to or I can even atl+tab or I can even windows key+tab. So many different ways to do it.

You must be 15 years old

 

[xSauronx]

Originally posted by: KeithTalent

Originally posted by: xSauronx

Originally posted by: KeithTalent
I don't get it, looks pointless.

KT

i think its pretty handy. with a flick of a wrist i can see all my desktops and all the open applications on them. if im running firefox, rhythmbox, burning a cd, pidgin, packet tracer, a document/pdf/etc, i dont want them all on one desktop and minimized or stacked or whatever. i have a 1080P 23" LCD and i dont want all that on one screen.

so i set up a few virtual desktops and use 3 or 4 at a time, maybe more. flick my wrist and i see *everything* i have going on at once. its quite nice for multitasking.

I guess I just never have that many things going on. A few windows at a time, but not anything that needs special organization.

KT

i get pretty organized if i have a lot of things running. i use cairo dock but it has use as a taskar, as well, and i can get window previews on that like 7 gives them on its taskbar. the only, and i mean only thing, i like about windows 7 is that the tabs in a program get their own preview...but i expect that will come to compiz/gnome or whatever later on anyway, and windows still probably wont have something like expose or easy to use virtual desktops...both of which i miss tremendously when i use windows.

i also love expose/virtual desktops even more on my netbook. im not likely to mutlitask on it much, but even 2 or 3 apps at once on these tiny screens is a bitch.