Free and open source software is often criticised for being less usable than its commercial equivalent. Good user interface design isn’t some magical thing that FOSS developers can’t do for themselves, however. I’ve written a short article describing five key points of good interface design that any developer can use in their projects. (Note: hosted on a slow connection, please use the Coral Cache if possible).
Yes, a good article, and I wish we saw a bit more UI best practice in the open source community. The whole approach to UI in OSS is flawed in general, as at least at the beginning of most projects (certainly the rapid expansion ones), the user IS the programmer – they’re creating what they’d like. However, that’s never going to yield good results for a wide-scale project.
Usability is for the weak!
( yes I’m kidding…kinda
)
This guy Gets It. A great read.
Great article…
Victor.
“The whole approach to UI in OSS is flawed in general, as at least at the beginning of most projects ”
overall a misleading generalistion. every project regardless of oss or proprietary tends to have poor interfaces in the beginning. moreover the improvements made rapidly to several projects make previous versions like extremely bad and rudimentary
case in point: gaim (gaim.sf.net)
Part of me is very glad that in OS applications I could reverse changes made too far in any of the directions you pointed out. As an example, the back button. At work, in fact, I do use the stop button more often than the back button with webrowsers. So at that point the designer would have taken what should be my decision as to what would be most used, and just decided to foist an average onto everybody. I’m much happier with the idea that it’s up to ‘me’ where and how objects are placed on a form than having guidelines forcing what might be annoying behavier onto me.
Very interesting to read this strong article on usability. Only I think the mentioned problems reach further than OSS alone.
The example is bad. Humans like symmetry very much. Having arrows of different size doesn’t look good. Same with buttons, btw.. Also when browsing through the history forwards and backwards, you’d be attracted by redraws of the toolbar. Last but not least, it’s much more faster to click the right mouse button and hit back, instead moving the mouse around.
i couldn’t agree with this article any more. usability and interface design are key points that are usually not given a good look at; it’s one of the main reasons that linux on the desktop is still a dream away.
nice article, although what annoyed me was the examples I cared to check did better than metioned in the article:
1) KDE, deleteing to trash, don’t remeber about earlier versions but in 3.3.1 the question gets only asked once since it’s possible to fill in the “Don’t ask me again” checkbox.
2) OpenOffice…(1.1.3) just did a fresh install and yes first time 800×600 (in calc and writer) but after one maximize and close in both apps, the next time starting was already maximized.
Another thought, about toolkits used to build apps, for example it’s possible in qt (as in swing (java)) to use layouts that automatically take care of placing controls – do these toolkits support good UI design for example placing scrollbars as main window’s right outer boundary… I’m not 100% sure, but I think not, there will still be this one (+several) pixel(s).
“…OSS projects don’t have access to these kind of people,…”
This is very untrue. OSS developers do have access to these people they just choose to belittle our profession and ignore our advice. Being a designer is every bit a craft as being a programmer, perhaps even more so, and until more programmers realize this then OSS applications will suffer greatly. Firefox is a great example of what can happen when OSS developers listen to UI designers and involve them in the project instead of treating us like pixel monkeys.
As for OpenOffice, it may depend on the DE you use (and also if your distro has customised OO in any way). Remembering window positions is a job split between the DE/WM and the app; it’s perfectly possible for it to work on one DE and not on another, depending how they’re written and which setup the app is written to respect.
Em, disable the possibilty to click on scroll bars. Make them a smaller, lighter indicator instead. Let user learn to use their mouse wheel or keyboard. That’s much more faster, then moving the mouse around.
I’m the guy that wrote the article: I guess I didn’t completely steer clear of controversial areas after all! The examples in the article were meant more as general indicators of the point I was trying to make, really; I’m sure many of them can be worked around.
Kar120c: The main advantage of OSS is, of course, that the expert user can configure it how they want. You have the source code after all, you can change anything. Sensible defaults are always a good thing for an ‘average’ user, if such a thing exists.
Anonymous (about the firefox example): Yes, the unsymmetrical arrows do *look* worse (I’m not much of an artist). I have had this response from theme designers in the past, who prefered things to look nice rather than be quick to use. Personally, I put usability above appearance. Whether symmetry makes the interface ‘nicer’ is another issue I hadn’t considered and I’m not sure about.
The back command on the context menu isn’t always quicker, though. I can’t tell where it will be before I click, and if the mouse is over an image or a link there is no back command in the menu. If the back button is large and at the edge of the screen, clicking on it requires almost zero thought and I don’t even have to take my eyes off the web page.
iges: I had forgotten that KDE had the “do not ask again” setting on the trash dialog: I’m sure I can find a hundred other examples of uneccessary confirmations to replace it. OpenOffice 1.1.3 and metacity on Ubuntu don’t remember the window sizes for me: it’d be nice to find a WM that would do it for me!
me: Perhaps I made an over-generalisation, but there are certainly far more programmers than UI designers prepared to work seriously on OSS projects by an order of magnitude or more. There has been an attitude for a long time in the FOSS world that good UI design was for wimps, but I really think that is changing now that it is becoming more mainstream. I am sure there are hundreds of projects out there begging for UI designers which would be only too glad to benefit from your skills.
OpenOffice 1.1.2 under KDE 3.3.1 (Debian SID) does rememeber the window position and window sizes. I just tried it.
Yes, I just uninstalled and reinstalled Openoffice properly and it now remembers the settings. Dammit, time to find another example I guess.
Anyway, the point is still valid even if the example isn’t: if the user take the time to tell your program something, it’s probably a good idea to remember it.
One thing that really annoys me is that when I click the location bar on a browser it doesn’t select all the text, I just get a pointer to edit the direction.
It’s obvious that 99% of the times I click on the location bar it’s because I want to enter a new direction, not to edit the one that’s already there.
Windows gets this right, even on Firefox, but I’ve yet to find a linux system that does it correctly.
How about double clicking?
i agree with its content,
yet what it’s about, is the “semantic”, and “accessibility” side of UI design… the same aspect the Gnome interface design guideline focuses on
But it appears to me, that strict application of this guideline produces visually clear, but somewhat “scarce”, “spartan”, interfaces, as if the application isnt on par with Win/Mac standards, on the side of features…
//Em, disable the possibilty to click on scroll bars. Make them a smaller, lighter indicator instead. Let user learn to use their mouse wheel or keyboard. That’s much more faster, then moving the mouse around.
//
are you joking? the scrollbar may not be implemented on all OSs with the same elegance and effectiveness (
on NextStep clicking in the scrollbar “strip” brings the mid-bar handle below the mouse pointer instead of just skipping 1-2 pages, thus being a more intuitive mean of “proportional control”) but this doesnt mean it’s usefulness should be diminished… it should be just augmented
AND, you (as the designer of an OS) cannot require a mouse wheel as the only alternative to keyboard for scrolling, it’s contrary to a usability principle
a. Scroll bars should have infinite width on the right side when maximized. KDE follows this in only some programs. such as Kwrite, but not Konqeuror.
b. Users shoul always have a shortcut. Middle click on tabs for example to close, much better than clicking an x because 1) x is smaller than a tab 2) It is possible to accidentally click the x, but you cannot accidentally press hte middle button to close.
c. You know the thing most annoying about Gnome? You cannot clcik the “x” to close windows . In Windows, this is default, and in KDE this is configurable under right click on title bar->configure window behavior->moving->Allow moving and resizing of maximized windows (uncheck this)
http://developer.kde.org/documentation/design/ui/fittslaw.html
a. Scroll bars should have infinite width on the right side when maximized. KDE follows this in only some programs. such as Kwrite, but not Konqeuror.
b. Users shoul always have a shortcut. Middle click on tabs for example to close, much better than clicking an x because 1) x is smaller than a tab 2) It is possible to accidentally click the x, but you cannot accidentally press hte middle button to close.
c. You know the thing most annoying about Gnome? When maximized, you cannot move your mouse to the very top right corener of the screen clcik the “x” to close windows–instead, there is always a useless border. in the way In Windows, this is default, and in KDE this is configurable under right click on title bar->configure window behavior->moving->Allow moving and resizing of maximized windows (uncheck this)
http://developer.kde.org/documentation/design/ui/fittslaw.html
To anonymous. I find selecting the entire location bar in windows counter-intuitive. Most of the other form boxes don’t do that and most of the time I don’t want a form box to select all the text when I click in the box it. So, I expect the location bar to do that same.
…Free and open source software is often criticised for being less usable than its commercial equivalent. Good user interface design isn’t some magical thing that FOSS developers can’t do for themselves…
I found the points made in the article generaly useful as guidelines for interface design. However, the introduction, perhaps unitentionally, singles out open source software for needing improvement in the areas discussed. I find every point mentioned applies equally to many non-open source programs.
On the other hand, I also find some of the examples to be very subjective. For instance, I use the stop and the refresh buttons on browsers far more often than the back button. And unlike a previous commenter, I find I edit addresses in the address bar of a browser more often than I type a completely new one.
Otherwise, I found the article a nice reminder of general priciples on good interface design.
A single click in the location bar should highlight all the text. This is a no-brainer. If linux browsers aren’t doing this then its just another case of open source failing at the UI
a. Scroll bars should have infinite width on the right side when maximized. KDE follows this in only some programs. such as Kwrite, but not Konqeuror.
b. Users shoul always have a shortcut. Middle click on tabs for example to close, much better than clicking an x because 1) x is smaller than a tab 2) It is possible to accidentally click the x, but you cannot accidentally press hte middle button to close.
c. You know the thing most annoying about Gnome? When maximized, you cannot move your mouse to the very top right corener of the screen clcik the “x” to close windows–instead, there is always a useless border. in the way In Windows, this is default, and in KDE this is configurable under right click on title bar->configure window behavior->moving->Allow moving and resizing of maximized windows (uncheck this)
http://developer.kde.org/documentation/design/ui/fittslaw.html
It’s annoying, Opera nad IE do this better
>//Em, disable the possibilty to click on scroll bars. Make >them a smaller, lighter indicator instead. Let user learn to >use their mouse wheel or keyboard. That’s much more faster, >then moving the mouse around.
>//
>are you joking?
Do you have a virtual keyboard on the screen on a usual box to click your words together!? No, I’m not joking. The idea to move your mouse to the side of the window (and back again e.g. to click on an url) to click on or drag the scroll bar is outdated since the existance of the mouse wheel and has to be burried. I wonder, if I’m really the first to say this. Maybe its worth a patent.
With all due respect:
“Consider, for example, the default Firefox button bar (Figure 1). When web browsing, by far the most common button anyone hits is the Back button. The Back button should therefore be the easiest to hit:”
Aesthitcs are also important to a design. However, some people (in general) take aesthitcs to an extreme. It is important but not the most important. A balance must be struck between all aspects. The is form and function with respect to any design. Does:
1) form create function
2) fuction create form
Both are true but its the application of said principals.
Kar120c: “Sensible defaults are always a good thing for an ‘average’ user, if such a thing exists. ”
That was probably my only grip with the article. You have made several valid points about lay out / design that would be useful to most environments.
Disclaimer: I mostly use keyboard rather than mouse actions for daily tasks. I find that the mouse slows me down. Grain of salt and all.
I agree with this annoyance. I am dual booting XP and Mepis (Linux) and it always irritates me that Firefox in Mepis (as opposed to XP) for some reason does not automatically select the whole address when single clicking. Even double clicking doesn’t really work smoothly in my experience. No big deal really but it’s these small things that keep people away from OSS. In that sense, unfortunately, the article hits the nail on the head.
not at all. Take the example of a very, very big document. There’s no faster navigational way to jump from 25% of the way through it to 75% of the way through it than by dragging the scrollbar. I use scrollbar dragging, mousewheel and page up / page down, depending on the circumstances.
btw, the absolute best solution to ‘back’ is the side mouse button on the fancier Logitech and Microsoft mice. Boy, do I love that button.
I *love* modern-style GNOME applications. They don’t look like they lack functions to me; they look simple and usable. When I compare something GNOMEified like Rhythmbox to something old-skool like xchat…well, I love xchat as an IRC client, but its interface doesn’t win any awards in my heart.
Oh, btw, you might want to try using LightHouseBlue, the theme that (IIRC) was created as the result of a UI post by Eugenia here. It fits the ‘scrollbar extends to infinity’ criterion, and is a very usable and attractive theme in other ways.
Why is it a no-brainer? Like Gern, I find I use the location bar to edit URLs quite often. Windows’ system is terrible for this. I also agree that it should act exactly like any other input box, and no other input box selects everything when you click on it.
one more example of utterly useless defaults: When I drag a picture in Firefox and drop it in a afile manager window, it won’t copy the picture but instead create a .desktop file pointing to the original source of the image. Additionally, the .desktop file gets the same name as the image, so when i click it Nautilus warns me abour a possible security threat because the file has another MIME type than the name might indicate.
BeOS is still leading in usability.
And I wouldn’t say that this is a general OSS problem (although it was, but it’s not any more). It’s still hard to convince KDE developers and followers that less is sometimes more “LIMITING CHOICE blah blah”, but today the examples of really intelligent and painfully dumb user interfaces are equally spread among open source and proprietary software.
Even better, at least in most toolkits, middle clicking somewhere in the scrollbar will directly scroll to that position. No dragging needed.
As for the location bar, I guess it’s a personal preference thing. I get confused by the Windows behavior of selecting the whole URL when single clicking. As has been said, no other textboxes behave like that and it makes editing URLs difficult. Also, that would (reasonably) copy the URL to the Primary Selection, which isn’t normally desirable.
Double clicking works and is consistent with how other parts of the UI works — double clicking text selects a whole word (and an URL could be considered as a word since it contains no whitespaces). Usually I just use ctrl-l though.
Gah, I hate mouse wheels, personally, and I agree about the “scroll bar on right” Fitt’s issue. In fact, I’d love an OS that has the menu on top (like Mac OS) and a scroll bar on the right.
Double clicking works and is consistent with how other parts of the UI works — double clicking text selects a whole word (and an URL could be considered as a word since it contains no whitespaces). Usually I just use ctrl-l though.
“Words” are delimited by more than just whitespace – slashes, for example.
The “proper” behaviour (by the UI guidelines of OS X and Windows, unsure of others off the top of my head) should be:
Single click: place the cursor at that point.
Double click: select the “word”
Triple click: select the entire line (ie: the whole URL)
This is how basically any other selectable text element in those UIs acts. The URL bar should be no different.
Anonymous said:
Let user learn to use their mouse wheel or keyboard. That’s much more faster, then moving the mouse around.
This does not work for most of us laptop users since we do not have a mousewheel. No I will not lug around a mouse just to scroll with a mousewheel.
Also there are some laptops that require funky keypresses to use page up/down so that doesn’t necessarily work either. Not to mention that for a laptop “moving” to the mouse is almost instant. For me I use the keyboard but I like the option of being able to use the mouse to scroll.
I’ve been using Ubuntu solely for the past 5-6 weeks and I am sick and tired of it. I feel like I am constantly fighting with it just to do basic stuff. It’s back to Windows for me unfortunately.
Although Gnome and KDE (and Linux in general) have a lot of cool features that I will sorely miss in Windows, Windows just doesn’t seem to get in my way when I want to do something: it just deals with it. We’ll see… maybe I’ll come back to Linux in a few weeks time.
When will linux distro’s start recognising more than three mouse buttons? Sheesh, it’s nearly 2005 and I still have to screw around for hours just to get my back button working on my mouse – errr hang on, I’ve never had it work correctly, what am I talking about? Bah forget it, it’s like asking Bill Gates to remove IE from windows
Why is this a no-brainer?
Because if you studied usage patterns you would find that the vast majority of the time people want to change the entire URL and not just a part of it.
Why is this a no-brainer?
Because if you studied usage patterns you would find that the vast majority of the time people want to change the entire URL and not just a part of it.
Well if you want to get technical, it should just select everything after the http://www. after all, dumb people need every folder to open in a new window, so dumb people will get confused if they start typing in an address bar and see that http://www. has disapeard (: Do dumb people even know what an address bar is? (:
Having to type “www.” seems natural to me, as it is usually considered part of an address (when an address is displayed somewhere) and there also also lots of addresses that begin otherwise. Pre-filling the address bar with it to please the average user is ok for me if I can turn it off
The “//” is redundant since no average user knows what it means. People click “open file” to open local files, not leave the double-slash away.
Having to type “http:” is counter-intuitive. It should not even appear in the address bar. The fact that HTTP is used for transmission and not, for example, FTP, is an implementation detail and should be hidden from the user. The computer should find out itself which of them to use. (Of course I know that there IS no easy way to find this out when typing an address, opposed to following a link. Again, this is an implementation detail. Usability demands that it “just works”).
I love these UI articles. They get the best replies.
As for the idea of tossing the scrollbars, how would you handle horizontal scrolling? Requiring a dual scrollwheel mouse is a little overboard and having two separate methods of scrolling content would be confusing. Not to mention the notebook problem. Otherwise I like the idea.
The text selection in the URL box is an interesting case. Everyone seems to edit URL’s differently. The “click to place cursor” POV seems to be the most consistent. Personally, I like the Windows-like click to select all action. I rarely edit a URL and when I do, another click won’t bother me.
Looking at Firefox on Win2k right now, I notice that there is no single pixel spacer between the scrollbar and the edge of the screen. For some reason I never noticed that before, but I like it.
As for the close button being placed in the edge of the screen, I think that is a bad idea. If anything, the unmaximize button should be in the upper right for easy access (but without a pixel border as suggested). The minimize button should be to the left of that. There should be a comfortable (possibly one button width) gap before the close button to the left of minimize. The close button should be the hardest to hit so that you don’t accidently hit it.
You could even argue that the minimize button is redundant and confusing. If you click on that applications button in whatever taskbar is available, it minimizes “to there”. So why not make that the default minimize button? The user will then know exactly where it “went” and not worry that they closed the application. It very clearly gives the user feedback that they are in control since they PUT it right there.
WM’s without a taskbar that have icons on the desktop are really a UI nightmare. When you minimize an application, you either get a confusing icon on the desktop that looks like just another app launcher, or nothing but a name in a list in some hidden menu.
Thanks for the great discussion. I’d like to see more articles of this nature.
Even if that’s true, it doesn’t necessarily follow that URL entry dialog boxes should break the rules set by the rest of the system. Consistent behaviour is good.
(BTW, one terrible thing about the Windows implementation is that if you accidentally do *two* clicks in the URL entry box, there is no longer any way to select the whole thing without either dragging or going out of the box, selecting something else, and then going back into it; I hate that.)
Altai wrote:
This does not work for most of us laptop users since we do not have a mousewheel. No I will not lug around a mouse just to scroll with a mousewheel.
Well, you have PgUp/Down,Up,Down,Left,Right keys. Even a Laptop has them. I don’t say there should be no compatibilty mode, but should we really be restricted by manufacturers, developing and shipping insufficient interfaces (i mean the hardware of course).
Just another Anonymous wrote:
As for the idea of tossing the scrollbars, how would you handle horizontal scrolling? Requiring a dual scrollwheel mouse is a little overboard and having two separate methods of scrolling content would be confusing. Not to mention the notebook problem. Otherwise I like the idea.
Shift or mousebutton + wheel and Left,Right keys. Well, I bet we’ve to wait, until the M$ guys are doing it. But then it’s a fancy must “not” have, instead that it will be seen as the logical next step.
The page up and down keys on laptops are frequently not dedicated; you have to use a modifier in combination with an arrow key, or something. This is a tedious pain. And besides, the scroll wheel is in no way an entirely adequate replacement for scrollbars. You still haven’t explained how the keys *or* the scroll wheel are equal to or better than the scrollbar when navigating quickly through moderate to large documents.
another thing springs to mind; I read my email in Evolution’s preview pane. If I hover my mouse at the bottom of the scroll bar in the preview pane I can use the up and down arrow keys to move quickly between emails and click the mouse to page through them. I can’t use the mouse wheel or the page up / page down keys because the list pane has focus, not the preview pane. This is an extremely efficient way to read a large amount of emails quickly and I’d be very unhappy if an interface change prevented it from working.
haven’t read anything of this BUT.
imho good usability will evolve out of good software design (structure/code) by itself. On a mighty versatile (CLI) core piece a logical and user-friendly interface, with help of the good dev, _must_ be the result. Thus, the concept is essential. That’s what M$ can’t do. That’s why they basically suck at Software. They’re pretty good marketing folks though. If Bill had been a ‘real’ programmer like Mr. Binner, Mr. Torwalds, Mr. Stallmann, […], things might have evolved quite different. Windows might have been good by now.
rgrds
i apologize if my words seemed offensive or ironical, it wasnt my intention
just, the concept of removing the usefulness of the scrollbar sounded “odd” to me, more so because i was thinking about ways it could be enhanced…
one thing i’ve been long wishing as a standard OS option is the Logitech HYPERJUMP mouse driver feature, i’ve got addicted to after trying once (though i understand many may not like it at all)
IMHO, something that turns the “annoyance” of positioning the mouse cursor on the scrollbar widget, into a sort of “gesture” (click and hold the mod button->the 8-way “compass” appears-> select the button on the right or down for horizontal scrolling, release the button -> the arrow is “hyperjumped” and gains control of the scrollbar->move the mouse anywhere to scroll->click any button brings the arrow where it ORIGINALLY was — i was able to do the first 3 steps in a single “movement”, and i dont have particular dexterity, thus i meant “gesture” )
would be very good from a usability POV
Bye fron Genoa
“There’s no faster navigational way to jump from 25% of the way through it to 75% of the way through it than by dragging the scrollbar. I”
There’s a better way, called autoscroll (hold middle click & just move hte mouse down to accelerate) as implemented in Internet Explorer. Best thing MS has done for software UI IMO…
AdamW wrote: You still haven’t explained how the keys *or* the scroll wheel are equal to or better than the scrollbar when navigating quickly through moderate to large documents.
Well, I use the keyboard and never use the mouse for it, since it’s too slow that way (imho), so the question does not arise for me. Regarding laptops etc. – don’t buy hardware, that has a crappy interface.
M^2 wrote:
i apologize if my words seemed offensive or ironical
They didn’t. But I really did not expect, that it sound that radical to you. wgat I said. Regarding hyperjumps, mouse gestures, etc.: I really tried all that, found it great and so on, but the first time you notice, that you’re ways faster using the keyboard, than clicking around with your mouse (it is still a nice tool for a number of jobs, though), you see that this is superfluous crap.
anonymous (rogers) – ooogh, I hate that acceleration thing. It’s so hard to control exactly where you want to wind up. It was a nice idea but it’s just too hard to control to be useful. Besides, it ties up the middle mouse button click function.
@anonymous (de) – right. so you suggest I buy a laptop with a full-size keyboard? And still fit it in my over-the-shoulder bag with a phone headset, japanese language course and a packed lunch? Find me one and my credit card will be out in a jiffy.
No, while a laptop with a good keyboard is hard to find, I just want to suggest to care for a high quality display and ergonomic keyboard, instead buying the shit with fancy 3d graphics + tv card(s) and grumbling about complicated key combinations. Todays bad designed hardware is the worst reason, not to change something for the future.
my laptop is five years old, approx. 20cm by 10cm in size, weighs 1kg and has absolutely nothing in the way of 3D graphics. nor would it know what a TV tuner was if you hit it with one. It still doesn’t have dedicated page up / page down keys, and thanks to the joy of the scrollbar, I don’t find myself missing them much.
I use scrollbar dragging, mousewheel and page up / page down, depending on the circumstances.
One thing i find lacking with the mouse is that i cannot use it to scroll exactly one page. When i read a big document, i always use the pgdn key. It is my opinion the mouse and keyboard should mostly be able to used as replacement of each other when possible as well as addon for each other when the ideal situation is not an option. In this case, one could argue, the keyboard is able to do what the mouse doesn’t but i’d rather use the mouse to scroll. Hence i’d like tobe able to scroll exactly one page up or down with my mouse (e.g. scrollwheel) but Firefox doesn’t allow this.
Its unfortunate Internet voting doesn’t work. The author relies on assumptions of popularity. While i agree the popular choice should be driven and hence optionally an option, its hard to draw conclusions based on unproven assumptions.
Having to type “www.” seems natural to me, as it is usually considered part of an address (when an address is displayed somewhere)
It might be considered part of an address but according to the RFCs it is not mandatory. You’ll find it nowhere there. Its actually some kind of needless inclusion. The fact you find it natural means you learned it the Wrong Way. The fact servers are misconfigured nopt including non-www mean the admins configured their servers according to this same Wrong Way and think its somehow required. Its not required though.
“But then it’s a fancy must “not” have, instead that it will be seen as the logical next step.”
And when it’d be copied it would mean the ‘OSS community’ is ‘not original’… *sigh*.
“There’s a better way, called autoscroll (hold middle click & just move hte mouse down to accelerate) as implemented in Internet Explorer. Best thing MS has done for software UI IMO…”
FF supports this too. They stole it from us.
There’s a better way, called autoscroll (hold middle click & just move hte mouse down to accelerate) as implemented in Internet Explorer. Best thing MS has done for software UI IMO…
This is horrifically inefficient for quickly scrolling around the document. Dragging a scrollbar thumb is _far_ quicker.
@AdamW: Your 5 year old laptop is not relevant for future software.
[i]dpi wrote:
And when it’d be copied it would mean the ‘OSS community’ is ‘not original’… *sigh*.[i]
That’s a side aspect, which is true too often. I thought more about the time frame. Post-Longhorn means 2010+ or so.
“There’s a better way, called autoscroll (hold middle click & just move hte mouse down to accelerate) as implemented in Internet Explorer. Best thing MS has done for software UI IMO…”
FF supports this too. They stole it from us.
Autoscroll dates from IE4, ca. 1997. I think it’s safe to say they didn’t steal it from “you”.