Author: Roy Eassa
Date: 13:17:35 11/30/00
Go up one level in this thread
I agree 100%. Plus, anything positive Microsoft has done with GUIs they learned from Apple (who ain't perfect either). Fritz, by the way, could use a few improvements too. But chess-wise, its features are still the best. I desparately wish Tiger II's "variations" features were half as good as Fritz's. (For example, it would be really nice to be able to promote a subvariation over its parent variation, as you can in Fritz.) On November 30, 2000 at 07:11:03, Ratko V Tomic wrote: >> Look in the File menu, your most recently opened databases are >> listed at the bottom of the menu, good chance you have stored them >> in one of those. > >The "Open Database" option (in Tiger II) seems to go always to folder "My >Documents" like Microsoft Office or IE products. After I waste time navigating >to the entirely different drive & folder, to where Tiger II databases are, and >select the database, next time I restart Tiger II, it still goes back to "My >Documents." > >Generally, the UI seems to lack any memory between program activations (or its >installed folders) where the stuff is and on every Common Dialog for file >open/save goes to Microsoft Office default folders, wasting user time to >navigate to the folder used last time (which are in Tiger's install folder in >the first place and ought to be defualt the 1st time anyway; later the default >should be wherever user picked database last time.) > >There are several reasons one should not keep their data files (of any sort) in >"c:\My Documents," one it piles up needlessly on C drive (and Windows becomes >very flaky when its install drive gets nearly full). More importantly, Microsoft >(and Netscape) communication products have had series of bugs (or backdoor >"features" depending on perspective) where a site can access and read (or even >write) your files provided they can guess where the file is. Similarly, number >of "spyware" products (attached to various "free" communication utilities or >games) transmits data to their home base. In either case, putting your data >files in the Microsoft suggested folders (the practice which somehow meshes a >bit too well with their bugs/backdoors) makes your data much more vulnerable to >either malicious web sites or viruses (which naturally will mess up the standard >places, e.g. My Documents, first). It is also very annoying to keep anything in >folders names "My Documents" "My Web" "My Favorites" ... -- the whole computer >is mine anyway, while this naming scheme implies that the rest of my hard disks >is Microsoft's and only what Microsoft generously labels "My" is mine (well >thanks a lot, Mr. Gates for having me in mind). > >A suggestion for the next UI version would be to remember a bit more, especially >its installation folders and the folders used last time. Basically, anything >where user has spent his time typing/navigating as explicit input (of folders, >choices,...) should be sticky, the program ought to remember it and use it as >default offer on the same question the next time (including accross program >activations). Why should user have to waste time navigating so the program could >save 100 bytes on saved folder name or programmer a few lines of code to save & >restore it? That kind of "economy" stopped making sense ever since disks >exceeded 160K (at least). > >Another UI suggesiton would be to disable splash screen & its sound effects. I >renamed splash image file and that did prevent it from being displayed, but the >program apparently still wastes my time every time I run it waiting through its >splash-screen timeout. > >There also seems to be a bug in overlapped database window repainting, when it >overlaps with a large chess board -- when database is behind the chessboard, >clicking on the database window area places it on top everywhere except on the >top of chessboard. I have to maximize it, then reduce size again to have it come >on top of chessboard. Similarly when I want to go back to chessboard, I have to >click on every sub-window (board, moves, status, etc) to get the database window >to go behind. Compare all this hassle to the Chessbase's single click back and >forth between database & playing screen. > >The first bug above with overlapped windows is probably due to improper handling >of window repaint when user has set his Explorer shell to "Show window content >while dragging" (have you tested window switching under such shell setting?). >The second problem (when going away from database) is the result of the >overly-literal adherence to the Microsoft's shell & Notepad default behaviors & >settings. Well, not all applications are shells or text editors, there is no >reason to mimick mindlessly those conventions (which aren't that well though >out, to start with, even in their domain) in every application to the last dot. >I think you should play a bit with Chessbase UI, then yours and see which one >wastes more user time on common operations (such as going back & forth to >database & play). If anyone's UI should be mimicked by other chess programs, it >should be Chessbase UI, and surely the last one to mimick should be Microsoft >Notepad (which is about the worst editor anyone, ever, thought up). You can also >check the website "Software Hall of Shame" at: > > http://www.iarchitect.com/index.htm > >which has many commercial product examples of bad UI (including Microsoft's >products, Notepad and Explorer shell especially, and their conventions mimicked >by others). I think the future versions of CP would benefit from learning a >lesson from some of those examples. However incredible it may sound to some, >Microsoft doesn't always know best (or means always the best, at least not for >the end-user).
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