Author: Albert Silver
Date: 22:43:27 02/12/00
Go up one level in this thread
On February 12, 2000 at 23:22:54, Vincent Vega wrote:
>On February 12, 2000 at 01:44:27, Albert Silver wrote:
>
>>Of course. You state that the interfaces of all chess programs are ridiculously
>>poor on a number of levels yet give no explanation as to what your complaints
>>are. Instead you put forward that you are an expert in interfaces having just
>>finished a complex one just now. The only problem is that your position as an
>>authority (as no arguments were presented) resides right now on a recently
>>finished project made by a movie character name working in a mystery company.
>>That's quite a magic trick. Also, you now sweep it under the carpet by hinting
>>that this is in fact but one of _many_ projects. Fine. Are they all secret as
>>well?
>
>Let me repeat what I said before, if you can't bring yourself to believe what I
>said that's your problem. Sorry, I don't care.
That isn't, and never was, the issue. If you are going to declare yourself as an
authority on anything, then you must also be prepared to back that up. If not,
say nothing and merely present your arguments. I see no reason why I have to
take this on faith.
>
>>In the one instance you show the problems you perceive with commercial
>>interfaces (you had already said that amateur ones need not concern themselves
>>being free), you choose an amateur program, and make a large list full of
>>problems that don't exist in today's commercial programs. Take the top
>>commercial programs, and show me what is so terrible that they should hide their
>>reddened face in shame.
>>
>Again, as I said before, I chose Winboard because it was very often highly
>praised, also in this thread. Want to see a critique of Fritz 6? You got it.
>
>Help is weak - index should be comprehensive (for example if I need to type
>"chess clocks,” but I should be able to type “time” or “clock” and get there),
>HTML help is used (requiring users to install IE, when some may not want to) and
>none of its extra features are utilized, no context-sensitive help –
>unbelievable omission, toolbars can only be moved around by clicking on what in
>other programs is a sizing bar – doesn’t make sense, toolbars cannot be
>undocked, toolbars can only be docked to the top frame, standard menu bar name
>is Window_s_, not Window, mouse cursor should be changed to hourglass when a
>lengthy operation is performed – hint for example, analog clocks are very ugly –
>antialiasing anyone?, why are there scroll bars in engine output window when
>there is nothing there – contrary to every style guide, chessboard window takes
>way to long to redraw, hiding a pane and then bringing it back changes its size,
>why can I drag a piece I can’t move?, why can’t I change time by clicking on the
>clock?, time controls are very weak – can you even set separate time controls?,
>time per move window doesn’t even say that it’s seconds and is unable to convert
>minutes, database window is _made_ for a tree view instead an antiquated
>DOS-like window is used, why no drag-and-drop of pieces in 3D?, why such a slow
>performance in 3D?, why no mouse-based 3D view controls?, when inputting
>keyboard moves board squares should obviously be highlighted, no tooltips on
>toolbars in engine match, undo, redo, find, copy, and paste keys all go against
>Windows standards, why is Position Setup in File -> New?, having to scroll the
>list boxes when not necessary – for example in Board Design window, Proportion
>and other sliders in Board Design need some points of reference or instant
>feedback, right-clicking on the board brings up Board Design instead of a
>standard Win 9X pop-up menu, when time runs out a window that pops up gives a
>message that says: “Time” – nothing about who won, next to mutually exclusive
>menu choices (like 2D Board and 3D Board) should be a radio buttons, not
>checkmarks, why does clicking on an empty square change cursor to a hand? –
>doesn’t make sense, why can I drag a piece of the wrong side?, why aren’t
>keyboard shortcuts set to a consistent scheme? (to get a new opening book
>Ctrl+Alt+Shift+F11 – a joke), I can move around all the windows except the board
>window – why?, overuse of multiple level menus when they are badly done in
>Windows (require too much mouse precision), no distinction between commands and
>on/off switches in menu and toolbars.
>
>I’m basing this on a demo version so I can’t criticize a lot of unavailable
>options ;-)
>Note that very few of these are personal preferences – almost all are widely
>recognized standards, followed in thousands of other programs, or common sense
>things. And I think Fritz 6 interface is good compared to others :-) Waiting
>for my check from Chessbase...
I'll answer this later as I have no time now (it's 4:40 am here in Rio). One
question though: what is your definition of an interface? There were a number of
things that seemed to have nothing to do with what I believe to be an interface
issue (ex: slow drawing of 3D pieces). Also, some things seem completely
subjective and I cannot regard as making it a poor interface for as much (ex:
using radio buttons instead of checkboxes).
Albert Silver
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