Author: Albert Silver
Date: 17:45:26 02/14/00
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.
>
>>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.
>>
>> Albert Silver
>
>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),
I agree.
>HTML help is used
HTML help is used _also_ you mean. You can set this in Tools --> Options -->
Design.
>(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,
Since I didn't see how one could actually move them around (meaning change their
order of appearance), this seemed to me to be only that: resizing the space.
> toolbars cannot be
>undocked, toolbars can only be docked to the top frame,
True, but not a big issue IMO. NB, the replay arrows can be move to right below
the board through the right-click Board Design menu.
>standard menu bar name
>is Window_s_, not Window,
Correct.
> mouse cursor should be changed to hourglass when a
>lengthy operation is performed – hint for example,
I agree.
> analog clocks are very ugly – antialiasing anyone?,
Agreed, but I prefer the digital in any case for a more immediate appraisal of
the time situation.
> why are there scroll bars in engine output window when
>there is nothing there – contrary to every style guide,
I agree.
>chessboard window takes
>way to long to redraw,
I had no troubles with the speed of the chessboard, unless you are referring to
the speed the pieces are moved by the computer. That can be changed with the
animation speed in the Board Design window.
> hiding a pane and then bringing it back changes its size,
True, but on the other hand you can save specific layouts according to
preferences.
>why can I drag a piece I can’t move?,
Maybe this will help players learn the moves. As it doesn't actually accept
illegal moves, this seems to be unimportant to me.
> why can’t I change time by clicking on the clock?,
Nice idea.
>time controls are very weak – can you even set separate time controls?,
Yes, I agree. Lots of default options, but it isn't very customizable.
>time per move window doesn’t even say that it’s seconds and is unable to >convert minutes,
Yes.
> 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,
Agreed, except the last. What do you mean by scrolling when not necessary?
> 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,
This is more of a feature than an issue IMO.
> when time runs out a window that pops up gives a
>message that says: “Time” – nothing about who won,
Look at the notation window.
> 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,
It's an error, but different than what you think. Change the default
single-clicking in Tools/Options/Game from none to Normal. Now when it's your
move, try clicking on an empty square where only one of your pieces may go.
Start a game and just click on the e4 square.
>why can I drag a piece of the wrong side?,
Same idea as above, only this time try playing 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 whatever. Now grab
the Black pawn and drag it to the knight and drop it to see what happens.
> 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),
Could you be more specific. I'm not sure I undersatnd what you mean here.
> 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...
Hardly perfect, I'll grant you, but I don't see it as the tragedy you make it
out to be. Certainly there is room for improvement, but as this isn't a giant
corporation, I don't think you can blame them. They have done a great job in
improving the interface over the last one, and I expect this one will also
improve with time. I certainly wouldn't balk at buying it based on the UI
though. You mentioned style guides somewhere above. I'm curious, what would you
recommend and which ones are to be avoided?
Albert Silver
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