Windows 7: my opinion so far

Posted on November 12, 2009 by thijs

One and a half year ago, I found Vista an unworthy successor to Windows XP, which has been my operating system since then. However, Windows 7 was there to set things straight and it’s Beta releases looked promising. Windows 7 has been released a few weeks ago and I have been using it for some time.

Is Windows 7 an improvement over Vista? Yes, it is – or at least, my feeling says so. Strangely, many negative aspects still remain in this version: the login screen is still a background image with some text on it; UAC is still present (although a very effective kill switch has been included); and most disappointing: too much editions!

Yet, Microsoft has been able to tackle a very serious problem very effectively: the OS’ usability and Vista’s lack of it. Take the Windows Explorer, for example: it has a simple and elegant look, much resembling the Finder of Mac OS X. The desktop looks clean again with the resource killing sidebar out of the way. And with UAC out of the way (sorry MS; increasing security by annoying users with popups is not a solution for me), it actually provides me with relevant messages now and then.

My opinion so far? I’m a happy user of Windows 7 – but in the mean time, I have already bought a Mac Mini with MacOS X Snow Leopard. I hope these two OS’ will be able to compete again and bring out the best for each user.

Windows 7: lucky seven?

Posted on November 7, 2008 by thijs

Yesterday I gave the new Windows 7 beta build a try, with a positive feeling afterwards. From a usability point of view, Windows Vista failed a several points: user account control annoyances, desktop cluttering, common functions hidden away (such as Network control), etc. In Windows 7, I am already seeing improvements correcting the mistakes of Vista.

The taskbar is one of the highlights in terms of improvement. Windows 7 adopts the “Dock strategy” of Apple’s MacOS X and extends it with some useful features, such as window preview and browser tab integration. Although the quicklaunch toolbar is still shown in the screenshot above, the concept of combining application shortcuts along with applications task management reduces complexity severely.

There are also some developments that still require some thought. For example, the new ribbon interface element that also features in Office 2007 is now added to Wordpad. The ribbon is extremely useful when many different functions need to be grouped and structured into several tasks, as is the case in Microsoft Word 2007. However, Wordpad simply lacks the amount of features to effectively employ the ribbon.

Windows 7 is a chance to correct the mistakes of Windows Vista and up till now, Microsoft is doing a good job.

Master thesis completed and revised

Posted on September 17, 2008 by thijs

A while ago, I finished my master thesis and published it to the web. In addition, I printed several copies for bookshelf purposes. Once printed, I started to discover small errors: layout issues, printer deficiencies, and small typo’s. The printed version obviously cannot be changed anymore, but I intend to revise the digital copy now and then to keep it error-free. Revision 1.1 has just been completed with the following changes:

Pagination revised, start of chapter preferred on right side (e.g., “Tables & Figures” and “Dankwoord”
Missing word (“het”) in “Dankwoord”
Document page numbers updated

The thesis can be downloaded from the C-SUIT website.

Word 2007: a small review

Posted on August 20, 2008 by thijs

I’ve been using Microsoft’s Office 2007 (or 2007 Microsoft Office system) since its release last year. To my opinion, Microsoft Office did not change much since the ’97 release; sure, much additional functionality was added since then, but the applications look ‘n feel remained the same, causing the new features to be hidden among the rest. All this has changed with Office 2007 by way of its Fluent User Interface concept. With months of experience with Word 2007 – one of the prominent member of Office – I decided to share my vision on this new UI concept and the new features in Word 2007.

Continue reading →

Thesis nearing completition

Posted on August 16, 2008 by thijs

The Scientific User Interface Testing project is almost complete, with my thesis only requiring some reformatting and redesign for the final printing process. Furthermore, the C-SUIT site is still under construction; a link to the draft version of the thesis is available and both demo versions of the experiment. I hope to finalize the project sometime next week.

Firefox, spread the word! – part 2

Posted on June 17, 2008 by thijs

With most download servers down for Firefox at the designated launch date and time, it was a bit of a hassle to get the brand new release of Firefox. However, problems appear to be solved now as the new Firefox site is up and running. So…. get Firefox 3 and urge all your friends, colleagues and family to do the same!!

Firefox, spread the word!

Posted on May 30, 2008 by thijs

While I’m still stuck with PC’s (yes, I am planning to make the transition to Apple – as well), there are some applications that get installed right after I got Windows installed. These include the K-Lite codec pack, WinSCP, Notepad++, SmartFTP and Irfanview. However, two programs really stand out from the crowd: Mozilla Thunderbird and Mozilla Firefox. The latter is an Internet browser that I’ve been using since Microsoft got stuck with Internet Explorer 6 for a while. The upcoming 3.0 release will make things difficult for rival browsers, as its list of features is really impressive.

In an effort to spread Firefox, SpreadFirefox.com (duh) allows you to “pledge” to download Firefox 3.0 when it is released. As a satisfied user of Firefox, I already have pledged to download the new version and furthermore, I am happy to place their banner on my blog (so…. click-and-pledge!)

LinkedIn profile

Posted on May 14, 2008 by thijs

A few months ago a created a LinkedIn account that would help me communicate my personal profile to the outside world. As my experience with Internet domain names, my desired (user)name was already taken – and I hate accounts that end with some obscure number like “thijskok42″ or strange workarounds like “mynameisthijskok”. So I simply made it thijsk0k (the “o” replaced by a zero).

And what would a LinkedIn profile be without a badge

My view on Vista

Posted on February 1, 2008 by thijs

Today, I came across this billboard at Tod Bishop’s blog:

This really shows how far the Vista annoyances go. I went to a similar experience. Some time ago, I got to download Microsoft’s Windows Vista Business through the university’s academic software facility. I installed it on my P4 3 Ghz with 1GB of RAM and a 7600GS videocard. There has been much criticism towards this release of Microsoft’s operating system, but I forced myself to use it for at least a week to really adapt to the changes of the OS. Unfortunately, even after using it two weeks tweaking and customizing it, I simply “rejected” it. For someone that has used DOS, Windows 3.11, Windows 95/98, and Windows 2000/XP for quite some time, Vista did not “wow” me at all. Some of my criticism:

Despite the efforts to make Vista prettier than its predecessors, it can be really ugly from time to time. Take the login screen, for example. At first, it really looks nice; however, once you’ve entered your password, Vista just shows a wavy background with some text in the middle, no placeholders or panels: it really looks “unfinished”. On the other hand, most things just look too cluttered. Dialog boxes that suddenly use a large, green font, Explorer that shows too much information (which cannot be turned off properly), a bloated classic theme, etc.
It can be painfully slow. I understand that things can take a little longer, but this is really absurd. Windows Update can take 10 minutes just to install one minor patch. The slow file transfers issue. Gaming is out of the question. In essence: I know what my computer is capable of, and Vista doesn’t show half of it.
User Account Control. Intended to make Vista more secure, but fails for one simple reason: as it is extremely annoying, people turn it off. A simple usability matter. And don’t go “you shouldn’t turn it off”: people don’t want popups, not on websites and not from the OS, no matter what its intention is. Look at Ubuntu or MacOS X, they have integrated a much more sophisticated system that does the same thing without annoyance at all.
Aero fails to impress me. I had high expectancies for the visual part of Windows Vista. MacOS X had set the standard with Quartz and Linux made an impressive leap in 3D compositing as well (Compiz). And Aero? Well.. high system requirements, some fading windows, a useless ALT-TAB replacement (it just a gimmick!), and… Perhaps it made things easier for developers, but in the mean time, Stardock’s WindowBlinds does the same thing for me.
Six editions. Starter Edition, Home Basic/Premium, Business, Enterprise, and Ultimate. I think they nailed it with a home and professional edition, but apparently six versions is more suitable. What’s the difference between a home basic and premium user? Or a business and an enterprise edition?

These are just some of the comments I had on Vista, there are some additional minor things. Many have complained about compatibility issues, but I think this is inevitable with a new OS. I got lucky, as only “standby” did not function correctly; all other hardware worked fine.

I have reinstalled Windows XP Professional, which I use as my main OS for now. I am experimenting with Ubuntu (which is really great) and thinking about moving to Apple. And I am not the only one; my friends and co-workers are already using Linux, have moved to Apple or stick with XP for the time being. In terms of usability, this is a great time: people are rethinking their motivations and requirements for computers and make a new selection based on those arguments, “instead of upgrading to a new version”.

New poster for M4ART

Posted on January 16, 2008 by thijs

In the last days, I’ve been working on a revised version of our M4ART poster, intended for the SPIE HVEI 2008 conference. Since there are no major changes in M4ART (btw, it’s our CBIR search engine), the content has not changed much as well; another background, new colors, and better contrasts really improved the overall presentation, though.

The first M4ART poster was inspired by the collection of images that were part of the M4ART’s database at that time. It featured art from the Rijksmuseum as well as the uploaded images. We took the Rijksmuseum photo set and used it for a photomosaic that became the characterizing background for the poster. The panels and the colors were adopted from M4ART’s user interface. Although the photomosaic concept worked really well (which provided an analogy with image reconstruction; an image consists out of pixels/a photomosaic consists out of images), it did not look very clean and the design appeared somewhat roughed. Also, the old URL (http://cai.nici.ru.nl/M4ART/ <= obsolete, no link) was “hidden” in the footer, not inviting the reader to visit M4ART.

The second poster was primarily based on the user interface overhaul of the new M4ART, loosely referred to as “M4ART 2.0″. The orientation was changed to landscape, the background became a stretched version of the new interface, and the overall look got more smooth and subtle. As a result, the new design had a modern feel; something that fitted the new style of M4ART. Moreover, the new URL (http://www.m4art.org/) was placed in the header, becoming much more visible. Unfortunately, the background was a little bit vague and the lack of contrast made the poster a bit of a blur, especially when glancing at it from a distance.

The latest version of the poster has no significant differences with respect to content, many layout aspects have remained the same as well. The overall look has really changed because of the new background, that offers more contrast with the panels, the title, and the URL’s. Most logo’s were designed for a white background, so I added a new panel to act as a placeholder in the footer. I’ve yet to discover any downsides, as it hasn’t been printed yet!

ThijsKok.nl

Information Scientist