Microsoft are totally crazy about legacy support for old software in their newer releases of Windows, so why are they now choosing to drop support for user interface standards?
I found it confusing to the point of crippling when using IE 7 for the first time, and the problem persisted in WMP 11. Who thought it would be a good idea to hide out of sight the Menu Bar without even telling us where they put it??
Simplification is usually a good idea, and hiding excessive options which might overwhelm the user can be considered helpful, too… but the Menu Bar is pretty much a cornerstone of many modern GUIs, so it’s rather callous to just ditch it without even explaining the change or providing an alternative.
No?
yes, but I’m pretty sure there is an alternative–for sure in IE7, because I’ve noticed that my dad enables it, and quite possibly in WMP, but I think it involves changing the window frame to a more Luna/XP style thing
it’s just not the best
“choosing to drop support for user interface standards”
You’ve seen Office 2007, right?
btw. http://mike.spaces.live.com/blog/cns%21FBABF8E542F5D5DB%217691.entry
Office 2007 has made gigantic leaps with it’s brilliant UI enhancements.
But I get the feeling WMP is trying to simplify their interfaces Apple style, but removing things from the window. But Apple don’t hide the all-important menu bar… in fact, they keep it at the top in a place you *always* know it will be.
So Apple don’t actually remove anything from the window, it’s just in a different place, so they can’t be trying to simplify the interface “Apple style”.
As that links shows, MS have chosen to pretty much abandon the WIMP interface, but obviously haven’t come up with a cross-application alternative, but in time they will settle down, most likely on a version of the ribbon in every app.
Although it might annoy people who use the menu bar, I wonder how many people it will really annoy - so long as there’s a way to achieve your goal in the interface, probably not many.
I should also point out that the previous version of WMP treated the menu bar in exactly the same way, and ever since it’s been skinnable (five years?), it’s been possible to remove the menu bar from the UI.
“I found it confusing to the point of crippling when using IE 7 for the first time”
hmm, I found it very hard to get my head around, but there was nothing stopping me actually using it. What in particular were you missing that crippled your usage?
feral scholar…
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Every time I try to upload pics to Facebook, my IE7 crashes and says some lame message like “must close and don’t know why” or some stupid shit like that. If anyone knows where anyone can get help with this useless crappy program, I’d appreciate some direction.
Thanks so much!
Regretting not buying an Apple…