Re: Comments on dialog proposal

[Maciej Stachowiak <mjs noisehavoc org>]

On 05Sep2001 11:46PM (+0100), colin z robertson wrote:
> On Wed, Sep 05, 2001 at 11:14:42AM -0700, Maciej Stachowiak wrote:
> > I understand that you were confused in the case you describe. I think
> > in time users will be less confused when instant-apply settings
> > dialogs become the norm (they will assume all settings apply instantly
> > unless some signal says otherwise).
> 
> I must confess, while reading through this entire thread I have been
> mystified. And thoroughly so. I am mystified by two things: Firstly,
> by the assumption that instant-apply dialogs will become the norm, and
> secondly, by the belief that they should become the norm.

Well, things are being incresingly done that way in GNOME. I think if
it's backed by UI team recommendations, it will become the norm.
 
> Apple have recommended instant-apply dialogs for MacOS X, have they
> not? But Apple are not Microsoft, and 10% market share is not 90%
> market share. So why will this make instant-apply the norm?

Do you mean that instant-apply may confuse users coming from Windows?
Or that Apple's non-dominant market share proves they must be wrong?

I agree in some cases, like button order, the transition costs for
Windows and existing GNOME users matter more than the benefit of
getting it "right" in some theoretical way. But I don't think that is
the case for instant apply dialogs.

> Furthermore, Apple are not infallible. I can see plenty of potential
> problems with instant-apply dialogs, and not a whole lot of
> advantages. So why do we want them to become the norm?
 
What problems do you see with them? I imagined a whole lot before
trying it, but having used them in Nautilus and OS X I think they work
great. Have you tried out any programs that have instant-apply
preference dialogs?

The advantage to instant-apply is that it makes it really easy to
tweak multiple settings to taste. It also removes unnecessary
complexity - there is no real reason why it should take an extra
button press in addition to just changing the control to make the
setting take effect. Imagine, for instance, a font selection drop down
in a word processing program's toolbar. It would be crazy if you had
to press an Apply or OK button to get that font selection to take
effect, wouldn't it?

Regards,

Maciej