Re: [Usability] Re: gparted usability

[Joachim Noreiko <jnoreiko yahoo com>]

--- Alan Horkan <horkana maths tcd ie> wrote:
> > I skimmed trough it and a lot of 'reviewing' is
> done based on outdated
> > screenshots.
> > As the author and maintainer of gparted i'm very
> open to usability
> > advice, so maybe we can pick up this discussion
> again?

The big problem with GParted is that it has no
documentation. That's a big usability problem :) ...
but the docs team is currently working on this.

There's no way to specify units other than MB for
display and specifying sizes. Ideally there should be
a global pref for display units, and each entry field
should be followed by a dropdown where I can choose
units for that field: MiB, MB, GiB, GB, etc. (Note to
self: the docs need a section just on all the
different units out there!)

There's a few things in the interface that work but
aren't entirely logical.
Having the 'apply' and 'cancel' buttons and the device
chooser drop-down in the toolbar saves screen space,
but it's not the most logical place for them to be.
For that matter, why not show the bar graphs for all
devices together, since they are all scanned on
startup? The partition manager on Windows2000 lets you
scale them relative to one another.

I'd move the 'Partition' menu further to the left, or
perhaps even have it as the first menu.
GParted->Filesystems should probably be under Help (or
View?), and the label doesn't make it clear what
choosing it will do.

Harddisk information is in a sidebar, but partition
information has to be summoned in a dialog box. I'd
say put both in the sidebar together, with the
partition information part updating with the current
selection. Or make the dialog box do more than just
show me stuff: give it the ability to convert the
format.

I've used GParted quite a lot in setting up hard disks
for dual boot machines, and despite all my points I do
like it. These are all minor quirks rather than
bang-head-on-the-screen problems :)

Joachim 


		
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