Re: [Usability] Screensaver and idle time

[Matthew Paul Thomas <mpt myrealbox com>]

On Mar 8, 2006, at 8:01 AM, Joachim Noreiko wrote:
> ...
> I have been giving this some more thought.
>
> For the idle time label, how about one of:
>
> "Treat the computer as idle after:" * minutes
> "Treat the computer as idle after this length of
> time."
> "Treat the computer as idle after this length of time
> without user input."
> ...

That's still a level of indirection. "Treat the computer as idle"? Does 
this mean the computer starts criticizing its own lethargy? :-)

Perhaps this should all be defined with reference to the screensaver, 
since it's the most visible thing. So the screensaver preferences 
themselves can have:
    [/] Turn on the screensaver when the computer is inactive for: ...

Then either the Screensaver preferences or some future Security 
preferences can have:
    [/] Require password when returning from screensaver

And your IM client can have:
    Mark as [Away   :^] automatically:
    [/] When the scrensaver turns on
    [/] When inactive for: ...

--
Matthew Paul Thomas
http://mpt.net.nz/