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Another edit, BSP a Quake level editor from the mid ninties (The BSP Homepage: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/bernier/). The application is no longer in development and has been given to me by the author to do with what I wish. The original code along with my modified GPL'd version is located here: http://icefox.net/programs/?program=Archive/BSP

The first part yes, the second part kinda. A number of the new recommendation algorthms such as pearsons (an implemention of it I have coded here http://icefox.net/programs/?program=NetflixRecommenderFramework) can deal with two seperate personalities sharing the same account. I am not justifing the actions just saying that the new algo's kick the old netflix one and they can actually deal with this problem reasonable well while before they couldn't.

Most everyone who tried was able to beat Netflix's existing system. I put together a little framework to help people get up and running faster. A lot of people seemed to be spending time just getting all the data into memory before they got to play with any algorithm ideas. I include a few algorithms including Simon Funk's which should be enough to get you started. http://www.icefox.net/programs/?program=NetflixRecommenderFramework

Customizability is very important for using an application. However, there is a such thing as too many toolbars and too many options shown on the screen. This illustrates some of my issues with KDE.

Those graphics demostrated something I don't like about Mac toolbars, the large size of the icons. As I plan on getting a MacBook Pro in a couple of weeks, switching from Windows, I hope the size are customizable. I prefer the smaller size as shown in the KDE example, just trim the number of them shown in the first KDE example. I'd also prefer if in customizing them if you could specify they be text instead of graphics. Also the Mac graphics show too much chrome.

The problem with Linux isn't the lack of eye candy. In fact, GNOME and KDE have far more eye-candy than OS X does, IMO, and I say this as a Mac user. Have you seen the XGL effects in GNOME, for example? Or the Beryl desktop? These themes are very nicely done and their eye candy amount is very large, almost to the point of superfluous in some aspects (do we need effects for everything. My only problem with Linux eye candy is the bad fonts available (Bitstream Vera is far uglier than Lucida Grande or Tahoma, IMO) and bad font quality, but that is due to font copyrights and rendering patents, respectively, which is a fact of life when dealing with free software.

What Linux needs is not more eye candy. What Linux needs is innovative usability. A pretty interface is lovely, but it means nothing if it isn't easy to use. Nobody is going to switch to Linux if the interfaces are just Windows (or even OS X) clones. Linux needs to bring something new to the table. I'll use KDE and GNOME as examples. KDE's biggest problems, for example, is the excessive amount of options and toolbars. Don't get me wrong, I love toolbars, and I was one of the original complainers when Microsoft decided to convert toolbars and menus to ribbons in Office 2007. I think that Office 97 is the high-water mark for Office usability. Customizability is very important for using an application. However, there is a such thing as too many toolbars and too many options shown on the screen. This illustrates some of my issues with KDE. Most Cocoa applications (and some Carbon applications) handle this on OS X by only displaying the most important options on the toolbar, and by placing the rest in an Inspector dialog box (which is a holdover from the NEXTSTEP days). As for GNOME, it has done a tremendous job with usability and addressed many of the problems that I've had with KDE. However, GNOME can use some improvement as well. I wish GNOME were more responsive (it just feels a bit slower than KDE or even OS X).

There are some common complaints that I have with both desktops. Both need to stop trying to be like Windows and add some new UI elements. OS X doesn't try to be Windows (or even OS 9 in some aspects); it has original features (or NEXTSTEP-derived features) such as Inspectors, drawers, search in many applications, full drag-and-drop, and much more. These innovative features have made my life easier and have made using Windows or Linux much more difficult. KDE and GNOME should try implementing some innovative features that would make me never boot into OS X. Imagine a Spotlight-like tool that utilized regular expressions and/or more complex queries for finding files based on their extended metadata. Imagine something a bit more powerful, quicker, and useful than Inspectors on OS X (coming from a Windows and Linux background, it took me a while to get used to the Inspector idea, but I see how well it integrates with OS X. Large rows of toolbars is not OS X).

What most users want is for them to be able to do their tasks without the UI getting in the way. I find that OS X achieves this in most categories. But it can be better, especially in the question of toolbars vs. Inspectors vs. ribbons. KDE and GNOME can (and should) capitalize on this. If somebody can create something that has the quickness of toolbars (one-click) but easy for new users to understand (like ribbons or Inspectors), then I'll really consider trying out your GUI.

I was a KDE user on FreeBSD before I bought a Mac a few months ago. I was generally very happy with my KDE experience, and they seemed to have done a great job with their desktop. There are a few complaints that I've had:

1. All of the themes look too "plasticky" and fake to me. You may find this very strange coming from a OS X user, but compared to OS X's Aqua or the Windows Classic theme (or even GNOME's themes), the KDE themes just don't feel right to me. I want something either a bit more serious (like Windows Classic) or something that does a great job with fanciness (like Aqua or even Vista's Aero). The KDE themes aren't terrible, but they can use some more work. I am also somebody who spend hours on web sites finding alternate themes, either; I call that a waste of time that can be better spent actually doing work.
2. Now that I've been using OS X for an extended period of time, I can't live without Expose and Spotlight now. Expose is easily doable; I've seen GNOME and KDE clones of that feature. A clone of Spotlight is much harder; the closest thing that I've seen to it is Beagle. I'll like to see an effort to introduce something like Spotlight or even the long-delayed WinFS to the Linux world. Heck, I may strongly consider contributing to such a project.
3. This page describes a few more complaints that I have about KDE. As an ex-Windows user (I dual-booted between FreeBSD and Windows XP), I like toolbars (I was upset with the Office 2007 ribbons because operations that used to require just one click on the toolbar may require two or three clicks, and there is no customizability). However, there is a such thing as too many default toolbars and too many options on the screen, which I notice in KDE applications. Many OS X applications handle access to features with Inspectors, which are dialog boxes that contain all of the main functionality of a program stored in tabs. The toolbar is only used for very commonly-used operations. Whenever I get to work, I just want a good-sized window to work with, along with a toolbar that contains some commonly-used operations. I don't want my workspace to be hidden by gobs of menus, toolbars, and other options. However, I don't want my functionality compromized either. Inspectors are a nice way of handling this. KDE can improve in this regard.

Those are my only complaints about KDE. KDE is a very nice desktop environment. These improvements will make it the perfect desktop environment for me, and a serious contender to GNOME, Windows, and OS X for most other users. Keep up the good work.

I subscribed to Next-Generation from the first issue all the way to the end. When it switched to the MicrosoftBoughtMySoul XBox magazine it was little more then a marketing magazine and I promptly canceled and am glad I did. A few years ago I got rid of all but one, the issue where they showed off Unreal (which back then was suppose to come out before Quake) Here is the wikipedia link and on my website is a photo of most of them that I took a few years back: next-generation

Funny, googling on KDE en OSX gives this link as hit #2: Nine things KDE should learn from Mac OS X