GUIs for Everyone

An anonymous submitter writes: "A former Microsoft and Creative Labs interface designer has an interesting diatribe on the approach of Linux GUIs on the desktop. Thomas Krul has three Microsoft patents for human factors research into digital interfaces and graphic software functionality. Probably most known for the interface work he had done on Softimage DS and its web site. Though not a technical read, it does provide an interesting note on the approach for Linux on the desktop." And headless_ringmaster notes that Jef Raskin, the guy who designed the first Macintosh and author of The Humane Interface, has a SourceForge project putting his ideas into action.

Comments

Original?

[Dark Nexus]

Nobody wants a copy, they want something original

Well, that's obviously not always the case. Just look at Windows. I wouldn't exactly call the Windows GUI much of an "improvement" over the MacOS GUI. Even saying that Win95 was an improvement of the Mac GUI really came down to a matter of preference. There weren't any direct improvements, just differences that people liked more/less.

Now of course the climate is different, Linux is hardly in the same position Microsoft was when they released Win95, but it just goes to show that some people DON'T mind copies.

Re:Sorry, but you are the antithesis of most users

[Tryfen]

You make many good points; but this one is wrong...
The time is going to pass where people are scared of them, just like the fear of electricity, telephone, and automobiles passed.
Talk to the people who actually build and tweak their cars like you tweak your PC. People are as scared of cars as they were 100 years ago - only now they're used to the fear. Despite having grown up with cars, I have no desires to get my hands dirty in the engine - just the same as most people who have lived with computers have no desire to go to a CLI.

Take Care

Terry