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Windows XP Edges Out KDE in Usability Test

Posted by michael on from the click-and-drag dept.

AstroDrabb writes "Linux, once viewed as an operating system that only computer geeks could appreciate, is today a much more user-friendly software that companies, public administrations and consumers can master almost as easily as Microsoft Corp.'s Windows XP."

1 of 918 comments (clear)

  1. That's right... by tonzack · · Score: 1, Flamebait

    ... go ahead and benchmark the industry-standard desktop operating system and its pathetic user interface, and leave the superior one alone!

    In all honesty, Windows' user interface tries to do way too much for too little. It clutters up the interface with too many options and ways to do some of the same things, and makes what I'd like to call the "user interface map" too difficult to remember. It leads me to understand that:

    • the user interface controls of most importance are inaccessible to start with,
    • there are too many controls available to customize the system -- some options could be reduced by using intelligence where the operating system could deduce some parameters all by itself,
    • and the user interface makes users try to find access to controls by finding the context from which to access the controls rather than reveal from where to find the controls in the first place.

    Too clumsy by design, in my opinion. It's a shame that KDE is trying to mimick a fundamentally flawed design rather than attempt at a superior one.