Slashdot Mirror
The Secret Origins of Microsoft Office's Clippy
Harry writes "Most folks think that Microsoft Office's Clippy, Microsoft Bob, and Windows XP's Search Assistant dog were perverse jokes — but a dozen years' worth of patent filings shows that Microsoft took the concept of animated software 'helpers' really, really seriously, even long after everyone else realized it was a bad idea. And the drawings those patents contain are weirdly fascinating." The article, a slide show really, spreads over 15 pages.
Clippy IS dead. It's been abandoned in all recent MS products, it's only Slashdot that seems to have trouble understanding this.
"nobody now remembers who introduced the small waved underlines .. tutorialized tasks .. the ribbon"
WordPerfect highlights poor grammar or incorrect word usage with a wavy blue underline
Apple Guide Isn't Help
tabbed toolbars or the Component palette as it was called in Delphi
davecb5620@gmail.com
What are their complaints from XP to Vista? Hearing all of the bad press about Vista, I was not excited to "upgrade" when I purchased a new Laptop. However, having use it for a few months now, I have not come accross any real problems with it. It was a little different then was I was used to, but everything works.
Spelling and Grammar errors have been added to this post for your enjoyment
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/helpandsupport/learnmore/crawford_september03.mspx
No More Dog Days
There are, indeed, strong feelings on both sides about the dog. Rover is the default animated character that appears when you open the Search Companion. People love it or loathe it. There seems to be very little middle ground. Fortunately, everyone can be made happy.
You didn't read that page, did you?