Re:Nice, but they've got it all wrong...
on
Linux Desktop Guide
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· Score: 1
I agree that Linux is too far away from commercialized to be useful to most people. In the short run, Windows has a better marketing and distribution model, one which has held up through many challenges. But that does not preclude the ideas that are emerging as alternative to Windows.
For many reasons, most often personal, people who use Windows do not enjoy their experience. Linux and Mac users, based on empirical observation, are happier with their human-computer interaction. After teaching computer classes to seniors in Philadelphia for a couple of years, my company, Smiling Screens, has developed and is releasing SimpleC(tm), a simplified interface for Windows. (http://www.simplec.com/) While the Linux manual is a good step, I would suggest the following improvements:
1. Start from the beginning. A new computer user does not immediately being using software. There is are the following preceding processes: purchase decision, sale, hardware installation, and networking, at the very least. If new computer users are expected to use an emerging system, their early experience matters more than anything else. A couple of mistakes, with negative feedback and lack of support, can mean the difference between success and failure. 2. Play with Microsoft, not against it. That is, use the Windows monopoly to enhance the product, instead of always thinking of competition. Some ways to do this are: Create a mirrored manual for users already accustomed to Windows; Create a manual for eventual Linux to Windows migration; Use Windows terminology... All of these things are just the beginning of what can be gained through effective Windows cooperation. 3. Spend some time with first-time computer users. I know about Microsoft's XPSE, and the problems associated with it. But at least they did a study with over 1,000 people. I agree that they still messed it up (and am grateful that SimpleC is better than XPSE), but they had the right idea. After spending 2+ years formally training first-time users, I think that Linux, and its incarnates, needs to get away from its reliance on programmers, and move towards an Apple model of end-user simplicity. With so much potential benefit, it seems limited to have programmers develop only for their own purposes, without studying what people want, and how they want it. For-profit companies, and their protected software, need to concentrate on end-users for sales. Linux must somehow incorporate this belief into its growth and maturity, as it largely lacks the profit incentive.
That would be a start. This is my first posting, and I thank you all for giving me a great read for the past few weeks, since I found out about slashdot.
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I agree that Linux is too far away from commercialized to be useful to most people. In the short run, Windows has a better marketing and distribution model, one which has held up through many challenges. But that does not preclude the ideas that are emerging as alternative to Windows.
For many reasons, most often personal, people who use Windows do not enjoy their experience. Linux and Mac users, based on empirical observation, are happier with their human-computer interaction. After teaching computer classes to seniors in Philadelphia for a couple of years, my company, Smiling Screens, has developed and is releasing SimpleC(tm), a simplified interface for Windows. (http://www.simplec.com/) While the Linux manual is a good step, I would suggest the following improvements:
1. Start from the beginning. A new computer user does not immediately being using software. There is are the following preceding processes: purchase decision, sale, hardware installation, and networking, at the very least. If new computer users are expected to use an emerging system, their early experience matters more than anything else. A couple of mistakes, with negative feedback and lack of support, can mean the difference between success and failure.
2. Play with Microsoft, not against it. That is, use the Windows monopoly to enhance the product, instead of always thinking of competition. Some ways to do this are: Create a mirrored manual for users already accustomed to Windows; Create a manual for eventual Linux to Windows migration; Use Windows terminology... All of these things are just the beginning of what can be gained through effective Windows cooperation.
3. Spend some time with first-time computer users. I know about Microsoft's XPSE, and the problems associated with it. But at least they did a study with over 1,000 people. I agree that they still messed it up (and am grateful that SimpleC is better than XPSE), but they had the right idea. After spending 2+ years formally training first-time users, I think that Linux, and its incarnates, needs to get away from its reliance on programmers, and move towards an Apple model of end-user simplicity. With so much potential benefit, it seems limited to have programmers develop only for their own purposes, without studying what people want, and how they want it. For-profit companies, and their protected software, need to concentrate on end-users for sales. Linux must somehow incorporate this belief into its growth and maturity, as it largely lacks the profit incentive.
That would be a start. This is my first posting, and I thank you all for giving me a great read for the past few weeks, since I found out about slashdot.