Microsoft recently moved the default Windows location from the Windows XP "Documents and Settings" folder to the "Users" folder in Vista and Windows 7. The name "Users" makes more sense to me than "Documents and Settings" and it mirrors what the Linux/Unix world does, including Macs. Did you know that you can move the default location to somewhere else? It is simple in Windows 7, a bit harder in Windows XP, and hardest in Mac OS X.

My friend Walt recently complained about the way Windows 7 handles things, like the new libraries virtual folder concept. Generally, he likes Windows 7. But he is unhappy about the things in it that differ from what he is used to in Windows XP, like libraries. He reverted some Windows 7 new features he dislikes to the more familiar XP method. For example, he exposes every system tray icon rather than leave them hidden the way the Windows 7 User Interface ("UI") designers intended. They want less visual clutter. He wants quick access to the icons.

Walt does not like libraries. Most days I agree with him. Libraries are a neat theoretical concept. Yet most of us will never understand the concept or use libraries. (I can write similar statements about the Windows 7 HomeGroup networking concept.) But there are some instances where libraries make sense, particularly for aggregating disparate media folders on several computers into one place so that you play music without having to search for it on your child’s machine.

Macs are more autocratic in UI/UX design features than Windows. Some make the analogy that Macs are the Catholics of computers, while Windows are the Protestants. Therefore, Steve Jobs is the Pope who dictates how you will use Apple computers. (Some Apple fans think he is more like God.)

This is easily seen in the way iTunes works and the even more insidious default iPhoto settings. iTunes default setting, on a Mac, is to copy music from the source, a CD or another drive, into the buried iTunes Music folder. Open iTunes and you a have hard time finding where a file is actually located on your computer. (Hint: right-click on the item and select Get Info.) If you want to share it with a friend you have to dig down into your Music directory to find it.

iPhoto is far worse than iTunes in hiding your files. The default Mac setting is to copy pictures directly into the iPhoto.library file. This is a wrapper that puts all your images into one very large file. It is hard to get one of those images out of the library file to attach to an email to send to Aunt Em in Kansas. If something happens to that single iPhoto.library file you may lose every photo you stored in iPhoto. Mac users can fix this by changing the setting in Preferences —> Advanced away from Copy items to the iPhoto Library.

Although I find Windows 7 more customizable than Snow Leopard, Microsoft is behaving more like Apple with each new application and operating system iteration. They become less user-configurable. For example, Microsoft Office 2007 jettisoned most user UI customizations that existed in previous versions. The iPhone is the best (worst?) example of this trend. Do it Apple’s way or don’t do it at all.

Gates knew firsthand how bad the end user experience was when dealing with Microsoft products. (Smoking gun memo below.) Apparently, he did nothing to fix it.

Can you imagine Steve Jobs putting up with this? Why do we?

From: Bill Gates
Sent: Wednesday, January 15, 2003 10:05 AM

To: Jim Allchin
Cc: Chris Jones (WINDOWS); Bharat Shah (NT); Joe Peterson; Will Poole; Brian Valentine; Anoop Gupta (RESEARCH)

Subject: Windows Usability degradation flame

I am quite disappointed at how Windows Usability has been going backwards and the program management groups don’t drive usability issues.

Let me give you my experience from yesterday.

I decided to download (Moviemaker) and buy the Digital Plus pack … so I went to Microsoft.com. They have a download place so I went there.

The first 5 times I used the site it timed out while trying to bring up the download page. Then after an 8 second delay I got it to come up.

This site is so slow it is unusable.

It wasn’t in the top 5 so I expanded the other 45.

These 45 names are totally confusing. These names make stuff like: C:\Documents and Settings\billg\My Documents\My Pictures seem clear.

They are not filtered by the system … and so many of the things are strange.

I tried scoping to Media stuff. Still no moviemaker. I typed in movie. Nothing. I typed in movie maker. Nothing.

So I gave up and sent mail to Amir saying – where is this Moviemaker download? Does it exist?

So they told me that using the download page to download something was not something they anticipated.

They told me to go to the main page search button and type movie maker (not moviemaker!)

I tried that. The site was pathetically slow but after 6 seconds of waiting up it came.

I thought for sure now I would see a button to just go do the download. In fact it is more like a puzzle that you get to solve. It told me to go to Windows Update and do a bunch of incantations.

This struck me as completely odd. Why should I have to go somewhere else and do a scan to download moviemaker? So I went to Windows update. Windows Update decides I need to download a bunch of controls. (Not) just once but multiple times where I get to see weird dialog boxes.

Doesn’t Windows update know some key to talk to Windows?

Then I did the scan. This took quite some time and I was told it was critical for me to download 17megs of stuff. This is after I was told we were doing delta patches to things but instead just to get 6 things that are labeled in the SCARIEST possible way I had to download 17meg. So I did the download. That part was fast. Then it wanted to do an install. This took 6 minutes and the machine was so slow I couldn’t use it for anything else during this time.

What the heck is going on during those 6 minutes? That is crazy. This is after the download was finished. Then it told me to reboot my machine. Why should I do that? I reboot every night — why should I reboot at that time?

So I did the reboot because it INSISTED on it. Of course that meant completely getting rid of all my Outlook state. So I got back up and running and went to Windows Update again. I forgot why I was in Windows Update at all since all I wanted was to get Moviemaker.

So I went back to Microsoft.com and looked at the instructions. I have to click on a folder called WindowsXP. Why should I do that? Windows Update knows I am on Windows XP.

What does it mean to have to click on that folder? So I get a bunch of confusing stuff but sure enough one of them is Moviemaker.

So I do the download. The download is fast but the Install takes many minutes. Amazing how slow this thing is. At some point I get told I need to go get Windows Media Series 9 to download.

So I decide I will go do that. This time I get dialogs saying things like “Open” or “Save”. No guidance in the instructions which to do. I have no clue which to do.

The download is fast and the install takes 7 minutes for this thing. So now I think I am going to have Moviemaker. I go to my add/remove programs place to make sure it is there.

It is not there.

What is there? The following garbage is there. Microsoft Autoupdate Exclusive test package, Microsoft Autoupdate Reboot test package, Microsoft Autoupdate testpackage1. Microsoft AUtoupdate testpackage2, Microsoft Autoupdate Test package3.

Someone decided to trash the one part of Windows that was usable? The file system is no longer usable. The registry is not usable. This program listing was one sane place but now it is all crapped up.

But that is just the start of the crap. Later I have listed things like Windows XP Hotfix see Q329048 for more information. What is Q329048? Why are these series of patches listed here? Some of the patches just things like Q810655 instead of saying see Q329048 for more information.

What an absolute mess. Moviemaker is just not there at all. So I give up on Moviemaker and decide to download the Digital Plus Package.

I get told I need to go enter a bunch of information about myself. I enter it all in and because it decides I have mistyped something I have to try again. Of course it has cleared out most of what I typed. I try (typing) the right stuff in 5 times and it just keeps clearing things out for me to type them in again.

So after more than an hour of craziness and making my pro­grams list garbage and being scared and seeing that Microsoft.com is a terrible website I haven’t run Moviemaker and I haven’t got the plus package.

The lack of attention to usability represented by these experi­ences blows my mind. I thought we had reached a low with Windows Network places or the messages I get when I try to use 802.11. (don’t you just love that root certificate message?)

When I really get to use the stuff I am sure I will have more feedback.

This memorandum was reproduced from the book After The Software Wars by Keith Curtis.

Sometimes all we want to do is read the content on a web page. This can be frustrating when the page is cluttered with images, text, navigation tools and flash objects.

The Readability bookmarklet is a way to deal with this clutter. It is easy to install and use. Once installed it is used by simply clicking on the new shortcut in your Bookmarks/Links Toolbar. The web page you are viewing will be transformed into easy-to-read a text-only view.

Readability page before

Readability page after

 Install it by going to http://lab.arc90.com/experiments/readability/

1. Select your settings for Style, Size and Margin.   

2. If you use Firefox, Google Chrome or Apple Safari drag the Readability button to the bookmarks toolbar.   

3. If you use Internet Explorer 7 or IE8 right click on the Readability button and select Add to Favorites…   

4. A warning message “You are adding a favorite that might not be safe…” will appear. Click on the Yes button.   

5. Select “Create In” the Links folder and then click the Add button.

I commonly change the layout of my Vista and Windows 7 machines’ Windows Explorer to always show the menu. It has useful features not found elsewhere.  You do this by clicking on the Organize dropdown list and clicking Layout > Menu Bar. This is a persistent change to UI.

I was unaware that I could access it by pressing Alt. I found that the Alt key action also exists in Internet Explorer 7 and 8.

Is this a good or bad thing? If you know that using the Alt key reveals the menu it is a good thing. But if you don’t, and most of you didn’t before reading this, it is a very, very bad thing. Shouldn’t navigation elements be apparent, not hidden? We want to use our computers not search for hidden treasure.