Windows 7 Is All About Usability

[Hooch Tan]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.maximumpc.com/article/features/handson_with_windows_7?EMC-R3A917316679' target='_blank'>http://www.maximumpc.com/article/fe...MC-R3A917316679</a><br /><br /></div><p><em>"Once more unto the breach, dear friends. The first iteration of Microsoft&rsquo;s next operating system has arrived, and things are looking up for the Windows faithful. In fact, the first beta of Windows 7 is so reliable and responsive that it reminds us of the early Windows XP betas. With less than 12 months to go before launch, Windows 7 is in much better shape than Vista was at the same time, and it feels like a much more usable operating system than even XP did during its beta phase."</em></p><p><img src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/resizer/thumbs/size/600/dht/auto/1232640848.usr20447.jpg" style="border: 1px solid #d2d2bb;" /></p><p>The Windows 7 beta has been out for over a week now and MaximumPC has been putting it through its paces.&nbsp; Under the hood, Windows 7 draws a lot from Vista, however, the interface has changed drastically.&nbsp; The taskbar, networking, media playback and even how you interact with windows have been updated.&nbsp; Many of the changes look nice and make sense, such as the taskbar morphing into a task manager/quicklaunch/recent documents controller.&nbsp; However the only downside I see is after having spent 10+ years getting used to the Windows 95 interface legacy, I'm going to be real stubborn about learning a new interface, despite how beneficial it might be.&nbsp; I applaud change, especially ones that help, but I know more than one person who has kept with Office 2003 because they loathe Office 2007's ribbon interface.&nbsp; I strongly suspect that that will be Microsoft's greatest challenge, convincing people that they need to move past Windows XP.&nbsp; Anyone else with me, or should I pull up my pants and tell everyone to get off my lawn?</p>

[Cold Flame]

Hooch,

I couldn't have put it better. I have stuck with XP faithfully thusfar with the exception of beta'ing the new Windows 7 (which I am pleasantly enjoying). But I fully agree, I made the switch to Office 2007 to test before I roll it out to the users of my company, but I prefer the "old" way of doing things (circa Office 2003)...

Perhaps this will change, but for now, I'm set it my old ways I guess. I do want to embrace change and I look forward to what Windows 7 is already appearing to do. The only drawback is I'm not using it enough. I have it installed on a test box sitting beside me, so unless I was to work on it for my 8.5 hour day exclusively, I'm not sure I'll get a good idea for what it is doing or what it can do.

Now get off my lawn everyone! :p Has anyone seen my pants...?

[ptyork]

The difference between Ribbon and Toolbar/Menu was dramatic and has changed an interface metaphor that began with the Samna Ami word processor WAY back in 1988. Everyone who learned windows and word processing learned toolbars and menus. So, that's 20+ years of legacy that was changed. Those, like me, who used menu's much more frequently than the little toolbar buttons were hit hard with a significant learning curve. I'm STILL learning after a year. And despite all the pushback, 2007 migration is still quite rapid.

The Taskbar is an evolutionary set of improvements to the existing Start Menu and Task Bar. The only semi-radical aspect of it is that it puts the quick launch functionality inline, changing their look to indicate when they are actively running. This will be MORE intuitive for most and probably disruptive for very few. I don't see anywhere NEAR the push back here that you saw with Office 2007, even for those stubbornly holding on to XP. The additional productivity gains (and eye candy) are going to be a DRAW to the platform instead of the drain that the Ribbon has been for Office. It is simply an improvement to an existing metaphor.

So, I say pull up your pants. :)

[Jason Dunn]

This might sound a bit harsh, but here goes (and I'm not referring to anyone in particular here): people that learn things by rote memory will always be frustrated by change because rather than understanding software user interfaces as a whole, they simply memorize where certain buttons and functions. You move the button, they freak out, because the button isn't where they've memorized it to be. This is where 99% of the complaints about the Office 2007 toolbar come from - the new system is far more intuitive than the old one.

The number of people who interact with computers in that way are getting older, replaced by younger people who have grown up using computers, and more importantly, using multiple user interfaces (Windows, OS X, Facebook, MySpace, etc.). Most young people don't struggle to grasp a new UI when it gets put in front of them, they just go with it.

Ultimately this is a generational problem that is self-correcting. :D

[gdoerr56]

I think Jason is right on the money with this one.

I began using Office 2007 when it was still in beta. The initial learning curve was somewhat steep as I use a number less commonly used features but I feel much more productive with 2007 than I was with previous versions. The only major negative I see to the ribbon UI is that it is less efficient to almost unusable on lower resolution displays. If you use on a high-res, wide-screen monitor, it is a complete pleasure.

Windows 7 will give XP users a bit of a hard as many of the less commonly used interfaces are very difficult to find (I heard the same complaint going from XP to Vista). My use of 7 so far has been very enjoyable and I have been pleasantly suprised by the quality of the beta and the overall experience.

Windows 7 so far is what Vista should/could have been.

[Rob Alexander]

A couple of comments and a question.

1. I agree with Jason that it's a generational thing, but I also think it's an age thing. That is, when I was in my 20s and 30s, I loved learning new programs. Now (I'm 50) it's a pain, partly because PCs have moved from novelty to tool in my life (though I still love a good new gadget or cool program), and partly because my life is pretty busy right now and learning new things feels like an imposition on my time. I imagine the current generation of kids will reach a stage in their lives, in time, when they will become less forgiving of change.

2. I've noticed that when Apple changes everything around, they're 'progressive and innovative', but when MS changes things around, they're 'arrogant and insensitive to our needs'. Seriously, the ribbon bar is progressive and innovative and you just need to invest a little time to get used to it. Just take 30 minutes to run through the tutorials on the MS web site.

I was slow in moving to Office 2007 because I didn't want to be bothered, but I finally had to make the move last fall because my sudents were doing assignments in Excel 2007 and I didn't know how to help them unless I knew how to use it to. I didn't find the learning curve bad at all and I think the ribbon bar is great. Once you get used to it, you're much faster in getting the job done than with the old menu system. Kudos to MS for pushing us on this issue because sometimes we need it.

3. My question... As Cold Flame commented, there's no real way to get a feel for an OS without using it and while I have several computers (so I wouldn't be completely out of luck if I screwed one up), I'm not inclined toward living with a partially-functional system. Would those of you who are using it say the the Win7 beta is complete enough and stable enough to use on a non-critical home system that you use every day?

[Eriq Cook]

I don't think it'll be a problem for MS to push Windows 7 this time. Even the beta of Windows 7 has proven to be better than both Vista and XP, as many users (including me) are reporting. With that much feedback from the first public beta release, I can only imagine how much more comfortable people will feel and know about Windows 7 when it's finally released.

[Jason Dunn]

I imagine the current generation of kids will reach a stage in their lives, in time, when they will become less forgiving of change.

That's an interesting insight! Hopefully we'll both be alive long enough to see whether or not it's true. :)

2. I've noticed that when Apple changes everything around, they're 'progressive and innovative', but when MS changes things around, they're 'arrogant and insensitive to our needs'.

Indeed. Media/blogger bias aside, I also wonder if the fact that many Apple users have already made the switch from Windows and are thus the kind of people who don't mind learning something brand new?

Would those of you who are using it say the the Win7 beta is complete enough and stable enough to use on a non-critical home system that you use every day?

It's hard to answer this question without knowing how functional your system would be with Windows 7 on it - if it's a Vista-era system, you can install Vista drivers to get pretty much everything working, so from that point of view it should be pretty good. Myself, I haven't used Windows 7 enough to say whether or not it's ready for daily use. I'll probably wait a few more months myself...but I do have it installed on an HP Mini 1000 so it's nice to "play" with here and there.

[Lee Yuan Sheng]

I'm already feeling it. I used to love tinkering with stuff under the hood, but even at a young age of late-20's I'm not so keen on messing around with Linux. Can't imagine how I'd be like at 50.

Still I do think using UIs is a matter of how one approaches it. I've always tried to go with the flow, wrapping my mind around the UI's intent and concepts. Of course when the UI stinks it's felt very keenly...

[Joel Crane]

I am 20 years old, and even I struggle with the new ribbon interface. I still haven't spent time with it, but when I do, I'll put a solid effort into trying to see what is good about it.

As for Windows 7, I have it running in a virtual machine under Linux. I've only played with it for 10 or 15 minutes, but I am very impressed. It looks wonderful, and I am anxiously awaiting its' final release. I won't miss Vista.

My one and only complaint is that the classic theme doesn't look very good. Some of the pretty icons just turn into ugly buttons. Oh well. I would use the classic theme specifically on older, slower computers that I seem to have in abundance :D

[Macguy59]

Drastic change in UI ? I'm not seeing it. I installed the beta on my Unibody MacBook and I don't get why anyone thinks this is something more than a streamlined Vista. I guess on lesser hardware it runs better but Vista was very quick on this same machine. I think the default Explorer view is better being more user centric. IE8 seems a bit quicker but the UI is still butt ugly IMO. Why no mail client ?

[doogald]

I just installed it on VMWare Fusion on my Mac and I think it looks great. I really like the new Taskbar compared with earlier versions. I haven't done much with it, but it installed in a snap, seems to run Firefox well so far - I'll be installing Thunderbird and probably OpenOffice later on.

I like it, and I think it's very polished for an early beta. I'll not be switching from OS X, but for people who prefer Windows, or must use Windows, this seems a great sign of things to come.

[Jason Dunn]

I'm already feeling it. I used to love tinkering with stuff under the hood, but even at a young age of late-20's I'm not so keen on messing around with Linux. Can't imagine how I'd be like at 50.

You raise a good point - I'm 33, and when I think back to how I was 10 years ago, I enjoyed mucking around with INI settings, hacking at hardware and software trying to get it to work the way I wanted - and now, I'm much happier if it just works the way it should right away. So maybe it's just a natural progression of age and our lives getting more complex - I certainly have more on my plate in my 30's than I did in my 20's. :D

[Jason Dunn]

Drastic change in UI ? I'm not seeing it.

The taskbar is the biggest change - it's an entirely new way of doing things. Everything else is tweaked and streamlined. UAC prompts look completely different, and lots of other pieces have been polished (the wireless connector settings for instance). The system tray has been re-vamped now as well; only five icons are ever visible. I don't think the UI changes are enough to throw anyone that's used Vista for more than a week.

Why no mail client ?

Guess you haven't heard: the mail client, calendar, contacts, Movie Maker, and a few other things have been removed. This frees up resources for the OS team to focus on the OS. All those things, and more, can be put back into the OS via Windows Live - and when a computer OEM (Dell, HP, etc.) sells a computer with Windows 7, they can chose to have the Windows Live bits pre-installed. Or, if they want to go with a completely different solution (Firefox + Thunderbird + Lightning or Sunbird). I wasn't keen on this change at first, but after thinking about it some more, I'm convinced it's the right thing to do.

[Macguy59]

Meh I like Vista's task bar better. The fat one reminds me too much of my Gnome/KDE days. Drastic still seems like a bit much.

[Jason Dunn]

Meh I like Vista's task bar better. The fat one reminds me too much of my Gnome/KDE days. Drastic still seems like a bit much.

Yeah, I'm kind of struggling to like it as well - you can make the icons smaller via an options screen, so that helps quite a bit, but I'll have to see what it's like once I get used to it.

[Rob Alexander]

It's hard to answer this question without knowing how functional your system would be with Windows 7 on it - if it's a Vista-era system, you can install Vista drivers to get pretty much everything working, so from that point of view it should be pretty good. Myself, I haven't used Windows 7 enough to say whether or not it's ready for daily use. I'll probably wait a few more months myself...but I do have it installed on an HP Mini 1000 so it's nice to "play" with here and there.

And yet, you did manage to answer it very well (with the idea of putting it on your mini). Thanks! :) The system is my 6 month old Dell XPS desktop with Vista Home Premium so the drivers wouldn't be a problem. But I think it's a bit early to put it on a regular daily system. Instead, I'll put it on my Fujitsu Lifebook U820, which is dreadfully slow under Vista. That is my least important computer and the one that can benefit most from the experiment.

[David Horn]

Indeed. Media/blogger bias aside, I also wonder if the fact that many Apple users have already made the switch from Windows and are thus the kind of people who don't mind learning something brand new?

An interesting point, Jason. As a longtime Windows user I switched to Mac this year after Vista launched itself into an automatic update while I was giving a presentation. There were a few other things that annoyed me, but so far I haven't regretted the decision.

There have been a couple of times when I've cursed the design only to fire up the help or search in Spotlight to find the answer. Both times it's been a bit embarrassing, as I've actually been overcomplicating a simple solution which is definitely a trait learned from Windows.

[Jason Dunn]

An interesting point, Jason. As a longtime Windows user I switched to Mac this year after Vista launched itself into an automatic update while I was giving a presentation.

So I guess when you first set up that computer and you set it to automatically download and install updates, you didn't really mean it? :D Just kidding. I think Windows Update needs a fair bit of work - it should be smart enough to figure out that if there's a PowerPoint presentation running, or someone's watching a TV show, it should not kick off the install of updates. But it does give you some control - I have all my PCs set to download and notify of updates, but not install them, so the option is there.