Windows Vista Experiences

Today I was wondering about the 3 buttons on the top-right corner of windows in Windows Vista (from left to right: minimize, maximize/restore, close).

Windows 95/98/ME defined their size and design in a way that came to be known as the “Windows Classic Style“. In Windows XP, most elements in the new windows scheme looked as if they were made out of molded plastic, and grew much bigger, with the buttons in vibrant red, calling for you to use them (Close me! Close me!). One could argue that by being bigger, they offered an easier-to-find target area for the mouse pointer, making the buttons easier to use.

From the release of Windows 95 till Windows XP (the 98 and Millennium editions didn’t change much) they had 6 years to study and improve the user interface, to make it easier, more intuitive. Quiet a lot of money was spent on research, and the look-and-feel did change a lot. Yet from the launch of Windows XP till Windows Vista, well, they had another 6 years for further study and improvement, but what grew bigger then, grew smaller now.

I can only wonder why? As an experienced, non-handicapped user, I don’t really use the Minimize, the Maximize/Restore, nor the Close button often. The keyboard usually comes in handy to minimize a window (Win+M), to restore it (Shift+Win+M) or to close it (Alt+F4). To move between windows and see each one of them, Alt+Tab does the trick. In other cases, bigger target areas are preferred to those of the buttons. A double click on the Title Bar changes it from a maximized to a non-maximized state and vice versa, and a single click on the buttons on the Windows Task Bar (representing the programs or windows currently open) toggles the windows between minimized and restored state.

So I guess while building the stylish Aero Glass interface, the folks at Microsoft might have thought one of these things:

• We made a wrong assumption making the buttons so big in Windows XP.
• We made the right thing, but users now use the keyboard more often.
• We made the right thing, but mice are now more precise, so it is easier to point and click where you really want to.
• Who cares? These buttons look so much better like this!

There must be some Microsoft paper (or at least e-mail) where this subject is discussed, somewhere. If I ever find it, rest assured I will copy or link it here. In the mean time, enjoy the new buttons!

Remember the days when your computer was one thing, and the Internet another one? When navigating through the Web was one thing, and through your computer files another? Well, with Windows Vista the line that separates what’s in and what’s out gets even more blurred.

Time ago Internet Explorer got out and began being integrated deeper and deeper into the operating system. Now we had Windows Explorer for the inside and Internet Explorer for the outside, and we got Back and Forward buttons in our folder windows to navigate through files more easily, the way we got accustomed with the Web.

Also, the Location Bar in Windows Explorer that showed what directory (folder) on the hard disk we were working at, accepted the input of Internet addresses (WWW and FTP) and made Windows Explorer windows morph into Internet Explorer ones.

Then we had Web content embedded into the Desktop and “Web views” of folders, too, and more and more help guides and tutorials began looking like Web pages, when not being expressly made in HTML.

Now, what actually sparked this post, is that many options that were identified and accessed to by icons in Windows XP and previous incarnations, are now accessed through hyperlinks, just as if they were menus on a Web page. The funny thing is that on the same day I read a related article on Jakob Nielsen’s website, I got my first look at Windows Vista Basic, and faced the exact same usability issues he pointed out so well.

I guess this path of integration with the Web will just continue to grow, and the dividing line between the desktop GUI and the Web GUI will disappear eventually, with more and more applications now available from the Web and the value of non-networked PCs being close to nil. The network is the computer, said the visionaries at Sun years ago, and only now we are really getting it.

“Easier, safer and more entertaining.” That’s how the Microsoft team says the new Windows Vista experience is, and it may actually be that way.

Whether you think the changes are worth the money spent in upgrading the software and (most likely) upgrading your old computer or buying a new one, one thing you can expect for certain is to find that Windows Vista is a positive and rather natural evolution of Windows XP.

Maybe it took too long to develop, and most of the things it offers are not really new to the market, but working with it is easier (common tasks are simplified), users are indeed more secure (there are restrictions and safeguards at many levels) and it surely does look better (windows, dialog boxes, folder views, buttons, icons and backgrounds have been upgraded).

You may check a few Flash presentations that the Microsoft team prepared on Ease of Use, Safety and Entertainment with Windows Vista at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsvista/seeit/

Not too worried about the security enhancements of Windows Vista, but eagerly wanting the Vista look for your old Windows XP? Well, the best there is out there is the Brico Pack Vista Inspirat. Easy to install and deinstall (in case you change your mind), does not affect your PC’s performance, and looks a whole lot better than the Windows XP candy-like standard theme.

Also, by adding the (upper) docking bar for the most commonly used programs, it builds upon the usability improvements that you can enjoy with the (lower) Apple Mac OS X Dock, so you might find the new style not only pleases your eyes, but saves you some time in your everyday tasks, too.

You may download the pack here:
http://www.crystalxp.net/galerie/en.id.130.htm