FreeLists / openbeos / [openbeos] Re: Windows Vista Performance Kludges (that Haiku does not need)

["Waldemar Kornewald" <wkornewald@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi!

On 12/11/06, Stephan Assmus <superstippi@xxxxxx> wrote:
> It's really a complex subject, and I can only pick some random things to try
> to describe what I mean by this. To give you an example: Let's suppose
> Windows had a nice synchronization feature to synchronize documents on
> multiple computers, requiring just a single click. (It probably does have
> something like this, but it doesn't matter.) On the other hand, my computer
> broke down and I needed to take out the harddrive and plug it into another
> computer. This means the Windows installation completely stopped working. I
> am not aware of any "feature" in Windows that will help me get my
> "installation" back, the hypothetical synchronization feature doesn't help me
> at all because it was not designed for this situation. With BeOS/Haiku this
> is simply not a problem. And the reason is that the OS is structured in an
> equally powerful, but way more simple way, so that I can actually understand
> where my applications and their settings are. I can fix the problem myself
> (actually, my BeOS installation just worked on the new computer, there was no
> problem in the first place...).
Oh, and you won't be able to boot Windows from the old HD plugged in a
new computer because the driver system is too static (everything in
the registry...). The average user won't be able to solve that problem
(there are hacky solutions to get around the limitation, temporarily).

> When we implement features and applications, we need to think how to provide
> simple but powerful building blocks for the user to be easy to understand and
> combine in new ways to get the features that he wants. Maybe some coorperate
> users want "click and go" type of features, but many users I actually know
> don't mind some initial time to first build a workflow, provided that this
> workflow is then persistent. I have had multiple occasions, where I needed to
> get something done "quickly" and I thought, well there must be some piece of
> software for Windows that does this. Only to experience these complete
> letdowns. I don't mind "simple" applications and features, as long as they
> actually do what they are claiming to be capable of. And if I can combine
> those into more complex, robust workflows, sweet!
It depends on the user's needs, the complexity of the task, and how
regularly the user will need that function. For example, setting up a
WiFi network at home is basically a one-time task and thus should be a
"one-click" installation, so everyone can do it himself without
fearing to destroy something. OTOH, if you're drawing images every day
you probably have more advanced needs, but especially then your
workflow should be as efficient as possible, so you don't waste time
and energy on unnecessary or redundant work. With repetitive work
small inefficiencies sum up very quickly.

Bye,
Waldemar Kornewald