Tim wrote:
On Sun, 2010-12-26 at 14:33 +0700, Roelof 'Ben' Kusters
wrote:
> 1) Looks: Forgive the curse-words, but Linux has been surpassed in
> looks by as far as I can see all other OSs. I don't know all, but
> Windoze and Mac all look better on lesser graphic-cards. Things like
> true class-borders should be developed. True see-through should also
> be made possible for apps like conky et al.
The basic looks are perhaps a bit barren, but many fancy desktops
substitute usability for eyecandy (Windows, Mac, or Linux). But
seriously, anything more than basic Microsoft Windows effects really
creaks on low end graphics hardware.
Transparency's all very well for shuffling windows about, trying to find
the one you want behind the currently front-most one. But it's
appalling to try and use a terminal or application when you're seeing
what's behind it through what you're actually trying to look at.
The one thing I'd really pick on, with Fedora, is that the default fonts
are too big. You end up with whacking great big text and GUIs, to fit
it all in. And people tend to do the wrong thing to compensate, fake
the DPI settings, to scale it, so the desktop designers never pull their
finger out and put the proper sizing controls in where they can be
easily fixed. (Including the login screen.) So those of us who need
accurate scaling, find it hard to adjust things properly, because
everyone else thinks the dumb kludge is good enough.
Yes, it's handy not to have midget GUIs and text. But much of it's just
way too big. Windows is bad at handling this, too. Try scaling your
fonts up to the size you want, and you often find the GUI doesn't scale
up to fit, with it. And I'm So Sick Of Windows Texts Being Written In
This Fashion In Nearly All The Pop-Up Windows. Is the programming
author 8 years old?
Transparency, movement animations, etc., all look flashy and showy, and
cool for demos. But they get in the way of actually using the computer.
It's harder to see, and slower to do everything. So, they're the first
thing to get shut off.
I think the conservative and correct thing to do is run the minimum possible
feature set by default, and make it easy for users who want that stuff to turn
it on. Perhaps a few "feature sets" of effects could be put on a radio button
GUI so if people find they like a set of features they can select it easily.
But making minimal demands on video is important; if someone finds the behavior
plain they can adjust it, but if it doesn't display well enough to adjust, new
and low tech users will just give up and bad mouth Fedora.
--
Bill Davidsen <davidsen(a)tmr.com>
"We have more to fear from the bungling of the incompetent than from
the machinations of the wicked." - from Slashdot