Something Interesting

John Gruber has pointed out a new feature added to Spaces in 10.5.3 of Leopard. The important thing about this change is that fact that is was based on something that users were discussing online. This is the second such change that has happened in Leopard. Remember the translucent menubar? They gave us a check box to change that in 10.5.2 I believe.

This is really significant because it proves that Apple is listening, at least to some of its users. Apple has had a long standing policy of declining feature requests. But since Leopard that seems to have changed from a hard and fast rule to something that they will think about. I know this might seem like a small issue and probably didn’t take Apple long to change. However, they did change it.

I contrast this to Windows Vista. Now I know that Vista has gotten a bad rap most of the time. And I’ve taken a shot at it or two myself. It’s not easy to use or get used to by any means. But, I think more than anything, Leopard and Vista shows the different philosophies involved in the development of the products. Apple on one hand is listening to requests and adding features and functionality with each new 10.x upgrade. And we are now even getting new features and functions in 10.5.x updates. These are small tweaks to be sure, but they are important for how the person interacts with the computer. Key point there. How a person interacts with the computer.

Microsoft on the other hand seems to be uninterested in developing something that the user wants to use. What baffles my mind is that with the money Microsoft has, they could easily start a campaign to research how users work and what’s important to them. They could take that information and really build something incredible. Of course, that is assuming that money could buy the talent and passion needed to build the UI the way it needed to be done.

There are many research studies on the web that track the user’s eyes when looking at a web page. I’m betting there is little different between looking at a web page and looking at the computer. Because the mind has been trained, from an early age with books, I wonder if the humans, at least Latin language based humans, start at the top left and scan to the right. Just like reading a book. This makes Apple’s design decision to put the menu bar at the top even more interesting. Microsoft put the starbar at the bottom of the screen, which I always felt was a bit unnatural, but could never figure out why. Yes, you can move it and all, but most people never did. I know I didn’t.
Apple
When I switched to the Mac about 6 years ago, I figured that getting used to the menu bar at the top of the screen would be difficult. However, after 6 years, I have discovered that it really makes much sense. This decision was made a long long time ago, and it was right (IMHO). I think the way that Apple is responding now to the different discussions on the Internet about how people are using their Mac is very interesting. It also is very comforting to think that Apple will listen, at least a little, to what people are saying.