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From: gancarz@decvax.UUCP (Mike Gancarz)
Newsgroups: comp.windows.x
Subject: Re: Here we go again...
Message-ID: <102@decvax.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 24-Jun-87 19:57:49 EDT
Article-I.D.: decvax.102
Posted: Wed Jun 24 19:57:49 1987
Date-Received: Fri, 26-Jun-87 07:06:24 EDT
References: <5840003@wdl1.UUCP> <78@decvax.UUCP> <99@decvax.UUCP>
Reply-To: comp.windows.x
Distribution: world
Organization: Ultrix Engineering Group, Digital Equipment Corp.
Lines: 39
Keywords: uwm, window manager, meta

In article <> Karl.Kleinpaste@cbstr1.att.com writes:

  >My followup article questioned only this one claim: that the current
  >set of defaults (requiring 2-handed X driving) is optimal for
  >overwhelm-avoidance in the novice's mind.

I would tend to agree with you that the current set of defaults in
uwm is probably less than optimal.  In preliminary testing, however,
it became evident fairly quickly that "naked" mouse bindings in uwm
tended to confuse novices because they have a hard time dealing with
the fact that they couldn't use naked bindings in any applications.
Once you tell them "hold down this key when you want to call up the
menu", they usually catch on rapidly.

To do the right thing here (whatever *that* means), you'd have to
perform a human factors study with at least a dozen default environments
and hundreds of users.  And whatever the study came up with, I'd
give you 100-1 odds that the standard default environment won't
please everyone.  Hence, the desirability of a user-programmable
user interface.

  >My lone, sole, single, isolated complaint is that 2-handed driving for
  >a window system, particularly on machines where other window systems
  >exist (such as Suns, of course), is a bad set of defaults to inflict
  >on the *novice*.

What you're hinting at is that, since someone else has already done
it one way, then that way must be right.  Or is it?  Should all window
system user interfaces look alike?  That's a tough question.  Someone with
lots of experience in the window system arena once put it this way:
"Don't say your way is better because you've got an army of people
who say your way is better.  I can go out and find an army of people
who would disagree with you."  If X had come along before the Suns, the
Xeroxes, and the Macintoshes of this world, then maybe everyone would
be wondering why those systems don't use meta keys for window management.
(By the way, did you know that the Macintosh uses meta keys in its user
interface?  Surprised?  I was, too.)

--Mike