[mythtv-users] Why Free Software has poor usability ?

[Dean Harding]

Jerry Rubinow wrote:
>     I meant no way to get the old menu system back that everyone knows and
>     understands with the new product.
> 
> 
> I understand that, but why do users need the new product?  I would bet 
> that what the users know and understand is a small fraction of the 
> capabilities of the program and that there is no functionality that was 
> added in 2007 that they need or use.  So there would be no reason to 
> upgrade unless they wanted a more useable (and granted unfamiliar) 
> interface.

That's my understanding as well. The whole *point* of O2007 was the new 
UI (and the new file formats, but they're available as a plugin to O2003 
anyway).

Personally, I quite like the ribbon interface. I'm hardly a power user 
(I tend to use Word in bursts -- I'll use it solidly for a week, and 
then not touch it for a couple of months). I think the new interface is 
great for people like me, because the features are much more 
"discoverable" and I don't have to go hunting in the menus when I come 
back to it after 3 months...

The great thing about Microsoft is they've actually got *lots* of data 
on how people actually use Office. When you installed O2003, there was 
an option for you to send "anonymous usage statistics" back to 
Microsoft. That basically translates into a database in Microsoft which 
says things like "the superscript button is clicked in x% of sessions" 
or whatever. It's data like that which got the superscript button put on 
the first ribbon in O2007 -- people were using it so much even though in 
O2003, it was hidden in the Format->Font menu item; there was no toolbar 
button for it!

Dean.