Graeme Geldenhuys wrote: > Some quick examples were applications don't follow the "look & feel" > rules of the platform, yet users have no problems in using them. > > * Windows Media Player. > * latest Microsoft Office with it's new menu+toolbar design > * Pixel image editor. It fakes native look. But looking closer at it, > it is quite different to native platforms, yet users don't seem to > have any issue with using it. > * And the biggest one of them all. The INTERNET. Websites and Web > Applications like Gmail, Facebook etc... It adheres to NO single > platform, yet billions of users use the internet every day and don't > have problems using it. If you can read the screen, you can use the > interface.
I suspect these are the exceptions, rather than the rule. The vast majority of the time I am presented with a non-standard interface, I find it to be awkward and difficult to use, and it doesn't usually get any better from there. A few examples that come to mind: * anything by hp (printer/scanner software in particular) * non-standard installer programs (thinking of hp again) * vi * emacs * the earthlink totalaccess toolbar * almost any antivirus / antispyware program ...there are many others, but it's hard for me to think of them because I don't use them! The best broad example I can think of that may be in agreement with what you're suggesting is SymphonyOS and the Mezzo ui. I thought it was very cool when I first learned about it in 2006, but it looks like the project has been abandoned. I've got this "MezzoGreyPaper.pdf" here, but I can't find a working link to it. It's almost like it disappeared off the internet... very strange. Cheers, David -- _______________________________________________ Lazarus mailing list Lazarus@lists.lazarus.freepascal.org http://lists.lazarus.freepascal.org/mailman/listinfo/lazarus