Just read the posts on this *censored* forum to see how dumb Windows users are compared with Linux users. Not including the "I downloaded Obunto and now I can't find My Documents" type people.
ow, you gotta agree linux isn't really user friendly
Yeah, I mean seriously, any semi-intelligent person who understands the basics and how two completely different operating systems that work by two completely different initiatives and are written to follow completely different UI guidelines KNOWS that they will both use the exact same interface widgets and name everything exactly the same. I've heard people say "the difference between a PC and a mac is a PC has a start button and the mac has a little apple" which is the most over-broadened and narrow-minded (ha, I love the stark contrast in metaphor there...) generalization that could ever be formulated. It's like saying the difference between a cow and a dog is a cow has spots.Now I won't go into a detailed comparison of the various physiological factors that could also be used to determine wether an animal is indeed a cow or a dog, since if I did I would evidently bore you with the obvious differences (you know, the whole bovine != canine thing, which has been preventing scientists from making the fabled half cattle half dog "doggle" which in fact herds itself... but I believe my point is clear- a PC is by no means a computer with a "start" button in the corner, as there are a number of operating systems available for a PC, including, now, the Mac OS (in some cases) and of course a number of Linux variants, (none of which have a "my documents" folder, unfortunately, leading to much chagrin on the sampling of the population that Salmon Trout has so helpfully provided a summary of). Even so, while these people commit to the very concept of a User Interface, many of them are lost in the very metaphor it represents. "I save by clicking on the little TV icon" (as the person points to the FLOPPY DISK icon) the common defense is that people often don't see floppy disks. Of course, I imagine that little icon shown next to '3-1/4 Floppy' in My computer that looks exactly like the "TV" doesn't ring a bell (an alternate theory is that many men see the caption and believe the computer to be psychic and hide behind the couch). I believe the real thing is that people no longer realize that the entire concept if a User interface, at least in the sense of windows or the mac OS, thrives on metaphor. Without meaning- an icon is just a useless jumble of pictures. a Television set by no means portrays the concept of "saving", except obviously in the minds of kids who grew up spending over 20% of their waking hours staring at a Playstation game's "saving" screen because the *censored* thing takes over five minutes to save, but I mean, seriously, would MS design a icon using such a small demographic? no, they use a proper concept such as a floppy disk.
of course, due to the fear this instills as expressed earlier, perhaps it is best to "hide" the floopy disk icon to prevent further hyper-ventilation on the part of men with low self-esteem. The new metaphor has been to show a little folder with an arrow pointing into it, which works great except it looks like almost all the other bloody icons, with little folder icons with some little gremlin image over to the left, god knows people won't see a little arrow pointing into a folder, and we'll soon have our ears assaulting by people saying that they clicked in the little icon with ears or how they used the pitchfork icon or some other visage that bears vague semblance to the intended image.
ahh, that feels better.
