Zip Folders and Software Usability
I use both Mac and PC platforms and believe both add several good things to the computing world. However, I’ve got a bone to pick with they way Mac’s handle zip folders and the way Windows does. When you click on a zip folder on a Macintosh, the OS auto unzips the folder archive and off you go. On a PC, Windows prompts if you’d like to unzip the folder, to which you are presented with the option of doing so, or you have to manually do it. What? What else would a person want to do with a zip folder? Just to make sure it has archived contents?
Software is changing. It is giving users more ways to access information. It pushes content to them rather than forcing the user to “go” get it. It thinks intuitively and tries to understand the quickest way to get what the end user needs. That’s smart usability.
What other instances of poor software usability are you aware of?
3 Comments
I think your example happens often in the Windows world, i.e. prompts that offer no choices but force you to hit “Next”. One of my least favorite is the Clean your Desktop wizard on Win XP. I believe it has 4 prompts which amount to “Welcome to the wizard, hit next to run the wizard, thanks for running the wizard, and press Finish to close the wizard.” No options, no reason for all the windows.
On both Mac and Windows I dislike dialog windows that monopolize the screen, even if they’re just “OK” messages. If a dialog box pops open and the only option is to hit “OK”, it should automatically close when I begin clicking elsewhere.
I use WinRAR.
Sorry OT! But you’ll like the info on the other end of this here link:
http://3spots.blogspot.com/2006/04/all-digg-style-applications-list.html#digg