That's a good one

That's a good one

Posted Apr 1, 2007 0:49 UTC (Sun) by dbreakey (guest, #1381)
In reply to: That's a good one by superstoned
Parent article: Bake-Off: 4 Linux Desktops Tackle The Enterprise (CRN)

Windows Explorer is "intuitive" in the same way that driving a car is "intuitive". Once you learn how, it doesn't take much effort, and anything else seems clunky and unusable, even if it demonstrably isn't.

"Familiar" I'd agree with; "relatively easy" I'd agree with. "Intuitive"? No, definitely not. "Intuitive" is an extremely subjective word, prone to reinterpretation again and again.

To pull up an example, compare Windows Explorer to something like Directory Opus (an astonishingly powerful file-manager that puts anything else I've ever used to shame):^*

• To me, it's more "intuitive" than Windows Explorer because it facilitates the kinds of functions that I need from a file manager.
• Someone else, without my "power-user" requirements, might consider it less "intuitive" because it offers too much configurability.

Actually, that second point probably wouldn't be true simply because, for all of it's power and flexibility, the default DirOpus layout is extremely usable right out of the box, so to speak. However, that ruins the analogy.

^* No, I am not employed by the company that makes it, but I am an enthusiastic supporter of it. For a power user, I think it is well worth the money they ask for it. Non-power users? Eh, probably not, but take a look at it anyway—you might be surprised.

I may have to use Windows on occasion, but that doesn't mean I have to use the standard toolset while I'm at it. I do wish they'd consider a Linux version, though…

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