Interesting… Windows Users Don’t Like Their Apps to Look Nice.
I was pretty much taken off guard by Apple’s release of Safari for Windows. Still not quite sure what their real motives are… Webkit everywhere, I suppose. By boosting Safari’s market share, developers will start to write Javascript that’s a bit more compatible with the iPhone. But what has really surprised me is that some Windows users are actually complaining that it looks nice. It seems as though they like aliased text. I don’t get it. I can kind of understand the reluctant developer standpoint, but even still, anything that erodes the IE dominance is a good thing IMHO. Chastising a developer because they respect design and aesthetic doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to me.
I wonder if it’ll come packaged with the iPhone or iPod software… seems like an easy way to get marketshare.
Posted on June 11, 2007
Steve Bryant Jun 11
I strongly disagree. The criticism wasn’t that it looked nice. It was that it didn’t look like a native application.
It is bad usability to force controls to look like they are from an OS other than what the user is using.
I often have clients complain to me when they look at a screenshot of a web application and the controls look like they do on the client’s OS. When I explain that the controls will look appropriate for the user OS, the client is happy.
Controls on Windows should look like Windows controls. Controls on Macs should like like Mac controls.
Brooks Andrus Jun 11
Steve, that seems like some seriously flawed reasoning given the emphasis given to developers with WPF / Silverlight. With WPF / Silverlight application designers are encouraged to develop a look and feel that’s right for their application rather than have the OS’s look and feel shoved down their throats.
Your main premise seems to be that you currently have an easy escape clause that you use with your clients and you’re not happy having it taken away from you.
As to the second argument you posit, it seems like Emerson’s “foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds” might be appropriate here.
Geoff Jun 11
You’re twisting my words. My criticism was not that they used antialiased text. My criticism was that the quality of the antialasing on my PC wasn’t nearly as good as it is on my Mac.
If you put OSX Safari and Windows XP Safari side-by-side, you’ll notice that the PC antialiasing in Webkit is sub-par. It looks rough and grainy. If your Mac Safari looked like it does on the PC, you would revolt.
Chad Jun 11
Geoff, maybe a tad, but the gist from the Windows users blogging about Safari seems to be that they don’t like it… and to me, choice is always good, especially when it’s mostly superior to IE.
Andy Jun 11
If MS forced IE to use the Windows look & feel for the browser & all of its panels, I think you would probably be writing about how MS is forcing their look & feel down an apple user’s throat.
In this case, the commentor is right though.
I spent a lot of time customizing my OS look & feel to a very specific personal preference. Apple, in one sweeping move, declared that I am not smart enough to know what I want my program’s interface to look like.
Hanford Jun 12
“some Windows users are actually complaining that it looks nice.” — “It seems as though they like aliased text. I don‚Äôt get it.” — “Chastising a developer because they respect design and aesthetic doesn‚Äôt make a whole lot of sense to me.”
Ugh. I don’t even know where to begin. It’s not about the look per se; the only visual aspect I commented on was the text, but that itself was more about overriding my OS UI settings. My post was more of a “when in Rome, do what the Romans do” thing. I wouldn’t walk into an Apple store and then start yapping “Hey?! where’s the right mouse button?! You drag the disk to the trash to *eject it*?!”. That’s the way the Mac does things, and more power to the people who like it that way. That’s fine. My Safari on Windows complaint has nothing to do with what’s better/nicer/techier/web2.0ier, etc . It’s just that Safari feels and behaves weirdly. Why? Because I’m on Windows. Duh. You can make fun of my desktop UI settings if you want, but it doesn’t excuse the combination of arrogance and ignorance Apple displays when they say “Hey, we don’t care about your desktop settings”. As I pointed out in my post, Mac users for years rejected Windows ports for the very same reasons. If it were simply about design and aesthetic I would have simply said Safari is ugly, but I never said that.
Regarding aliased fonts: What I don’t get is that you don’t get that people can prefer different display settings. Seems pretty obvious to me.
Thanks for letting me vent.
~Hanford
Chad Jun 12
Hanfod, you single handedly win this posts commenting award for coining the term “Web2.0ier”… I love it!
Telecharger May 7
In this case, the commentor is right though. Thanks…
xp-error Jan 23
it were simply about design and aesthetic I would have simply said Safari is ugly, but I never said that.