Let alone because of the touch interface that is becoming more and more common on all PCs, especially portable, it is time to move away from pass paradigms…
[quote=215716:@Michel Bujardet]
Let alone because of the touch interface that is becoming more and more common on all PCs[/quote]
If you’re into Gorilla Arms
For a desktop give me a mouse or track pad
Even a laptop
On a tablet or phone touch makes sense
One downside to touch is it requires more space - our fingers are fat compared to a mouse
[quote=215717:@Norman Palardy]If you’re into Gorilla Arms
For a desktop give me a mouse or track pad
Even a laptop
On a tablet or phone touch makes sense
One downside to touch is it requires more space - our fingers are fat compared to a mouse[/quote]
Well, fact is, almost all portable PCs today are touch enabled. So it’s double choice : trackpad AND touchscreen. So works the Surface Pro.
There is also a growing family of all in one PCs (not unlike the iMac), and all of them are touch enabled.
I am a dinosaur that likes the mouse, but all the new generation grown on mobiles will probably appreciate very much that feature.
The fact that fingers take more space actually becomes an asset : instead of producing overbusy and very ugly UIs , developers should have a chance to clean up their UI and create cleaner interfaces.
@Michel: Desktop and mobile SHOULD have different user interfaces. Call me senile but many of the mobile apps confuse me. Each app has a different gesture. Was it move to the right or do I need to press longer to delete the book from my reading app? The desktop app allows us to present the UI to the user and not hide it. What Microsoft wants to do is a ugly mutant of desktop and mobile. Resulting in apps that are on the desktop and are confusing like the mobile apps.
I’ve seen a couple of people in the real world do this. They are all Windows users. I have a client that’s using a lot of touch screens for their day to day computer needs too.
As much as I make fun of people that use a touchscreen on their regular computer (i.e. not a mobile device) I found myself trying to pinch to zoom on my Mac laptop the other day. So maybe it’s not so far fetched.
Not saying gestures aren’t useful just not reaching out to touch the screen while sitting at a desk
The magic mouse lets me do that
Our store has a computer set up for the staff to run the shop & its at a height and setting where a touch screen would work
Same for many kiosk style applications where the set up is at a height and setting where its easy to reach out & touch it
When the machine is in your hands, like a tablet, it also makes sense since you have no ancillary devices to drag around with you
So there certainly is a good place for the use of touch as an input
Its just not everywhere all the time
Come on people. Once upon a time there was steam power. Then come more modern things. It is not a matter of mobile on desktop and you perfectly know it.
The new generation massively uses touch devices. It only makes sense they appreciate that on anything that has a screen.
Whatever. Reactionaries are always right
Let the OP bask in antique computing. Good for him.
Amazing how the kids adapt. I learned to touch type at a very young age and can put words on the screen pretty fast but…
My daughters can type faster with with two thumbs on an iphone then I can with a keyboard. Of course kids don’t thumb type novels. Their missives tend to be in line with their attention spans. (3 lines or less :))
And what does this have to do with Ribbon Toolbars ?
Good point.
Not sure I’m basking in antique computing (harsh?) but I do know I can’t recreate the app I have in mind to work with a toolbar formed from half a dozen 2 inch square buttons .
I’m not alone, or Microsoft wouldn’t have reverted the UI for Windows 10 in the way they did.
The Ribbon Toolbar aspect: I raised the post to see if anyone was using Ribbon on a Mac.
It seems that no-one is , apart from Microsoft, who have a vested interest.
(Mind you, I seriously doubt any Mac users are queuing up at Microsoft’s doors with torches and pitchforks demanding that the ribbons be changed to OS X style toolbars…)
For my purposes, I have trialled the Leroy ribbon bar now and find that while I like the extra space it gives me to group and categorise action buttons, I’ve taken the comments here and my own experience into account and decided against.
