GUI --- How it should have been done

Hi!

I think the OE and WLM are just GUI clients of mail protocols and some database.
I think both are not so big and complicated programs.
OE was used by millions of customers for 10 years.

I think if
a) the MS management would have some little bit of respect to the customers
and
b) the WLM team would be really professional
then the sequence of events would be like this:
1. WLM GUI would be made as the exact copy of OE plus
1.1 support of Windows themes
1.2 support of skins to show Vista-like look
1.3 additional elements for Messenger, calendar, spaces, etc.
2. MS would report to customers that from 30 of June they need to use new version of OE to
have access to the hotmail.
3. Users would download new version of OE and would be perfectly happy about the old stuff at its
old places plus some new features.

Instead of this we got the forcing scheme which is becoming traditional for MS.

The question is - why?

Obviously some of a) and b) conditions are not met.

You can suspect the condition b) ecpecially when you see the way you can change colors for toolbar, for example.
There is some gradient, but you can choose only one color. (To prevent user from choosing two
equal colors to return to the classic look?) Even the Display Properties of Windows supports
two colors for many years. Also the choice of tree icons colors is awfully miserable resembling a
cheap water-colour set for 3 years old children.
Result - no old classic look, no good customized look.
The database is also mentioned here. It was just sunk into the file system. The isolated subsystem,
which was used by one program only was put openly on the OS. The level of security was decreased,
the level of OS load was increased.

But also possibly something wrong with condition a) - SomeBody strongly want to foist the Vista-like appearance
"at any price"?

Aleksey.

"Aleksey Tkachenko" <no_spam@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:#fdF5YppIHA.548@xxxxxx ....

Well as always there are a variety of goals. I would guess your
suggestions were goals, but they were outvoted by the goal am making a
unified look and feel across Windows and Office, as well as to accommodate
new features and combine features and feel from various products. Now add
in the needs for improved virus protection etc. and it all gets to the point
that there will be changes.

It took me about a week to get over the changes. (Note: I can't really
call them improvements, but overall they are about the same and the learning
curve was not all that bad.


--
Joseph Meehan

Dia 's Muire duit

I find the WLM UI disunified. It looks like Vista splattered
into XP. WLM is a garish cartoon on XP. I'm sticking to OE
for the unified familiar look. They won't add DeltaSync to
OE, so I might drop Hotmail over it.


"Joseph Meehan" <sligoNoSPAMjoe@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:eujQ8SspIHA.552@xxxxxx

In *nix, email is just UI and text files, not even a database.
I'd rather they just add DeltaSync to OE, or better, add IMAP
to Hotmail. Gmail does nicely with IMAP.

The Vista look is garish and cartoonish on WinXP.

The only meaningful feature from WLM that OE lacks is the
quickview.


"Aleksey Tkachenko" <no_spam@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:%23fdF5YppIHA.548@xxxxxx ....

On Fri, 25 Apr 2008 09:35:36 -0500, no one wrote:
When compared with MS Outlook Express, I see nothing "excessively or
disturbingly vivid", or "offensively or distressingly bright" about Windows
Live Mail. If anything, the blue is a bit darker, and more subdued than in
MS Outlook Express. Are we using the same definition for, "garish"?

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/garish

--
Norman
~Oh Lord, why have you come
~To Konnyu, with the Lion and the Drum

Without a database, how would an email program keep track
of which messages are read/unread, replied to, etc.

--
Gary VanderMolen, MS-MVP (WLMail)


"no one" <no @ mail .com> wrote in message news:OWJcfGupIHA.1580@xxxxxx

"N. Miller" <anonymous@xxxxxx> wrote in message news:j21pkkz4kp54.dlg@xxxxxx Garish is related to the situation in which you come to the shop to buy a TV set
and see there only yellow, red, green, blue TV sets, not black, white or gray.

The monitors are usually black, white or gray because they have to be neutral.

"Windows classic" scheme and OE are neutral.
Also you can make it more neutral by choosing the colors.
If there is the gradient from one color to another somewhere then you have the way
to choose both colors and so fully control the gradient and also
you can fully switch it off by choosing equal colors.

In all the "Live" stuff there are the gradients everywhere but only one color to choose.
This is the obvious degradation.

The degradation is very logical here. If you have done everything possible
on the way of development, then to continue to sell new versions you have
to choose the track of degradation. This is approximately what the MS is now doing
in the field of GUI.

Though it is possible to add one more color choosing button to correct the situation.
But they will not do it because in this case the user will be able to make the toolbar
looking classic and so their Vista-promoting WLM assault will fail.

Aleksey.

"Joseph Meehan" <sligoNoSPAMjoe@xxxxxx> wrote in message news:eujQ8SspIHA.552@xxxxxx My suggestions were about keeping variety of choices for user.
If user want to keep "unified look and feel across Windows and Office",
he could keep if the Windows and Office support Windows themes.
But instead of this themes were abandoned and the choices were destroyed.
This was done to promote Vista, "new look ", etc. I do not see any other
explanation for this absurdity.
It is not "learning curve". It is adaption for new look, which
1) is not neutral
2) imposed by force

I need not time to learn WLM, its logic is the same as OE.

I think anyway the solution will be made to keep the hotmail on some
"Windows classic" mail client. Though it will not be made by MS, I think.
Thunderbird with Webmail add-on is one of such solutions.

Aleksey.

"Database" connotates a certain kind of data store. However,
informally, database can mean most any data store. And "data
store" is the most generic way of saying storing data.


"Gary VanderMolen" <gary@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:ufuwVIwpIHA.552@xxxxxx

What they mean here is that WLM's scheme clashes excessively with the rest of
Windows XP - both on Classic and Luna. Both XP themes have a set of colors
they utilize, and the blue-grey panels WLM uses are contrast to both. I would
have prefered it just accepted Windows Themes, or at the very least allow the
UI to be switched to classic mode, much like Media Player and to some extent,
IE7. I like my Hotmail a lot, but I like customization more. If my only
options are what half of a gradient I want, that's not enough - especially
because WLM is EXACTLY OE with just a shiny interface and supports a few new
technologies.

"N. Miller" wrote: