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The Joel on Software Discussion Group (CLOSED)

Hi all!

I quoted Joel in a blog post I wrote about Google Chromium and Epiphany and why I ended up using the non-open-source Opera instead of them in order to overcome a Mandriva Linux bug that affected Firefox. The entry can be found here:

http://community.livejournal.com/shlomif_tech/46078.html

And what Joel says can be found here:

http://www.joelonsoftware.com/navLinks/fog0000000262.html

Also see the comments. I realised Chromium has a File and Edit menus but they are hidden behind artsy icons, are placed on the right side of the window and the "Edit" menu is to the left of the "File" menu.

What do you want.? A medal or a chest to pin it on?

I disagree with you and Joel Spolsky on this.

I understand your frustration and annoyance with Chromium and other browsers. However, what you are really saying is that every program must look and behave exactly the same. Every program must have the File and Edit menu on the left side of the screen "as it has been for years". Every browser must handle the URL bar exactly the same.

Sorry, but if every program looks and behaves exactly the same, then there is no reason for there to be more than one web browser (or word processor or whatever) and you might as well live in a world where there is only one operating system (Windows XP) and one browser (Internet Explorer). The fact that you aren't used to doing something a certain way is your problem, not a problem with the program.

You need to get over it.

"Sorry, but if every program looks and behaves exactly the same, then there is no reason for there to be more than one web browser (or word processor or whatever) and you might as well live in a world where there is only one operating system (Windows XP) and one browser (Internet Explorer). "

What's wrong with that? People switched massively from IE to Firefox and Chrome not because they wanted "something different", but because IE sucked. Windows doesn't suck (as much as the alternatives) and people don't switch. Nobody, apart from a bunch of ideologues, gives a rat's ass about software diversity as a virtue in itself.

@Richard McBeef  : as I noted in my comment to yours in my blog post (quoting it here):

<<<<<

Hi el_pato!

Thanks for not commenting anonymously (as opposed to most other commentators here).

Unfortunately for you, you are confusing have a standardised user-interface with competing based on feature-set. A program can distinguish itself from its competition by adding extra features (or incorporating other aspects of high software quality) without having to deviate from the standard UI that people are used to and comfortable with. Firefox was able to take market share away from Internet Explorer, while its UI was fully standard, because it was better. In fact, its standard UI contributed to its success, and not detracted from it.

Furthermore, like you said, there are different programs for different things: a word processor is different than a spreadsheet program, which are different than a web-browser, which are different than a C compiler, which are different than Perl/Python/Ruby/etc, which are different than an audio player, etc. etc. You can pick different niches.

However, inventing an unorthodox UI that will annoy all non-technogeeks (or even many technogeeks) is one way to make sure that your program is not as popular as it can be.

As a punishment, I'm giving you the task to read Joel's UI Design Book and the book the Design of Everyday things so you'll learn how to design a user-interface that doesn't get on people's nerves.

>>>>

FWIW, there are better keyboard shortcuts for the two functions you mentioned that are intended for heavy keyboard users.  Ctrl+T for a new tab, and Ctrl+N for a new window. These work in IE, Firefox and Chrome.

Also,  Alt+E and Alt+F will bring up the two closely analogous toolbar menus in Chrome on Windows, so your Alt+F+T works there.