The Old Joel on Software Forum: Part 3 (of 5)

Yeah right

>>The very fact that the Unix world is so full of self-righteous cultural superiority, "advocacy," and slashdot-karma-whoring sectarianism while the Windows world is more practical ("yeah, whatever, I just need to make a living here") stems from a culture that feels itself under siege, unable to break out of the server closet and hobbyist market and onto the mainstream desktop.<<

The vast majority of Linux or BSD guys and gals out there don't care if Linux wins the heart of Aunt Madge or Large Marge. Not in the slightest. All that ballyhooing and squawk about getting onto the desktop is coming more from the media.

But from my experience, it makes a lot better work station than XP for example. That 'single' desktop gets cluttered extremely fast. Besides, has anybody noticed that more and more of the newer things that the Windows UI will do are things that various window managers have been doing for some time now?

Now don't get me wrong. I like the article for the most part and agree with Joel. The intersting thing is that I just hired a person that is firmly grounded in the Windows camp and way of doing things. Primarily due to the fact that I am weak in this area (lots of back end and db administration tp date) and I also know our IT department needs it. I'm pretty sure I have an open mind concerning what he's brought to the table, eventhough he's a static typing bigot. Now let's see if he really is just interested in getting the job done (as Joel suggested) as opposed to engaging in Jihads of cultural schisms and language issues. So far it seems like he wants to squawk and carry on just as much as one of those "...self-righteous cultural superiority, "advocacy," and slashdot-karma-whoring..." Linux guys.

Cheers,
BDKR

BDKR
Wednesday, December 17, 2003

Uh what single desktop?
XP and the NT family have supported multiple desktops since NT3.51 search for VDESK.EXE
I'm pretty sure the NT4 version works on XP. (I haven't tried it for a while)

Peter Ibbotson
Wednesday, December 17, 2003

A multiple desktop utility is distributed by Microsoft in the PowerToys package, which is and always was free.

As far as I can remember, this functionality was available in the Windows 98 version of PowerToys, too.

So, the functionality existed, but Microsoft decided not to install it by default - you had to download PowerToys, and install it.

Was this a good decision, or a bad decision?

In my opinion, it was a good decision, because multiple desktops are confusing to many users.

For example, I'm a Windows software developer, and have over 16 years of experience using computers. And still, multiple desktops are confusing to me. They give me a sort of "clumsy" feeling.

Yes, some users love multiple desktops, but for most users, they would just be confusing.

So, I think MS made a wise decision not to include multiple desktops in the Windows installation.

Jack
Wednesday, December 17, 2003

One has been able to use multiple desktops on windows since v3.1 (if not before) using bigdesk and other similar toys - that's getting on for 15 years...

Murph
Wednesday, December 17, 2003

Powertoys for Windows XP is available at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/downloads/powertoys.asp , it is free and allows multiple desktops.

MX
Wednesday, December 17, 2003

Hmm. I downloaded 'Deskman.exe' to try out the virtual desktops, but it seems to have installed Tweak UI instead.

Devil's Advocate
Wednesday, December 17, 2003

Never mind. Apparently the desktop manager is a taskbar toolbar.

Devil's Advocate
Wednesday, December 17, 2003

Powertoys eh? I'll check it out.

Cheers,
BDKR

BDKR
Friday, December 19, 2003