4 ms·

It's my opinion that the Windows Control panel (pictured here: http://toastytech.com/guis/win10control.png http://toastytech.com/guis/win10control.png) is the s

It's my opinion that the Windows Control panel (pictured here: http://toastytech.com/guis/win10control.png http://toastytech.com/guis/win10control.png) is the single worst designed user interface of all time. Why? It is the only - and I mean only - list of items on a screen organized horizontally in any OS I can think of. Any time you resize the window, every single item in the list is now reorganized into different rows and columns. Ever wonder why you can never seem to find what you want in the Control Panel? It's not just because Microsoft loves to subtly change the names of core settings every year or so, but because they're constantly moving and shifting around. Seriously, give me an example of a horizontally organized list like this in any OS - past, present, desktop, mobile... I can't think of any. Nothing else is so dumb. There must be special code in this particular window to keep it so moronic, that Microsoft continues to maintain, year after year. Amazing. /rant

mjs7231 10y ago
ls
jszymborski 10y ago
Not sure if this is what you meant, but Ubuntu mimics this in Unity... in fact I think most Linux DEs now come with something similar... http://imgur.com/80Pl4tx http://imgur.com/80Pl4tx
- bshimmin 10y ago
  That's much more like a copy of the Mac's System Preferences, really.
  - iambateman 10y ago
    But crucially the mac pane can't be resized or reorganized. In practice, I use search for the configuration option every single time on mac. It's great.
- russellbeattie 10y ago
  Like someone else said, that's like the Mac System menu. The difference is subtle, but very important: Each group is self-contained, so the icons reflow only within that section if the window is resized (if the window even allows resizing).
dagw 10y ago
While I completely agree with everything you wrote, it is worth noting that the default view in Windows 10 is the more sane view by category rather than the view you're showing. That being said I still always use the Search box to find what I'm looking for, despite (because?) having been a Windows users for decades.
- sedatk 10y ago
  Category view is the default since Windows Vista.
accountyaccount 10y ago
I don't even try anymore, I just search
Iv 10y ago
Also if like me you have to access to Windows in different languages, each will come in a different order.

mjs7231 10y ago

jszymborski 10y ago

Not sure if this is what you meant, but Ubuntu mimics this in Unity... in fact I think most Linux DEs now come with something similar... http://imgur.com/80Pl4tx http://imgur.com/80Pl4tx

bshimmin 10y ago
That's much more like a copy of the Mac's System Preferences, really.
- iambateman 10y ago
  But crucially the mac pane can't be resized or reorganized. In practice, I use search for the configuration option every single time on mac. It's great.
russellbeattie 10y ago
Like someone else said, that's like the Mac System menu. The difference is subtle, but very important: Each group is self-contained, so the icons reflow only within that section if the window is resized (if the window even allows resizing).

dagw 10y ago

While I completely agree with everything you wrote, it is worth noting that the default view in Windows 10 is the more sane view by category rather than the view you're showing. That being said I still always use the Search box to find what I'm looking for, despite (because?) having been a Windows users for decades.

sedatk 10y ago
Category view is the default since Windows Vista.

accountyaccount 10y ago

I don't even try anymore, I just search

Iv 10y ago

Also if like me you have to access to Windows in different languages, each will come in a different order.