4 ms·

Make a non-idiot mode. When non-idiot mode is activated the following occurs: #1 All folders show "name" "extension" "size" "date created" "date modified" and

Make a non-idiot mode. When non-idiot mode is activated the following occurs: #1 All folders show "name" "extension" "size" "date created" "date modified" and nothing else. All alterations made by the user are automatically filtered into the entire filesystem. Don't ever "guess" what a directory is for. Computers are shit at guessing things. #2 When I try to change a .png extension to .jpg I don't want alerted that this will "make the file unusable". That is an insult to my intelligence. #3 When I try to delete a file that another process has a lock on you TELL ME WHAT GODDAMNED PROCESS HAS A LOCK ON IT so I can kill it. #4 The GUI should look like windows 2000, no fussing with silly transparent windows or Mac wanna-be bullshit. I avoid macs for the same reason I avoid the Candyland. #5 All files are assumed to be text files unless otherwise associated with other applications. That is, if I click on phat.properties, load it into whatever phat.txt would have been loaded into, most likely notepad. #6 I use notepad more than almost any other application. It's time to start giving it more features. I'll bet there are 100 hackers at microsoft who would love to make notepad into a new emacs. #7 Port every popular unix utility (grep, locate, sed, whatever) to windows and let me run them from the command prompt. #8 Switch backslashes to forward slashes. #9 Bring back qbasic gorilla.

snprbob86 18y ago
I detest the idea of a "non-idiot mode" or "expert mode". Software doesn't need to be complicated to be powerful. #1 Google Docs has a fantastic organizational tool which is much better suited to the task than a traditional file system. #2 Why are we messing with file names anyway? Flickr doesn't force me to think about this problem. #3 Why can't I unlink a file instead of deleting it? Why should I have to kill a process? #4 shrug Beautiful is welcome if you don't suck down my resources too badly. #5 Again, normal users are forced to interact with file systems far too often. #6 If you like Emacs so much, why don't you just use Emacs? #7 PowerShell comes with Windows 7... or you can install Cygwin. #8 shrug both technically already work nearly everywhere. You are proposing "solutions" to common problems you have had. Your solutions have a remedy nature to them. You exhibit the traditional Microsoft band-aid mentality. Microsoft's culture is designed around managing complexity. We're damn good at coming up with complex solutions to complex problems. We are very weak at deriving simple solutions to complex problems. However, more importantly, we are very weak at identifying important problems to solve, and hence simplifying the needs for solutions. It seems to me like you would fit right in here. That is not necessarily a good thing.
- mynameishere 18y ago
  If you like Emacs so much, why don't you just use Emacs? Not the point. Microsoft has had a blank-slate opportunity with things like calc and notepad but has squandered them. Why not make calc the world's best calculator? Why not make notepad the best text editor? Instead, those apps are just like the 1998 versions, while they've diddled with the meaningless start menu and control panel for probably 200 million dollars in man hours.
  - dcurtis 18y ago
    Microsoft is not capable of making the world's best calculator or the world's best notepad. That's the real problem.
    - brown 18y ago
      "Not capable" can have two meanings. First, you could mean that Microsoft engineers lack the skill and ability to make a better calculator or text editor. Second, you could mean that Microsoft's hands are tied by a variety of reasons (legacy support, antitrust concerns, etc). I know it's popular to assume Microsoft's incompetency, but that's not the case here. Many engineers internally have proposed changes and provided patches that could drastically improve the functionality. However, the gatekeepers are incredibly conservative. Not only do they have to consider the legacy issues, but they also have to consider all of the ISVs who would kick and scream about anti-trust. The subset of the customer base who would truly appreciate a better notepad do not justify the risks.
  - DougBTX 18y ago
    It is 100% the point. If you want a specific tool, go use that tool. There are probably more lines of code to handle indentation in emacs than in all of notepad. Fwiw, since '98, notepad gained keyboard shortcuts and calculator had its backend rewritten to handle higher precision decimals. Both are simple utilities for simple tasks. And you know what? The best calculator in the world, it has physical buttons. Or, it is Mathematica. Answering which is best depends completley on the question, and totally misses the point.
endtime 18y ago
That sounds more like "my extremely personal preferences mode" than "non-idiot mode".
chanux 18y ago
Why waiting for microsoft to build these things? Use GNU/Linux.

snprbob86 18y ago

I detest the idea of a "non-idiot mode" or "expert mode". Software doesn't need to be complicated to be powerful. #1 Google Docs has a fantastic organizational tool which is much better suited to the task than a traditional file system. #2 Why are we messing with file names anyway? Flickr doesn't force me to think about this problem. #3 Why can't I unlink a file instead of deleting it? Why should I have to kill a process? #4 shrug Beautiful is welcome if you don't suck down my resources too badly. #5 Again, normal users are forced to interact with file systems far too often. #6 If you like Emacs so much, why don't you just use Emacs? #7 PowerShell comes with Windows 7... or you can install Cygwin. #8 shrug both technically already work nearly everywhere. You are proposing "solutions" to common problems you have had. Your solutions have a remedy nature to them. You exhibit the traditional Microsoft band-aid mentality. Microsoft's culture is designed around managing complexity. We're damn good at coming up with complex solutions to complex problems. We are very weak at deriving simple solutions to complex problems. However, more importantly, we are very weak at identifying important problems to solve, and hence simplifying the needs for solutions. It seems to me like you would fit right in here. That is not necessarily a good thing.

mynameishere 18y ago
If you like Emacs so much, why don't you just use Emacs? Not the point. Microsoft has had a blank-slate opportunity with things like calc and notepad but has squandered them. Why not make calc the world's best calculator? Why not make notepad the best text editor? Instead, those apps are just like the 1998 versions, while they've diddled with the meaningless start menu and control panel for probably 200 million dollars in man hours.
- dcurtis 18y ago
  Microsoft is not capable of making the world's best calculator or the world's best notepad. That's the real problem.
  - brown 18y ago
    "Not capable" can have two meanings. First, you could mean that Microsoft engineers lack the skill and ability to make a better calculator or text editor. Second, you could mean that Microsoft's hands are tied by a variety of reasons (legacy support, antitrust concerns, etc). I know it's popular to assume Microsoft's incompetency, but that's not the case here. Many engineers internally have proposed changes and provided patches that could drastically improve the functionality. However, the gatekeepers are incredibly conservative. Not only do they have to consider the legacy issues, but they also have to consider all of the ISVs who would kick and scream about anti-trust. The subset of the customer base who would truly appreciate a better notepad do not justify the risks.
- DougBTX 18y ago
  It is 100% the point. If you want a specific tool, go use that tool. There are probably more lines of code to handle indentation in emacs than in all of notepad. Fwiw, since '98, notepad gained keyboard shortcuts and calculator had its backend rewritten to handle higher precision decimals. Both are simple utilities for simple tasks. And you know what? The best calculator in the world, it has physical buttons. Or, it is Mathematica. Answering which is best depends completley on the question, and totally misses the point.

endtime 18y ago

That sounds more like "my extremely personal preferences mode" than "non-idiot mode".

chanux 18y ago

Why waiting for microsoft to build these things? Use GNU/Linux.