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"I also like how my attention was never consumed by irrelevant details like it always is in a desktop os." It is odd but I do not find a desktop OS annoying if

"I also like how my attention was never consumed by irrelevant details like it always is in a desktop os." It is odd but I do not find a desktop OS annoying if set up properly. In particular, I felt this wave of relief after reverting to GNOME2 on my Linux VM and particularly this wave of "the OS isn't interfering with me" when moving to Mac OSX. Perhaps it is coming from Windows with the incessant fade-in bubble-shaped popups bottom right near the dreaded notification area that does this? If Windows properly managed this, it wouldn't be so bad. Such a small difference between the main system desktop layouts but a large difference in the feeling of being constantly flustered from an attention-seeking system. Weird. (Of course, removal of "distracting" user-interface elements can go to the extreme, as shown in the release notes for Xcode 5 where the toolbar has been refined "to remove distracting elements" or the over-the-top UI culling that has taken hold of GNOME3, eg. the recent changes to gedit as highlighted on the Planet GNOME blog, apparently for the sake of "making it less distracting". Balance is needed!)

userbinator 13y ago
Notifications in Windows can be configured, and often come from third-party programs; I use Windows and rarely get any system tray notifications (that's what those popup balloons are called) - the most common one I see is when the state of the network connection changes, and that's definitely useful information for me. I've tried OS X and I can definitely see how some people like it, but I felt like it was too "opaque", like it was hiding a lot of info from me. > Of course, removal of "distracting" user-interface elements can go to the extreme IMHO UIs have already gone a bit too far in this direction. The funny thing is that I have a feeling a lot of the same people who think this often useful information is an "unnecessary distraction" are the ones who do not use adblockers and such when viewing webpages, and seemingly have no problem consuming the content with all manner of attention-getting adverts spewed at them.
- 72deluxe 13y ago
  Very true about being too opaque on Mac OSX sometimes. It forces you to run with an iTerm open all the time to keep your Unix skills sharp, which is a good thing, right? I prefer falling system tray notifications "big balloons" :-) Btw, I am not trying to dismiss Windows. I use it daily and love it. But sometimes the inundation of popup balloons is a bit overkill, but that's only when using infested computers...

userbinator 13y ago

Notifications in Windows can be configured, and often come from third-party programs; I use Windows and rarely get any system tray notifications (that's what those popup balloons are called) - the most common one I see is when the state of the network connection changes, and that's definitely useful information for me. I've tried OS X and I can definitely see how some people like it, but I felt like it was too "opaque", like it was hiding a lot of info from me. > Of course, removal of "distracting" user-interface elements can go to the extreme IMHO UIs have already gone a bit too far in this direction. The funny thing is that I have a feeling a lot of the same people who think this often useful information is an "unnecessary distraction" are the ones who do not use adblockers and such when viewing webpages, and seemingly have no problem consuming the content with all manner of attention-getting adverts spewed at them.

72deluxe 13y ago
Very true about being too opaque on Mac OSX sometimes. It forces you to run with an iTerm open all the time to keep your Unix skills sharp, which is a good thing, right? I prefer falling system tray notifications "big balloons" :-) Btw, I am not trying to dismiss Windows. I use it daily and love it. But sometimes the inundation of popup balloons is a bit overkill, but that's only when using infested computers...