Archive of UserLand's first discussion group, started October 5, 1998.
Re: Mac OS X Commentary
Author: Neil J. McLeish Posted: 3/5/2000; 2:53:13 AM Topic: Mac OS X Commentary Msg #: 15404 (In response to 15392) Prev/Next: 15403 / 15405
My (humble) opinion is that usability is key to all interfaces.I agree with Oliver that the Unix system is not user friendly and I was hoping that the bods at Apple were set to change this.
The multi-user environment of OS's such as Unix and Linux holds many opportunities for the future, such as when homes will have a central control unit and will have many other units infacing with it.
Heating, lighting, Entertainment systems etc can all log on to the 'CCU' as a 'User' (so many quotes here, I am beginning to sound like 'Doctor Evil' :-) ).
The multi-user environment would mean that the Home control system could remain totally modular, so if one facet went down, the rest would not be dragged with it.
Having said that, for the home user - who may only want one machine on which to keep their house inventory, accounts and the like and to perform some DTP creation - to not be the controlling user will be somewhat disconcerting, as Oliver has pointed out.
So perhaps the solution is to organise the OS so that the user may choose what type of user environment they wish to set up. If they only have one machine on which to do their personal stuff and connect to the internet and so on, then they can specify that at the beginning of the install process, or within a control panel applet. This should be reconfigurable at a later date should the user's needs change.
Regards,
Neil
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