Interface UI

[purple]

I mean, just check the logo in top of this page and you'll know what I'm talking about.

It's 2011 people.

[ehab]

its a matter of taste.

i like TC exactly the way it is.

i change my windows 7 to use xp theme and no fancy/candy/effect stuff.

i do think the office ribbon is innovative and liked it after many times of use.

i think TC is a filemanager and should behave like it, almost saying that a command prompt should look like one.

i do ask politely that TC UI remains the same forever : D

[purple]

well, nobody ask you JabbaHut

[Samuel]

IMO providing better defaults would improve TC very much:
a) disable directory brackets
b) change the text from bold to standard
c) use the font Segoe UI if it is available (perhaps with size 9 instead of 8 )
d) resize the initial window from (800 x 600) to (CurrentResolutionX - 300 x CurrentResolutionY - 200) - still centered
e) use #ffcc00 instead of #ff0000 as color to mark files. (a little bit less "aggressive")
f) change color and fonts in Lister too (for example: FgSelColor=13590563, BgSelColor=16377563; Segoe UI for variable width; Consolas, Lucida Console or Courier New for fixed width)

Regards functionality I would also like to see:
g) F2 renames by default (refresh can be done with ctrl+r)
h) use windows standard mouse selection mode
i) enable ctrl+s by default

Beside this small things:
j) use window standard icons for files and folders (often complained about - not very hard to change - could be deactivated by default)
k) redesign BTM (bigger, more overview, include packing, deleting, ftp, better overall progress)

Could you please consider this points, Christian?
Create a poll if you are not convinced from single points of my list.

[JohnFredC]

It is indeed a matter of taste... but even simple things can make a big difference in the perception of "modernity".

For instance, consider UI color options. If TC could offer more granularity of control over the colors of the interface...

- Individual color values for folder tree elements (background, text, highlight)
- Better control over file list cursor colors
- Dialog background/text/"3d" control colors

...are a few candidates.

[Sir_SiLvA]

Regards functionality I would also like to see:
g) F2 renames by default (refresh can be done with ctrl+r)

no way - f6 for rename was there way before explorer came with f2
so NOT as default - perhaps as a faq how to change it...

[Sob]

b) change the text from bold to standard
c) use the font Segoe UI if it is available (perhaps with size 9 instead of 8 )

Wrong. ;) Default settings should not be any specific font, but rather window font set in system preferences. If user selected it (or didn't change the default), then it means he likes it (or doesn't hate it enough to change it). So if it's fine for all other apps, then it's the best choice for TC too.

For instance, consider UI color options. If TC could offer more granularity of control over the colors of the interface...

I never really understood this. People have whole system using same colors (selectable by user), most other apps doing the same and they don't mind. And for some reason they pick one app and insist on using different colors for it, because system colors, which are perfectly fine for everything else, are suddenly not good enough for this app. :)

I always thought this was the idea of Windows, nice unified and simply customizable interface for all apps (plus also the whole environment, drivers, etc.. of course). So if I liked e.g. pink-colored windows with bold italic Comic Sans MS, I'd set it once and get it everywhere.

But that being said, I'm not protesting against it at all. Simple color change is harmless, it doesn't have any negative impact. Similarly other things like different icons (already supported, I just don't think iconlibs are very user friendly; and if TC included more than one set of icons by default, it'd also make some users happy). Or toolbar gradients or backgrounds, it doesn't matter much if the background is repainted using single color or some bitmap. If it's optional and possible to turn off completely, it's fine. Basically as long as it's not some always-on full graphic skins (things like painting own buttons, because system ones aren't cool enough for the app), anything goes.

[Sob]

no way - f6 for rename was there way before explorer came with f2
so NOT as default - perhaps as a faq how to change it...

Rename is always F6 for me too, but if Explorer has F2, then there are millions of users who expect F2 and if they come to TC, they think TC is doing it wrong. It's waste of time fighting that, it can't be won anyway.

Instead TC could present new users with selection of predefined configuration profiles. Currently TC shows configuration dialog at first run. It's of course nice to see that TC is highly configurable when it has so many options. But if I was regular user who is going to try TC for the first time, I'd probably scream "eeeeks!" and run away. :)

But if instead of full configuration dialog I got offered nice user friendly choice between "traditional settings" and "current Windows-style settings" and perhaps few others if they made sense, all with nice explanations, it would be much better. Or it could be some wizard-style dialog with commented choices for most important settings. With button for advanced users to skip all this and go directly to full configuration dialog of course.

[JohnFredC]

I never really understood this. People have whole system using same colors (selectable by user), most other apps doing the same and they don't mind. And for some reason they pick one app and insist on using different colors for it, because system colors, which are perfectly fine for everything else, are suddenly not good enough for this app.

I always thought this was the idea of Windows, nice unified and simply customizable interface for all apps (plus also the whole environment, drivers, etc.. of course). So if I liked e.g. pink-colored windows with bold italic Comic Sans MS, I'd set it once and get it everywhere.

IMO an everywhere-the-same-colors-UI ("get it everywhere") for every tool can be both initially confusing and ultimately unproductive.

Different looks for different apps is a good thing: it makes them more easily distinguished one from the other on the desktop. For me, word processing and reading apps should be like paper and colored accordingly. Image apps should be neutral/dark so as not to conflict with the colors in the images, file apps somewhere in between: distinguishable from the others, but restful to the eye (since I use them most frequently of all). Alert dialogs and warning popups should be brightly colored in order to stand out to the degree of their urgency.

There has been much CHI research that suggests properly differentiated colors (perhaps a better term would be "shades") aid productivity in a desktop-style GUI.

Perhaps an argument could be made for the "get it everywhere" paradigm (certainly Apple and MS have bought into that logic) but IMO, at least for application colors and shading, that is a wrong-headed approach.

[Sob]

@JohnFredC: That sounds reasonable. But sadly, the different-from-system apps I encountered so far felt mostly different for no good reason. As if their authors run out of ideas functionality-wise and just decided to make them stand out among competition at any cost. Many firewalls and antivirus apps are horrible examples of this approach.

I don't insist on "same" too much, better word could be "consistent". E.g. different-colored alerts would be fine. But I'd want them system-wide. Error in graphic app, error in file manager or any other error, they should still look consistently as errors. Yes, MS has function for info/warning/error message boxes, but didn't do much with them except using the same icons.

As for different-colored/shaded UI for individual apps, fine, why not, perhaps it's really progress. But I don't think it's progress when the app lets me choose from only three hard-coded colors (Office...).

[silencer]

I didn't hear anyone was against latest Google products redesign. I meant something like that, little bit different but still face-lift.

Here is where the different tastes comes in again. I really find this new google look awfull. Bigger buttons with no extra functionality... blehh..

For myself, I configure TC on every installation. Going thru the options to get it the way want it. If I look at the screenshots topic, there are so many different configs. It will never be exactly the way you like. Looking at other "commanders" which have eye candy, I just want to use TC again because of the speed and functionality. And maybe it's because of the "simple" look it works this good..

k) redesign BTM (bigger, more overview, include packing, deleting, ftp, better overall progress)

This is the thing I'm trying to figure out for some time now, but still haven't got a complete idea how this could be changed into a nice and user friendly interface. (you've made some suggestions in the past if I remember correct) But this is changing functionality, not just the look of TC.

[Hacker]

So, basically, we need to:
- satisfy users who like the current look
- satisfy users who would like a more modern look
- find what "a more modern look" means for the above mentioned users

Personally, I don't think everyone explaining how they imagine their dream modern TC should look like will bring us any further, since from the look of it, opinions differ.
I think we can all agree that more customizability with regard to the UI will not hurt anyone. We should rather try and agree on how to make TC's UI customizable (color? transparency? themes? skins? fonts? UI element position / size? etc.)

Roman

[Lefteous]

What is the advantage of a customizable UI when there is no good screen designer around?
Why do we need a customizable UI when a good screen designer could make everyone happy?
Why can't we imagine how TC should look like? We are not screen designers.
It's really that simple. I worked a lot with designers and there is no way to get there skills if you don't have the talent.

[Hacker]

Lefteous,
Of course a designer should do the design, but having a designer is not an answer to everything. A designer certainly would not make everyone happy (especially those who don't want any change).

Roman

[Lefteous]

2Hacker

A designer certainly would not make everyone happy (especially those who don't want any change)

A great new design would even make those happy who now say that everthing is perfect as it is.