OT: HIG and Usability - KDE 4.3

[Peter Alcibiades]

Anyone with an interest in app usability and the desktop should take a look 
at the latest KDE release.  The Kubuntu live version is a reasonable 
source.  It is very different indeed.  Easy to use once learned, not 
necessarily instantly inutuitive ways of working.  But what is funny is, 
once you have done something once in their initially uninituitive way, you 
find it automatic to do it the second time.  They took a major risk, one 
probably no commercial OS supplier would ever take, and but it has, 
finally, paid off.  It is also visually stunning.

There is an article here:

http://www.kdenews.org/2009/10/21/kde4-demonstrates-choice-not-usability-
problem

Here is Aaron Seigo's interesting take:

http://aseigo.blogspot.com/2009/10/comparing-kde-4-and-gnome-3.html

The article, and trying the latest KDE, confirmed all my old prejudices - 
namely, that one size does not fit all, and that the fatal flaw of HIGs is 
that ease of first use is totally different from ease of continuing use.  
In fact, that the first usually leads to endless irritation in experience.  
At least, for this particular user, which is why this is written from 
Fluxbox with hand edited menus!

PCLInux has now finally moved to KDE 4, and they usually have one of the 
best implementations of stuff for the enterprising ordinary user.

Gnome with 3.0 is about to change rather dramatically also.  So, all you 
Rev Unbuntu users, fasten your seatbelts!

Peter