Laurence’s Blog

Windows just helpfully rebooted itself (in order to install updates) because I did not spot that the “Rebooting in 5mins…” dialogue had appeared in the background. The last time is showed (10 minutes before) I only managed to catch it 3 seconds before it was about to restart the system. I find a number of things wrong with this:

1. A dialogue which will result in something happening if immediate action is not taken to prevent it (which is a bad idea for a dialogue in the first place) should draw as much attention as is (sensiabily) possible to itself. Being always on top would be a good start, as would flashing the taskbar. That way it could not be ignored and the user would have to clear the dialogue by selecting the “reboot now” or “postpone” buttons. (Note I said “on top” not “focused” – focus stealing is evil and even a critical dialogue like this should not practice this method of grabbing the user’s attention.)

2. Rebooting the system should require elevated privalidges (in my opinion – and if Windows update is already running with elevated pricalidges why am I not prompted to allow it to have these? I am when most Linux distros wish to install updates). What is the point in preventing programs from installing software, altering critical system files etc without my being harrassed by UAC if a process can reboot the system on a whim?

3. For the love of bob can IE please prompt me to save the tabs when a reboot is being forced upon me, in the same way as when I click on the big red ‘X’ in the top right? I not only lost the tabs I was still reading through, but also the contents of my shopping basket on an e-commerce site. As I now do not have the time to rebuild the contents of the basket (due to venting my frustration at my blog, which is far more fun ) the site in question has lost a sale (for a few pounds shy of £100), thanks to Microsoft.

 On a completely different note: I am currently debating what UI convention (specifically related to button placement in dialogues, at the moment) to follow for a new web app I am thinking about developing in my own time. The choice boils down to:

1. Follow MS Windows’ convention, which is likely to be most familiar to the user

or

2. Follow GNOME style convention, which make logical sense and (following button labeling guidelines, as well as placement) significantly reduces the likelyhood of dialogues in which the choice can be ambiguous as to which button will perform which action.

The fact that this is a web app means that following a non-MS convention may be more easily accepted by unskilled (strictly in the sense of computer use) workers than if it were a stand-alone app which was designed to be used within a Windows environment.  On the flip-side, following MS’ convention would probably decrease the learning curve due to the user’s existing familiarity with Windows-style dialogues.