Subject: Re: NeWS and X

From: [email-masked] (Sunny Kirsten)
Date: Tue, 19 May 87 01:03:11 EDT

Date: Sun, 17 May 87 10:41:15 PDT
From: [email-masked] (Sunny Kirsten)
Subject: Re: NeWS and X

I'll agree with Mike O'dell's observations about the hassles of
trying to use umpteen control key combinations on the keyboard
with one hand while using a mouse with the other h and... it gets
awkward, and it's a pain to have to remember what all the damn
control key codes mean... whcih is why we invented mice and menus
in the first place.  So it seems obvous that the path to an easy
to learn, remember and use mouse/window interface, is to use lots
of EASY to use menus... and by using a 3 button mouse rather than
a one button mouse, this becomes easy to do.  While I can't trace
my usage back to Xerox PARC stuff, I've used a Lisa since before
they came on the market, I've used a XEROX star, and a Sun Microsystems
workstation, and I've got both a Lisa and Mac+ sitting in my home
office... in fact now typing on the Lisa to enter this... and it's
my opintion that the best windowing interface I've ever used is that
of SunWindows, with the three button mouse.

I started out using the Lisa mouse in my left hand, until I discovered
that Apple had coded all the control key shortcuts for use with the
left hand, while mousing with the right hand... so I had to relearn
the mouse with my right hand to get any editing speed... though it
was of course immediately faster than a non-mouse environment.  Still,
trying to remember the shortcut codes was a throwback to non-mouse
interfaces.  When I finally got my hands on a Xerox Star, I was
appalled to discover their inconsistency between opening and closing
windows.. one function with the mouse, the other with a dedicated
special key on the keyboard!  What stupidity and inconsistancy!

The SunWindows system, ont he other hand, although initially taking
a little longer to get started with, turned out after a little use,
to be the most consistant and fastest and easy to use mouse/window
interface I've ever used... why? because you could do everything from
the mouse, getting enough different menus witht the three buttons, to
implement everything without having to resort back to the keyboard.

I would disagree with mike that a mouse should have only one button.
I've always been frustrated by Apple's decision on this, and really
wich they'd used a 3button mouse.  Their claim was that people would get
confused over which button to use (yeah, I've seen taht on first time
users).  But look at all the gawd-awful control key combinations they've
had to resort to to get speed-up shortcuts to become effecient in using
the system!  They're a pain to remember, and just as confusing in the
long run, if not more so.

				Sunny
--
Sunny Kirsten
Astral Consultants
(415)457-7555
POB 459
Forest Knolls, CA 94933
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