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My Turn is Low End Mac's column for reader-submitted
articles. It's your turn to share your thoughts on all things
Mac (or iPhone, iPod, etc.) and write for the Mac web. Email your
submission to Dan Knight
.
Yesterday I wrote about replacing the
graphical user interface with something more universally intuitive.
Several ideas have since occurred to me about GUIs and their
potential replacements.
For the record, I am not a Unix lover. I appreciate its power and
speed, but I still get a headache thinking about how it actually
works, and how its components (such as X-Windows) have superseded
superior technologies such as NeWS.
I use Mac OS X as my everyday OS, alongside SGI IRIX and Yellow
Dog Linux, so, love it or hate it, I've had to learn a lot about
Unix. Mac OS X has addressed a lot of my grudges against Unix,
especially by dispensing with the X-Window system, which is the
computer equivalent of emptying a truck load of molasses into your
car's engine. I still prefer SGI's hardware, but for everyday use,
the interface is the computer, and though IRIX is clean and has good
plug and play, it still requires knowledge of the command shell.
The big thing that Mac OS X gets right - that most other Unicies
get wrong - is configurability. All computers should have three
basic levels of configurability. Firstly, very little for the
neophyte. This would be akin to the Classic Mac OS, which allows
little more than minor cosmetic changes.
It occurs to me that if we are to see new interfaces developed for
pervasive computing, that we'll see this sort of permanent, "nonuser
serviceable" interface. However, many of us want to delve deeper, and
this is where the other two levels come in. Mac OS X allows us
to do so by the use of "Advanced" tabs.
Most of us are satisfied with this, but for real tinkering you can
call up a console. Now, I'm not saying that the command line is the
best way to do this, but at least you can really take control. Of
course, there's no reason why this kind of configurability couldn't
be offered in other forms.
Traditional Unix-based OSes and pervasive computing interfaces
stand at opposite ends of the spectrum. Unix offers ultimate
configurability, new interfaces will offer ease of use. As a user, I
don't want to be locked out from the system - that's why I don't own
an information appliance. On the other hand, if I didn't have to
learn how to use Unix, I wouldn't have. I shouldn't have to
choose.
So Steve, if your listening, as far as the GUI goes, you got it
right with Mac OS X. Make sure you get it right with the next
big thing....
Share your perspective on the Mac by emailing with "My Turn" as your subject.
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