Comments on: CLOSE THAT WINDOW!

By: OddThinking » Pursuing other Puzzles

OddThinking » Pursuing other Puzzles — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 02:14:53 +0000

[...] on my logs, the answer is horrifying. While the CLOSE THAT WINDOW! article had a brief spurt of fashion, the Pursuing Sudoku with Pseudo-code article remains the [...]

By: OddThinking » iTunes and I

OddThinking » iTunes and I — Sun, 30 Dec 2007 10:59:21 +0000

[...] user interfaces, I do have a strong grasp of the basic concepts of documents, folders and files. I get vocal when other media player applications don’t follow the basic [...]

By: Adrian

Adrian — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 10:20:10 +0000

Of course, you are absolutely right. ALT-F4 is the easiest way to close an application, and I often use it – especially if I happen to be using the keyboard, rather than the mouse, at the time.

Alas, in Windows Media Player 11, even that doesn’t work!

By: 4m

4m — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 23:45:58 +0000

Yay! Let’s play “Find That Button!” I bought a new laptop and encountered the AvRack for the first time. The ugliest skin of all times. I’m sorry, but it breaks all esthetical rules! I don’t understand why somebody would make such a s(k)in! A blank gray box would be more obvious, so the only reason I can think of is some sadistic geek. Is it supposed to be the punishment for using Windows?

So, ARE there any other skins?

By: OddThinking » Happy Birthday OddThinking

OddThinking » Happy Birthday OddThinking — Sun, 09 Apr 2006 14:05:49 +0000

[...] First Post – it still remains one of my favourite posts. I wish I could still write them like I could in the old days. [...]

By: OddThinking » Settling Up the Tabs

OddThinking » Settling Up the Tabs — Tue, 28 Mar 2006 08:19:30 +0000

[...] Unsurprisingly, old-school Windows users like me try to close a tab by closing a window. Finding the “close tab” icon hidden halfway along the tab bar is still unnatural to me. [...]

By: girtby.net » Blog Archive » Ripley’s Design It Or Not

girtby.net » Blog Archive » Ripley’s Design It Or Not — Sun, 08 Jan 2006 11:40:22 +0000

[...] Now we’ve all used imperfectly designed software over the years, but have you ever seen a user interface metaphor abused so badly? Believe it or not, the “play” button actually starts a virus scan of, well, something. The eject button? I have no idea! At least the close button is easy to find, which is handy when the gag reflex cuts in. [...]

By: Julian

Julian — Wed, 17 Aug 2005 22:47:07 +0000

M. Formby,

Thanks for your story! It was good to hear from you to re-assure me that this isn't just me getting on a high-horse, but it really is a usability issue that affects people. Thanks again.

John,

Of course, you are absolutely right. ALT-F4 is the easiest way to close an application, and I often use it - especially if I happen to be using the keyboard, rather than the mouse, at the time.

However, like many keyboard shortcuts, it is not widely used by a naive audience. In the parody, above, I mention ALT-F4 in passing:

And remember: If you resort to ALT-F4, or any other keyboard combination that a majority of users are unfamiliar with, you will hear this sound... [Sound Effect : Wah-Wah-Waaaah forfeit]

I have no quality evidence to back the claim that a majority of people are unaware of it. Stories like M. Forby's are anecdotal evidence of this and judging by the number of people I see using the menu system to cut-and-paste (rather than using the CTRL-C, etc.), I feel very confident that it is true.

By: John

John — Wed, 17 Aug 2005 16:18:26 +0000

While this is a very amusing, I have to point out that the easiest way to close an application is using the ALT-F4 key combination. I use it almost exclusively on my laptop and often on my desktop, too. It will even prompt you to logout or shut down if the explorer shell is the top level window.

By: M. Formby

M. Formby — Wed, 17 Aug 2005 14:55:55 +0000

Amazingly, you just taught me how to close the RealTek Media Center thing. It's installed on my wife's PC and when she couldn't close it, she called me over, and I couldn't figure it out either. We've just been closing it from the taskbar.

It's amazingly poorly placed.