OneAndOneIs2

Fri, Jun 08, 2007

Pursuing the mythical Windows

I'm so sick of people saying that Windows is so user-friendly and intuitive and anybody can use it - when my experience is that just about everybody still has problems with it.

At my place of work, we use Windows XP SP2 - i.e. a modern widely-used Windows version. Everybody I work with has at least a science degree, possibly MScs and PhDs as well. Ages range from early 20s to just shy of retirement. In other words, a group of intelligent people in a wide range of ages. Everybody should be able to use Windows without any issues, if the Linux sucks because not everybody can use it for everything brigade have a leg to stand on.

So, this post recurs, and the list below grows. All entries are genuine problems that people have asked me (as resident geek) to solve.

Problem	Solution
"Printing from word keeps defaulting back to double-sided"	Change "Duplex" to "Off" in "Start->Settings->Printers" rather than Word's "Print properties"
"It keeps putting in really big spaces"	Switch format from "justified" to "align left"
"I've lost my 'print' and 'save' icons in Word!"	Right-click on toolbar area, activate "Standard" toolbar
"I've lost all my icons and Start menu"	Explorer had crashed, taking the taskbar and desktop icons with it. I could offer no better solution than "Reboot"
"How do I disconnect my iPod which I plugged in to recharge?"	Point out the little icon with the green arrow and explain the "Safely remove hardware" process. Click on it half a dozen times. Curse Windows for refusing to unmount a device that it's not using and that has had no files written to it, and unplug the damn thing unsafely because XP doesn't have an "lsof" utility.
"Which one do I want, and how do I get it?" following an Excel crash: The original and AutoRecovered versions of a file were listed.	Select the AutoRecovered version, Save As original version.
"I can't delete this comment" from a document that was tracking changes	Right-click on comment & select "Delete comment"
"I can't open this Word document"	Document was a PDF file with a .doc file extension - as the file header stated quite clearly in Word's Preview, I might add...
"I can't save this file, I get an error message" - the filename had multiple backslashes in	Replace slashes with hyphens
"How do I get this link in Lotus Notes as a shortcut on my desktop?"	Copy link, go to desktop, click on existing shortcut, open "Properties", pase new link
"How do I get these paragraphs indented? Tab only moves the top line."	Click and drag the "square" under the "hourglass" on the top ruler.
"How do I stop this table having a grey background?"	Select grey cells, right-click, select "Borders and Shading", switch from grey to white.
An honorable mention: I have a persistent problem with MS Word: When I shut it down, it crashes & helpfully tells me that, because it has crashed, it will now restart	Yell "If I wanted it restarted, I wouldn't have closed it" and log off.
An honorable mention: Our whole office, all 70+ of us, have no network connectivity. Boss phones tech support. He comes over for a look.	On being told every computer in the building is out, he mutters "I'll just check" and makes sure that the boss' network cable hasn't come unplugged.

16 comments • Categories: Omni, Rant, Technology

Comments:

Comment from: TheDoctor [Visitor]

I've never heard anyone say Windows is easy to understand and intuitive. Mostly the opposite. Plus someone who told me that, unfortunately, there was no alternative.

Today I've had to explain how to change language in Word (on a PC in a London-based establishment, the default language was set to UK English) and how to add an option to the menu that appears when you right-click an icon. Now the latter is seriously counter-intuitive. It definitely does not pass the granny test, despite the fact that it makes life easier for unsophisticated users.

Permalink 01/24/06 @ 18:13

Comment from: hari [Visitor] · http://hari.literaryforums.org

There is a difference between user-friendliness and intuitiveness. I guess I really will have to write that article I've been planning for a long time! :)

Permalink 02/28/06 @ 08:56

Comment from: ray [Visitor] · http://lostaddress.org

I've had things like "where do I find Word" (when I recently installed Office 2K3 on my work laptop, I couldn't find the Office apps on the program bar either).

Windows is only user-friendly if you've used it and paid attention since Win 95/98. Otherwise it's just as hard as anything else. Take time to learn either Windows, Linux, OSX or anything and you'll start bemoaning the other systems.

All you need to do is take a little time to learn something.

Permalink 02/28/06 @ 14:16

Comment from: hari [Visitor] · http://hari.literaryforums.org

Dominic, I actually got round to writing that article. Do check it out and give me your feedback.

Permalink 03/01/06 @ 09:54

Comment from: hari [Visitor] · http://hari.literaryforums.org

Hey, how did this article come back on top? :-p

Permalink 03/27/06 @ 05:42

Comment from: oneandoneis2 [Member] · http://geekblog.oneandoneis2.org/

This one comes back to the top each time I add an entry - otherwise it would get rather obscure :o)

Permalink 03/27/06 @ 08:04

Comment from: Alison [Visitor] · http://www.creativehedgehog.com

that disconnect ipod/usb stick/external hardware thing is annoying as.

But I get the same thing with my camera and my Mac.

Permalink 11/08/06 @ 12:41

Comment from: sokuban [Visitor] · http://www.fantasyanime.com

I knew I thought I saw this before.

I personally think Windows is terrible after you learn Linux. I can hardly live in a windows environment without suffocating.

I will admit Windows is easier to pick up. I have the same amount of problems with Windows as Linux but there is a difference, the windows problems are not my fault and the Linux ones are. Generally Linux problems are easier to fix.

The problem is that windows *tries* to do things for you but fails.

Permalink 02/05/07 @ 11:25

Comment from: Andrew [Visitor] · http://andrews.co.nr

Some of those are freakin hilarious :P

Permalink 02/05/07 @ 12:05

Comment from: oneandoneis2 [Member] · http://geekblog.oneandoneis2.org/

> I knew I thought I saw this before.

It re-appears every time I add a new entry.

> Some of those are freakin hilarious :P

Sad thing is, they're all true!

Permalink 02/05/07 @ 13:47

Comment from: BlackNight [Visitor] · http://cosmin.homelinux.com

"I've lost all my icons and Start menu" - Explorer had crashed, taking the taskbar and desktop icons with it. I could offer no better solution than "Reboot".

A faster way is to Ctrl+Alt+Del, this will open Task Manager, and from this point you cand run explorer (or explorer.exe, can't remember).

Permalink 02/08/07 @ 16:17

Comment from: Pramod Ghuge [Visitor] · http://www.pramod7.googlepages.com/orkut

well i came to comment on your mistake that it is neccessary to reboot after explorer crashes, but as now somebody has already offered the solution...
i will now focus on another "Honorable mention" in your article...
Quote: "An honorable mention: I have a persistent problem with MS Word: When I shut it down, it crashes & helpfully tells me that, because it has crashed, it will now restart"

Simple solution :: Again just fire up the task manager (press Ctrl-Alt-Del) and kill process "winword.exe" simple as that!

Permalink 02/09/07 @ 07:13

Comment from: oneandoneis2 [Member] · http://geekblog.oneandoneis2.org/

>well i came to comment on your mistake that it is neccessary to reboot after explorer crashes

Hey, I never said it was necessary - I said it was the only solution *I* could offer. I don't dedicate my life to knowing how to fix Windows when it breaks, y'know.

Permalink 02/09/07 @ 09:29

Comment from: Andrew [Visitor] · http://andrews.co.nr

"I've lost all my icons and Start menu"

-> Ctrl+Alt+Delete, click no Run and type in “exploerer”

"How do I disconnect my iPod which I plugged in to recharge?"

-> Just disconnect it if you’re in Windows XP. The chaos related to USB problems ended in Windows 2000.

I have a persistent problem with MS Word: When I shut it down, it crashes & helpfully tells me that, because it has crashed, it will now restart.

-> This never happens to me (=

Don’t get me wrong – I use Fedora Core for my main OS… but some of your answers are not too good (=

Permalink 02/14/07 @ 23:12

Comment from: Alison [Visitor] · http://www.creativehedgehog.com

that justified one- if you force line breaks justified can be annoying- but in some cultures they love the lines to be the same length- the justified feature means you don't have to learn appropriate syllable splitting for hyphenating! (Spanish/Latin American)

While I've had English teachers complain about the justifying and ask for left align!

So I guess it's a cultural thing.

Permalink 02/15/07 @ 09:56

Comment from: Not Bill Gates [Visitor]

Drive-by quoting...

"Windows is intuitive, if you already know how it works."

Permalink 02/15/07 @ 23:42