User interface annoyances

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WINDOWS 11 By Will Fastie The user interface for Windows 11 is changing almost monthly, and sometimes even more quickly. It’s not clear why, nor are t
[See the full post at: User interface annoyances]

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Norio, KarmicVisions, Cybertooth, rc primak, DLivesInTexas, lmacri, fisher75

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Cool! That Lock screen picture is taken near my home town in The Netherlands 🙂

As for Office – the ‘Insert link’ dialog aggravates me – even in the latest Office version, this dialog is still the one introduced in Office ’97.

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Will Fastie

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Another irritation.  In Windows 10 and early Windows 11, when selecting the Notification icon on the bottom right of the taskbar, the ‘Clear All’ option was near the bottom so not too far to move the mouse.  Now it’s right at the very top.  There are so many examples of very poor HMI and changes for no good reason that is ever articulated.

Microsoft needs to employ some quality HMI individuals, from, for example, Apple or the aviation industry.

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Cybertooth, rc primak

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Will,

Exactly why I use Start-All-Back. It hides most of that junk. As for copying files I have the exact same LOCAL account on all my machines and I use the old two copy version of File Explorer. Using the Windows Key + left or right arrow to paste each copy of Explorer to half the screen. Then just drag and drop. When Syncing folders I use the great FreeFileSync program. I donate every year to support the author and get automatic updates.

May the Forces of good computing be with you!

RG

PowerShell & VBA Rule!
Computer Specs

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rizzquery, bbearren, rc primak

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StartAllBack for me, too @RetiredGeek.  If I want to copy a file from one machine to another, I do it through File Explorer, expanding network > PC > Shared folder.  The folders I want synced are synced on a daily basis using a Robocopy command in Task Scheduler.

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.

We were all once "Average Users".

Computer Specs

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rizzquery

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Will Fastie wrote:

The user interface for Windows 11 is changing almost monthly, and sometimes even more quickly.

Only if you use it.  StartAllBack (now on version 3.8.7 if one wishes to update) takes all that away.  As for Spotlight, O&O ShutUp 10 easily takes care of those ads, and not just on Spotlight, but everywhere else in the UI.

StartAllBack is not free (currently $4.99 for one PC, $11.99 for three), but O&O ShutUp 10 is.  Yes, Will, I know you keep Windows “as is” because of your position, but alternatives are easily available for the rest of us.

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.

We were all once "Average Users".

Computer Specs

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Hello All,
Although I am an avid reader of all AskWoody matters, this article compels me to comment about what irks me the most form Microsoft :

a) Lets start with dialog boxes and character sizing :  Microsoft seems to be living in another galaxy.  As screen resolutions increase, these grow ever smaller to the point that on my new 2560 x 1600 display, text in the dialog boxes have shrunk from difficult to read to hardly readable.
When is Microsoft going to give us resizeable dialog boxes and fonts that grow with them ???
AND dialog boxes that remember previous resizings and column widths ???

b) While I labor at this, changing things just for the sake of it is bad ergonomic practice. We all develop muscle memory that gets betrayed each time even unnecessary subtle changes are introduced. e.g.
> changes to menus that require more clicks than before,
> shrinking buttons or sliders that require more accuracy, thus waste time…

Microsoft really needs to reckon that most users look for daily efficiency before some fancy AI. Please, Microsoft, make my daily life easier !
PS At the moment, I am working on nine excel files totalling 1600+ sheets and thousands of links.
I resent the small hyperlink dialog boxes every minute of every day…

Sorry for the rant, but I believe AskWoody – soap box – has far more bearing than my lonely voice in Microsoft’s desert… 🙂

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young058, rizzquery, Cybertooth

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Simon_Weel wrote:

Cool!

That’s nice! Maybe one will be near my place someday. In any event, the image it gone; I’m in Ireland this week.

Simon_Weel wrote:

… this dialog is still the one introduced in Office ’97

Yes, but it works.

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bbearren wrote:

Only if you use it.

As I’ve said often, I use native Windows deliberately. Regardless, I encourage everyone to do what works best for them.

Everyone seems to have their own sense of the way things should have been done. Even macOS is surrounded by a suite of third-party customization apps. But there are fewer, and I note that many of the better ideas end up in the Apple UI, which means Apple’s developers are paying attention.

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WARNING – The “Feedback Hub” App. sounded great to me. I have a ‘Local’ Windows 10 Pro account, after I signed in for the App.  and left some feedback, it SWITCHED me to a synced Microsoft Account! Thank goodness I had a restore point that worked!  So I can add what happened as another ANNOYANCE for me.

 

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Come on Will, why do you think Microsoft will listen to feedback from its customers?
I can give you dozens of examples where Microsoft have changed things, people have complained and just been ignored!

As for File Explorer, you guys should check out Opus Directory (https://www.gpsoft.com.au/)  I have no relationship with them, but discovered it when Powerdesk Explorer died/did not keep up with Windows. Once you have got through the learning curve, you will never want to use File Explorer again!

Thank you to Retired Geek and Bbaren for the StartAllBack idea. That will be my next tweak to that useless pile of junk called Windows 11!

Best
Robb

RobB

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Robb wrote:

Come on Will, why do you think Microsoft will listen to feedback from its customers?

There are well-known metrics about this sort of thing that allow a business to assess responses based on the number it receives. For example, a company with 10,000 customers that gets 100 notes means 1%.  The statistics behind this are based on the nature of the audience and how likely its members are to take the time to send a note. So, 1% might actually represent the feelings of 5% of the customer base. 1% might not be enough for the company to act, but 5% probably is.

For Microsoft, 100 is nearly invisible, no matter what.  But 10,000 notes? That might be a threshold. And who knows what the multiplier might be.

So yes, I encourage feedback, even if the thought in the back of one’s head says, “This is a worthless exercise.” One thing is for sure – if feedback is not sent, it’s a guarantee that nothing will happen.

I have experience with Microsoft in the past, where I was providing feedback on developer tools. I was one of a fairly large group. I can only tell you that the group saw many revisions and enhancements based strictly on the feedback we were providing.

Today’s Microsoft is surely different, but as I say – do nothing, get nothing.

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My biggest infuriation with Windows 11 right now is in File Explorer.

If I right-click on a pinned location in the left-hand Quick Access panel so that I can ‘Open in new tab’ or ‘Open in new window’ the resulting context menu seems to refresh itself for a couple of seconds, populating additional options, and “wobbles” making it more than likely that I click the wrong standard option.

Wasn’t a problem in Win10.

Grrrr!

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richardlawless wrote:

If I right-click on a pinned location in the left-hand Quick Access panel so that I can ‘Open in new tab’ or ‘Open in new window’ the resulting context menu seems to refresh itself

If I am understanding you correctly, these instructions should restore the right click functionality of Win 10. That said, you may want to backup the registry before beginning.

Here’s how to bring back the old context menus in Windows 11 with a Registry edit:

1.Click Search, type regedit, and click Registry Editor.
2.Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\SOFTWARE\CLASSES\CLSID.
3.Right click CLSID > New > Key.
4.Name the key {86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-a509-50c905bae2a2} and press Enter.
5.Right click {86ca1aa0-34aa-4e8b-a509-50c905bae2a2} > New > Key
6.Name the key InprocServer32, and press Enter.
7.Select InprocServer32 and click (Default).
8.Set Value name to default and click the value field, but don’t type anything, then click OK.
9.Restart your computer

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TechTango, Cybertooth

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