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List:       kde-core-devel
Subject:    Re: New kwin style update
From:       Torsten Rahn <torsten () kde ! org>
Date:       2000-09-13 3:23:33
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> Actually, I can think of a couple GUI's like that, ie : Photon.
> 
> >
> > Tackat

Photon usually does have 3 buttons on the right (at least in all
screenshots 
I have seen). Where did you see 5 buttons?

The KDE1-style was actually great because it was very nice in terms of
usability. In the KDE1-style the most important buttons which were 
used most of the time were put on the right side (where they are 
fast and easy to reach for right-handed people). And the buttons which 
are being used far less often are on the left side. -- Simple.
Therefore navigating the mouse to the right side was a safe guess
and then you had to make a choice between three items only.
 
If you have to choose between several items the time you need to choose
depends on the number of items -- and this additional time for every 
additional item increases heavily with the number of items. So it 
takes much more time for users to make a choice between 4 items than for
3.

Same applies for remembering (and describing) positions. The more 
items you have the harder it becomes to remember (/describe)

- which items are there and
- how they are arranged

For three buttons you can still remember(/describe) positions
in terms of "left", "middle", "right" -- easy.
from 4 buttons on you have to do things like
"it's-the-second-button-from-the-right" (or was it the 
"second-button-from-the-left"?).

Well if you can't resist from putting everything on the right then 
put at least a seperator between (Help/) Sticky and the other three
buttons.

Tackat

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