From: Aaron Montgomery (agm@PURDUENC.EDU)
Date: 17 Nov 98, 14:17 EST
From: Aaron Montgomery <agm@PURDUENC.EDU> Subject: Re: HIG > Maybe making Alpha more "Mac-like" isn't really the right focus. > I suspect BBEdit feels more "Mac-like" not because of the > interface conventions it supports or doesn't support, but because its > controls have been thoughtfully organized so that they're easy to > understand and use. It's true BBEdit is a simpler program, but Alpha is > not so overloaded with functionality that it couldn't be made just as > intuitive. I think Tom hit the nail on the head. With BBEdit, I was able to start HTML coding in about 5 minutes using most of BBEdit's functionality and what I didn't figure out I could find easily in their manual. With Alpha, I felt like there was a ton of stuff it *might* do if only I could figure out how, I just didnt' have the time to do so (and if I weren't a programmer, probably wouldn't have had the inclination). The second issue which I find is more of a functionality issue. I find that I often need to require Alpha to redraw its screen to get the syntax coloring correct or sometimes my display ends up "off on line" and I need to close then reopen the file. I also found that I could consistently crash Alpha by splitting the window pane (I now avoid that on instinct, does it work now?). I think that non-developers find this stuff REALLY annoying, they want it to work consistently and accurately every time it runs. I think developers are more ready to let that stuff slide if it offers really great functionality. Aaron <finger:agm@purduenc.edu> <mailto:agm@purduenc.edu> <http://faculty.purduenc.edu/agm/>