tbolt
From Interface Builder to Windows
Fascinating look at the early iterations of Microsoft’s Interface Builder, which would later become a big part of Windows Doing Windows, Part 2: From Interface Manager to Windows
I particularly liked these excerpts:
Posted on August 29th, 2018I like the obvious analogy of a restaurant. Let’s say I go to a French restaurant and I don’t speak the language. It’s a strange environment and I’m apprehensive. I’m afraid of making a fool of myself, so I’m kind of tense. Then a very imposing waiter comes over and starts addressing me in French. Suddenly, I’ve got clammy hands. What’s the way out?
The way out is that I get the menu and point at something on the menu. I cannot go wrong. I may not get what I want — I might end up with snails — but at least I won’t be embarrassed.
But imagine if you had a French restaurant without a menu. That would be terrible.
It’s the same thing with computer programs. You’ve got to have a menu. Menus are friendly because people know what their options are, and they can select an option just by pointing. They do not have to look for something that they will not be able to find, and they don’t have to type some command that might be wrong.