Windows 7 – Defending the ‘Superbar’ from the Tech Press

So, I’ve kept my mouth shut, waiting to reserve judgment until I’ve had a chance to use the ‘Superbar’ in the Windows 7 beta build myself, and see if I agreed with Paul Thurrott and others in the Tech Press.  Thankfully, I am very happy to say they are absolutely wrong, and I’m going to show you why.  The sad thing is that the Press seems to use a template.  Once one member of the Press says something, they all seem to parrot the exact same complaints.  So, I am going to be referencing Paul Thurrott’s complaints as they seem to be the ones resonating and being repeated out there.

Let’s start with the whining about the ‘shortcut’ and ‘running app’ complaint.  In Windows 7, the taskbar has been simplified (in an excellent way) to take up less real estate and provide more information and functionality to the user in a simpler fashion.  So, what’s the complaint?  “I can’t tell the difference between a running app and a shortcut.”  ??? Ok, so let’s look at the taskbar.

In this screenshot I have 3 running applications, and two shortcuts.  Can you tell the difference?  Of course you can, and this is just a tiny screenshot.  But, let’s just say for the sake of argument that you couldn’t tell the difference between a running app and the shortcut……??? Who cares?  Seriously, think about this logically for a second.  If you want to launch an application from the task bar, what do you do?  You click it’s icon in the tray, right?  Well, what if you have an app that is minimized in the task bar and you want to restore it, what do you do?  You click it’s icon in the task bar.  So where is the problem here?  To quote Paul Thurrott from his infamous ‘easy vs. simple’ post;

“Those running apps and windows can be visible or hidden, and there are subtle changes to the taskbar buttons to note that. You can drag and drop these buttons into any order you want. Looking at my taskbar right now, I see these types of buttons in this order: Shortcut (not running), Shortcut (not running), Shortcut (running), Shortcut (not running), Shortcut (running), Shortcut (running), Shortcut (running), Shortcut (running), Shortcut (running). It’s a mess. It is simple, I guess. But it is not easy to use.”

So, Paul, I have to ask.  How is this not easy to use?  In fact, I would dare say this is about as ‘easy’ as it gets.  I decide I want my media player icon as the first icon in my task bar, I drag and drop it there.  That’s basic Windows 101.  Again, when I want to launch an app or restore a minimized app I do the exact same action as before, I click the icon.  It will also show me how many windows of that app I currently have open, as you can see below;

You can see that I have 3 IE tabs open with the ‘layering’ that it adds.  Seems pretty obvious to me.  You will also notice that the active icon now shows the progress of a download I have going in IE with the green status moving left to right.  I absolutely love this particular feature, and Explorer does the same thing with file copies.  Awesome!

Again from Paul Thurrott’s article;

“But the Windows 7 taskbar isn’t just a mess because of this one thing. No, the Windows 7 taskbar is a mess because the way it works is not discoverable (i.e. it is simple but not easy). You can do awkward and undiscoverable things like click and drag upward on a button for an active window: This displays the Jump List, a key new feature of Windows 7. What the heck is that? Who would ever do that, other than by mistake? Is that really how we expose new functionality in Windows 7? Yes. Yes, it is. (You can also display a button Jump List by right-clicking, another unnatural action for taskbar buttons, though that one is arguably more easily learned because we do do that elsewhere in Windows.)”

Ok Paul, at this point you’re just reaching.  The normal, NATURAL way to bring up the ‘jump’ menus is to RIGHT CLICK THE ICON, which is the way that Windows has ALWAYS been.  If you want alternative menu options for something, you ‘right click’ it.  That’s how windows has ALWAYS been, and obviously will continue to be.  So, I honestly can’t see how you consider this an ‘un-natural’ action?  It’s pretty obvious you just wanted to have SOMETHING to complain about with Windows 7 and that you’ll skew things to make a point.  The ‘left click and drag upward’ action to bring up the ‘jump list’ is NOT, I repeat, NOT the default method they designed for bringing up the jump menus.  It’s the ‘right click’ option.  You know this Paul, but instead you push that to the bottom just so you can try to make your point.  The ‘left click and drag up’ is a NEW interface type for Windows 7 based on gestures.  Remember, Windows 7 is designed with ‘touch’ in mind, and when using a touch screen, dragging up a menu is a more natural and intuitive method than just holding your finger depressed over the icon for a period of time to simulate the ‘right click’ action as is the case in every Microsoft OS previous to 7.  So, using a new feature (designed for touch) to try and discredit the new interface when the standard interface rules still apply just smells of desperation to find something to complain about.

Paul’s next complaint I have not even seen happen.  “Another weirdness. When an application shortcut is “pinned” to the taskbar, it disappears from the Start Menu Most Recently Used (MRU) list.”  (This is the items on the left of the XP forward start menu.)  In Windows 7, Firefox doesn’t appear in the Start Menu because I’ve pinned it to the taskbar. So … how do I open a new Firefox window?……Well, I could use Firefox of course. But how do I do it from the shell? Here’s how: I have to somehow make the existing Firefox button’s Jump List appear and then choose “Mozilla Firefox” from the list. This is bad form for many, many reasons:”

Firefox would STILL be in your Start Menu.  Granted you would have to find it in the actual start menu listing and not in the recently used list, but it’s still in the start menu, and that’s not the only way you can do it.  Simply ‘right click’ the icon for the already running Firefox app, then click ‘Firefox’ from the jump menu.  Instant new instance of the app.  Again, a pretty simple, decades old interface interaction of Windows.  Again from Paul;

“It can and will change. Right now, Mozilla isn’t modifying the Firefox Jump List, so this app gets the default list. But Mozilla will change it in the future. And then the way to open a new window will be different for every application. So much for muscle memory. And I can prove it: In Firefox today, the “Mozilla Firefox” choice is the bottom one on the list. But in IE 8, where Microsoft has in fact modified the jump list, the “Internet Explorer” link, which opens a new window is—guess where … go ahead, guess—that’s right, it’s the top item in the list. Way to go, Microsoft. There’s nothing like inconsistency.”

So, first off, we can never add a new feature to an OS because older applications won’t be able to take advantage of it.  That’s a great argument.  Second, Paul is incorrect.  The application launch option is always at the top of the ‘basic’ menu in a jump list.  In Firefox, they don’t have any additional options for their jump menu so the launch application option is at the very top of the jump menu.  In IE, they have additional options so there is a bar separating the basic menu options from the advanced (or app added) options.  The consistency is still there, the launch application option is still at the top of the basic menu.  See the screenshot below;

In summary I am seeing a disturbing trend in the press today.  They seem to feel the need to ‘create’ news, create a ‘need’ for themselves.  Windows 7 and the ‘Superbar’ are fantastic, huge advances in the Windows UI and should be applauded.  Yes, there is change, and anytime there is ANY type of change you will have some users who don’t like it.  Those in the Press look for these opportunities to blow the possible ‘issues’ with these advances way out of proportion just so they can seem relevant and needed by the readers.  My concern is that, unfortunately, pre-conceived notions about an OS will really alter a user’s experience with an OS.  This is the same thing that happened to Vista.  Long before Vista’s launch or general use, the Tech Press put this perception in the general users mind how horrible of an OS it was.  This is really pointed out by the ‘Mojave’ experiment which showed how preconceived notions prevents users from even giving the OS a shot.  What’s even more telling is how the press attacked this experiment because it truly showed how manipulative the press is.

All I can say is Microsoft, you have a fantastic advancement here, don’t kill your vision because of a couple of complainers.  To everyone else, use Windows 7 for yourselves and be your OWN judge.  Don’t let the Press’s preconceived notions prevent you from truly enjoying a great new UI advancement.

So, what do you think?  Once everyone get’s their hands on Windows 7 on Friday, please come back and post your thoughts about the ‘Superbar.’

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