Quote:
Originally Posted by JSWolf
What I don't get is why so many people are assuming things about Calibre 4.x and getting it all wrong. A good example is assuming that the options were taken away from the viewer.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JSWolf
i have to say that you are incorrect. I'm using a laptop and I also use a Surface Pro 2 and on both, the interface does not take up 1/2 the screen. Besides, once I do what I want/need to do, the interface control go back to being hidden.
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For the first quote, the reason people aren't happy is that the design simply isn't intuitive. Sure if I played around with it for an hour I could probably get used to it and tweak it to exactly how I like it, but 3.48 was user friendly right off the bat and most of the design changes done in 4 could have been done on the same interface as 3.48. For instance there is no need to even re-design the sidebar and put it into a menu system, the sidebar worked perfectly and could just have been made disappearing instead.
In my opinion it's an example of what Don Norman wrote about. If the use of a simple object isn't obvious to many users it's the designer's fault. In the case of doors pushing on a pull door isn't the fault of the user it's the fault of the door designer for not putting a clear handle on the door that indicates the intended direction.
For the second quote. I use a surface pro 6 and I can confirm that when I press the esc key a menu screen popped up that took nearly half the available display up and every option that I routinely use in Calibre was nested in one of the menu items.
My personal opinion is I would like calibre to operate with similar user controls to Abode or Netflix which it used to do. At the current moment 4 operates like a computer game where I am pausing it with esc. In my opinion that is far more jarring and disruptive than having a small sidebar which is why I switched back.
I only commented once I saw I wasn't the only person who disliked the design choices, because design is personal preference and if the old design is determined to be more preferred it will probably be rolled back. It will be interesting to see if a lot of people simple switch to 4 and switch right back.