The OS designed with a sense of humour

[a***@gmail.com]

Anyone ever wonder why the innocuous hibernate/sleep buttons are hidden behind a think sliver of a button abutted to the unforgiving and highly destructive Shutdown/Clobber button? I would expect that it would be immediately obvious what the hazards are of having to skirt around the Clobber button (especially on touchpad driven laptops these days) trying to get at the less harmful options. And of course, no one ever misses the sliver of a button. Because if they did, there would be no verification. It would basically be a nuclear blast on all your open apps.

Anyway. It really makes one wonder how the design process got to where it was to generate these kinds of decisions. Of course, I say that as if it was rationally decided on. There must have been an awfully compelling reason for it because just naive common sense speaks loudly against such a design faux pas.

I think it's good that Microsoft has insinuated itself into corporate culture. That way, their market is assured despite the "design decisions" that are made.

P.S. Looks like this topic has to be slotted under one of the Windows Topics. Gee, none fit. And the most suitable phrase I can use to describe this "issue" cannot be used on a public forum.

[Spalls Hurgenson]

Post by a***@gmail.com
Anyone ever wonder why the innocuous hibernate/sleep buttons are hidden behind a think sliver of a button abutted to the unforgiving and highly destructive Shutdown/Clobber button? I would expect that it would be immediately obvious what the hazards are of having to skirt around the Clobber button (especially on touchpad driven laptops these days) trying to get at the less harmful options. And of course, no one ever misses the sliver of a button. Because if they did, there would be no verification. It would basically be a nuclear blast on all your open apps.
Anyway. It really makes one wonder how the design process got to where it was to generate these kinds of decisions. Of course, I say that as if it was rationally decided on. There must have been an awfully compelling reason for it because just naive common sense speaks loudly against such a design faux pas.
I think it's good that Microsoft has insinuated itself into corporate culture. That way, their market is assured despite the "design decisions" that are made.
P.S. Looks like this topic has to be slotted under one of the Windows Topics. Gee, none fit. And the most suitable phrase I can use to describe this "issue" cannot be used on a public forum.

The shutdown button is on the "Start" button because originally it
wasn't called "start". Back in the mid '90s, when the whole "Start"
button was conceived, it was a "System" button and that was a logical
place to put the controls to shut down the computer.

Eventually, the button was renamed to "Start" because average user
turned on the computer and had no idea what to do next. Renaming it
"Start" gave them a clue about where they were supposed to click.

As years passed, computers added new functionalities - such as suspend
and hibernate - which are themselves variations of shutting down the
computer. It was therefore logical to place them next to the main
shutdown options. Testing indicated that - having trained users to
look in the Start menu to shut down their computer - they were more
comfortable looking there for buttons to sleep or hibernate their PCs.
This meant that additional screen real estate wasn't wasted on extra
buttons that would get infrequent use. Furthermore, as laptops became
increasingly common, it was less likely for users to "shutdown" their
PCs than to simply close the lid, making that functionality less
important.

With Windows Vista and later, you can change the default of the main
"shutdown" button so it defaults to sleep/hibernate/logoff/shutdown,
with the other options hidden. IF you are worried that you are going
to accidentally shut down your PC every time you go to suspend, simply
change the button so it Suspends and never bother with the fiddly menu
except in those rare occassions you want to actually power off your
PC.

http://pcsupport.about.com/od/windowsvista/ht/vistasmpwrbtn.htm

Alternately, you can use third-party apps to get the desired
confirmation (for instance, I believe the ClassicStart shell replacer,
which makes the start menu look like classic Windows XP, also returns
the confirmation dialogue).

But honestly, while I did notice the lack of confirmation when I
jumped to Windows 7, it never caused me any problem and - based on the
lack of uproar over the issue - I'm guessing that most people didn't
have an issue with it either.

[a***@gmail.com]

On Tue, 4 Feb 2014 23:00:26 -0800 (PST), andymhancockATgmail.com

Post by a***@gmail.com
Anyone ever wonder why the innocuous hibernate/sleep buttons are
hidden behind a think sliver of a button abutted to the unforgiving
and highly destructive Shutdown/Clobber button? I would expect
that it would be immediately obvious what the hazards are of having
to skirt around the Clobber button (especially on touchpad driven
laptops these days) trying to get at the less harmful options. And
of course, no one ever misses the sliver of a button. Because if
they did, there would be no verification. It would basically be a
nuclear blast on all your open apps.
Anyway. It really makes one wonder how the design process got to
where it was to generate these kinds of decisions. Of course, I
say that as if it was rationally decided on. There must have been
an awfully compelling reason for it because just naive common sense
speaks loudly against such a design faux pas.
I think it's good that Microsoft has insinuated itself into
corporate culture. That way, their market is assured despite the
"design decisions" that are made.
P.S. Looks like this topic has to be slotted under one of the
Windows Topics. Gee, none fit. And the most suitable phrase I can
use to describe this "issue" cannot be used on a public forum.

The shutdown button is on the "Start" button because originally it
wasn't called "start". Back in the mid '90s, when the whole "Start"
button was conceived, it was a "System" button and that was a
logical place to put the controls to shut down the computer.
Eventually, the button was renamed to "Start" because average user
turned on the computer and had no idea what to do next. Renaming it
"Start" gave them a clue about where they were supposed to click.
As years passed, computers added new functionalities - such as
suspend and hibernate - which are themselves variations of shutting
down the computer. It was therefore logical to place them next to
the main shutdown options. Testing indicated that - having trained
users to look in the Start menu to shut down their computer - they
were more comfortable looking there for buttons to sleep or
hibernate their PCs. This meant that additional screen real estate
wasn't wasted on extra buttons that would get infrequent use.
Furthermore, as laptops became increasingly common, it was less
likely for users to "shutdown" their PCs than to simply close the
lid, making that functionality less important.
With Windows Vista and later, you can change the default of the main
"shutdown" button so it defaults to sleep/hibernate/logoff/shutdown,
with the other options hidden. IF you are worried that you are going
to accidentally shut down your PC every time you go to suspend,
simply change the button so it Suspends and never bother with the
fiddly menu except in those rare occassions you want to actually
power off your PC.
http://pcsupport.about.com/od/windowsvista/ht/vistasmpwrbtn.htm
Alternately, you can use third-party apps to get the desired
confirmation (for instance, I believe the ClassicStart shell
replacer, which makes the start menu look like classic Windows XP,
also returns the confirmation dialogue).
But honestly, while I did notice the lack of confirmation when I
jumped to Windows 7, it never caused me any problem and - based on
the lack of uproar over the issue - I'm guessing that most people
didn't have an issue with it either.

I have a "Power buttons and lid option" item, but no subordinate "Start menu power button". Oh well.

You said that you didn't' notice the lack of confirmation. Does that mean that you are given the option of abandoning shutdown if you have apps open (either Microsoft or not)? Because I don't get such an option. Everything gets clobbered.