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Old 03-14-2006, 04:19 PM
alx alx is online now
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Join Date: 01-21-2005
Posts: 37
I think we need to distinguish between features in terms of abilities and features in terms of items on a menu list; the former are the ones we, the users, keep and will keep asking for; the latter are what we usually get, but not necessarily the best solution.

Let me give an example: modern cars have an incredible number of features, but most of them are discretely integrated and don't get in the way. Airbags will appear automatically, when required; a microprocessor may control the air conditioning but you will never need to program it; another may control the ABS, but you will only need to hit the breaks they way you are used to.

This kind of discrete integration is a characteristic of mature technology; in the software field, bloatware signifies immaturity.

Even Microsoft has realised this; Office 12 will have much fewer commands than previous versions. Their research showed that most new features requested by users were already there, but users didn't notice. So Office 12's commands will be different; they will be results-oriented; i.e. rather than manually setting formatting attributes, you'll choose from previewed formats and the program will set the attributes for you. Less is more, but it's the kind of less that counts.

In that sense, I am often pleasantly surprised by Kinook's approach to UR development; I find that the program keeps building power following a well thought-out plan and users' suggestions, but this power is under the hood. New features are added with little impact on the number of menu items.

Take importing; underneath the intuitive drag-n-drop, there is a lot of intelligent processing, but you'll probably never need to think about it. In this thread http://www.kinook.com/Forum/showthre...=5041#post5041 Kevin proposed a solution that demontrates UR's versatility through its template "object-oriented" approach.

All I can say is "well done"!

alx
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