Again: Design

SchiHa · Post by **SchiHa** » 2004 Jul 30, 15:49

Hello,

I tried out the Lite version and it did not give me what I knew from Old 2xExplorer. So I purchased the professional version, because everything was said to be customizable.

It is not. There are many new options I still have to explore. BUT: 2 things make me crazy.

Why isn't it possible to add the old Drives toolbar again? You canNOT construct it by yourself. With respect to ergonomics I think it is extremely important.

What is still annoying: When I open the program I want to see at once how many KB the files and folders in the active pane occupy. This is shown only after performing a CTRL-A. Again: Ergonomics and a maximum of information without a minimum of mouseclicks or keystrokes is what makes the difference.

Nikos, give your customers a chance to really love your software!

Rather disappointed...
Hartmlut

Post by **nikos** » 2004 Jul 30, 16:45

Hartmlut

those "annoyances" are present both in the pro and lite version
i like to call them design decisions instead

the pro version can simulate a drivebar through bookmarks, see:
http://forum.zabkat.com/viewtopic.php?t=15 ... t=drivebar

there's no solution for file size other than ctrl+A

fgagnon · Post by **fgagnon** » 2004 Jul 30, 18:33

Hartmlut,
Why did you purchase a license when you had a 21-day full-function trial period to evaluate the product? (or were there other advantages that outweighed the features you miss from 2x?) -- just curious.
Fred

pmike · Post by **pmike** » 2004 Jul 30, 21:01

...oh and nikos, some other things about x2 that just absolutely drives me nuts are these:

1. x2 doesn't wake me up in the morning
2. x2 doesn't brush my teeth (I have to do this myself)
3. x2 doesn't doesn't put my bagel in the toaster (this causes wasted steps)
4. x2 doesn't write my programs for me (sigh)

5. x2 doesn't <fill in the blank/>
6. x2 doesn't tuck me in a night (my mommy does this, so its ok)

SchiHa · Post by **SchiHa** » 2004 Jul 31, 10:56

[quote="fgagnon"]Hartmlut,
Why did you purchase a license when you had a 21-day full-function trial period to evaluate the product? (or were there other advantages that outweighed the features you miss from 2x?) -- just curious.
Fred[/quote]

Hi Fred,

I did so because I used 2xExplorer already rather a long time. It is a fine piece of software and runs on all my PCs and Laptops. It helped me to get away from other software I had before and for which I would have had to pay money every year again.

But the main reason is that using one's software for such a long time for free gives me the feeling to have to give something back. I did not donate any money, but I thought that buying the xplorer2 pro version would be quite a reasonable way.

Unfortunately, Nikos is a litte "sticky" with respect to some of the wishes his customers have.

Regards, Hartmut

SchiHa · Post by **SchiHa** » 2004 Jul 31, 10:57

pmike wrote:...oh and nikos, some other things about x2 that just absolutely drives me nuts are these:

1. x2 doesn't wake me up in the morning
2. x2 doesn't brush my teeth (I have to do this myself)
3. x2 doesn't doesn't put my bagel in the toaster (this causes wasted steps)
4. x2 doesn't write my programs for me (sigh)
5. x2 doesn't <fill in the blank/>
6. x2 doesn't tuck me in a night (my mommy does this, so its ok)

Really, great message, Mike...and so very helpful...

SchiHa · Post by **SchiHa** » 2004 Jul 31, 11:03

nikos wrote:Hartmlut

those "annoyances" are present both in the pro and lite version
i like to call them design decisions instead

the pro version can simulate a drivebar through bookmarks, see:
http://forum.zabkat.com/viewtopic.php?t=15 ... t=drivebar

there's no solution for file size other than ctrl+A

Nikos,

it's really a pity that an "design decision" is more important than usability or customers' satisfaction. But maybe this is a question of one's own philosophy... Nevertheless: a great piece of software.

Regards,
Hartmut

Post by **nikos** » 2004 Jul 31, 11:21

if it's any consolation, the drivebar and user-selectable status bar panes for various tasks (including total size) are in the development list. I can't say when they will be implemented though

SchiHa · Post by **SchiHa** » 2004 Jul 31, 12:23

nikos wrote:if it's any consolation, the drivebar and user-selectable status bar panes for various tasks (including total size) are in the development list. I can't say when they will be implemented though

That's another reason why I like your software!
Hartmut

JRz · Post by **JRz** » 2004 Jul 31, 17:04

SchiHa wrote:[...]That's another reason why I like your software!
Hartmut

What is the reason? That you have to wait an undetermined time to get what you want?

I presume you mean, that even though you call Nikos 'sticky' with regard to user requests, you like the fact that Nikos in reality listens very well to his 'customers'! And that's even true for the ones that don't pay any money!

With regard to Nikos' 'stickyness': I think it is very sensible of him to not implement any idea right away just to satisfy the feature hunger of some user(s)! This way X² won't become a monster that quickly (just trying to help you on this one Nikos

)

fgagnon · Post by **fgagnon** » 2004 Jul 31, 21:48

Hi Hartmut,

Thanks for the civil response in the midst of the skeptical flurry.
I asked why you purchased a licence because I did not understand from your initial post whether you had recognized that the free trial period was fully functional, or not.
(You implied another reason.)

Regarding the "annoyances" -
I agree that having a drivebar is useful -- especially since you are used to having the feature from 2x, and probably use it routinely. It is certainly a useful feature. However, as nikos mentioned, he chose to not implement it in the new product in lieu of developing other more important features in his judgement (including reducing the button-clutter on the user interface). You are not the first to complain of missing it; so I suspect implementing for x2 has made it onto the to-do list, and that it will reappear in a future version.
Much the same "reasoning" behind showing folder size immediately upon entering the folder has been mentioned -- it would make the messagebar a bit more "cluttered". But others have also asked for that info to return. Maybe it will, in time.

As Jan mentioned above, and I have also seen, Nikos does listen to his customers, but tries not to add features unless either
a. it is a patently obvious good thing to do, or
b. significant agreement develops on the bbs to convince him to do so (even if he doesn't see much use for the feature himself).

Just how quickly things appear is a mysterious combination of how important Nikos feels it is, how easy it is to implement, and how much time he has to work on it.

So keep the good suggestions coming -- from what I've seen, they will probably be addressed as long as they are constructively stated

(as opposed to simply "not being the same as prior/other product" -- which, by itself, comes across as a whine

)

Fred

JRz · Post by **JRz** » 2004 Aug 01, 04:36

Fred, couldn't have expressed it more clearly than that (obviously my post was too short to be that expressive

)

Thanks for taking the time to expand on that

tanger · Post by **tanger** » 2004 Aug 04, 01:02

I would also like the ablily to view the space a folder uses when I am in that folder. The feature that makes the purchase worth it is the stats button that shows you how much space. That alone is worth the price. Keep up the good work. Your software is worth every penny.

champ · Post by **champ** » 2004 Aug 04, 22:39

tanger wrote:I would also like the ablily to view the space a folder uses when I am in that folder.

I agree. This feature is one of the few things keeping me from purchasing the pro version.

Post by **nikos** » 2004 Aug 05, 09:22

i don't get it
what's the advantage having the total size calculated upfront for all folders? -- other than making reading speed suffer?