No, you fucking cretin, overall usability is irrelevant to whether a specific feature is good or bad. Saying “autistic kids can use Word” has nothing to do with whether, specifically, the Blob is a good idea or not. No, the Blob is not so bad that it offsets the Ribbon’s improvement, but that still doesn’t make it good. Can’t you understand this? I’ve said it about five times. Are you going to continue ripping my sentences out of context until they cry?
[ul][li]Within the context of Word, I was specifically criticising the Blob.[/li][li]I was using the dialogs (and other things) as an illustration of this criticism.[/ul][/li]If you can’t grasp these mindbogglingly simple points, there is no hope for you.
And I was not wrong about Office using non-standard API calls. Here is what Office and Notepad look like under XP. Notepad. Office. Yes, they are very similar. No, they are not the same. And if you look closely at the corresponding ones you linked, they’re not exactly the same either; it appears that they’ve just redesigned the dialog that Office uses under Vista so it looks much more like the common dialog. This is a good thing, obviously, but it still doesn’t invalidate the point that Microsoft produces a wide array of programs with a wide array of inconsistent common elements, to which your sole response has been this dribble of piss:
Who called them that, you insufferable berk? Was it me? No, it fucking well was not. For someone as keen as you are on pedanticising the words of other people to piffly death, I’d’ve thought you’d have noticed that a completely different person said that. If all this time you were arguing about whether Microsoft are the spawn of Satan, it would’ve been nice if at one point you’d said, “I don’t think Microsoft are the spawn of Satan.” Then I would have said, “no, neither do I,” and we’d have gone home and drunk a beer, maybe caught some TV, and I wouldn’t be picturing you sitting in front of your computer with your underpants on your head, inserting Q-Tips up your nose to the hilt. Sadly, it seems you’re as incapable of articulating what you’re on about as you are of understanding what other people are on about. I’d say it’s just the cross you have to bear, but you seem completely unaware of it, so instead it’s me bearing it.
I don’t think Microsoft are the spawn of Satan. I like Microsoft, and a lot of their products. But strangely, I’m able to distinguish between criticism of a specific feature and hatred of an entire company and all its works. I dunno, my brain just works like that, I guess. It’s what comes of seeing computers as tools, and not extensions of my personality. I’m able to appreciate Apple’s approach to UI consistency (imperfect though it is), I’m able to appreciate Microsoft’s universality, and Linux’s openness and infinite customisability. In recompense, when I make a mild comment about one element of one product of one company, some dickhead jumps down my throat as if I’d pissed on his granny. C’est la vie, I guess.
Anyway, this is my last word on the subject; I really can’t believe I’ve gotten suckered into arguing with someone this ineffably thick. Before I go, though, I’ll give you some pointers for your next post. I reckon if you start taking individual words out of my sentences and composing them into completely new ones, you’ll be able to have even more fun than you’ve already had. You should be able to prove that I love Hitler, rape kittens and appreciate the collected works of Michael Bolton. Actually I’ve made it really easy for you by writing that:
Incriminating stuff; knock yourself out.