I’ve been installing Vista 64 and Ubuntu today, and there’s one thing that really pisses me off: they both assume that you’re using a RH mouse. As does XP, 2000, etc. Why is this? Is it too difficult to let the buttons on the first install screen respond to both buttons and thus detect the handedness of the user?
Since we’ve got some Dopers who work for the appropriate companies, I’m hoping there’s a GQ answer for this.
BTW Ubuntu hit the bit-bucket immediately as it restricted me to VGA via my KVM and I couldn’t override it.
I’m guessing here - I used to do OS design, but that was 20 years ago, and things have changed a wee bit
Microsoft has been under a lot of pressure to simplify installation procedures, especially since Linux can be installed significantly faster than Windows these days. They don’t want to add one more question (are you left- or right-handed?).
An obvious solution would be to auto-detect, as you pointed out. Here’s the issue with that: Let’s say that you’re setting up a computer in an office. You’re left-handed. The computer detects your left-handedness and sets the mouse to left-handed mode. The next right-handed user to touch that computer will think the computer is broken.
Most left-handed users know exactly what to do when a computer is set for a righty. Most right-handed users have no clue what to do when it’s set for a lefty.
I know, it’s annoying and I’m not defending it. But at least I understand why they did it, and I’d bet they did it on purpose rather than just overlooking it.
Not an unsolvable problem: have the login screen similarly detect the user’s handedness every time. Of course, many people don’t use the mouse when logging in, but you should remember the user’s settingsfrom last time.
Just strikes me as odd. There are a bazillion and one inconveniences we lefties have to live with. Mouse buttons aren’t even on the list - you can configure them to be lefty, and it’s not hard to do. It’s all those things that can’t be reconfigured to suit a lefty that annoy me.
And this, friends, is how software bloat happens. Next you’d need a large print option for the visually impaired. Sometimes developers just have to say no, and forcing a default button for something not done very often seems like a reasonable thing.
I’m right handed & mouse with the left using a right-handed button pattern. Works great.
I’m in the software business & I agree with Voyager. On the list of things the installer team is working on, this is about number 14,592, and they only have budget for the top 100 problems before the next release.
