MSGID: 1:379/45 cd766bea
 REPLY: 1:379/45 9b68eb56
 TZUTC: -0500
 CHARSET: PC-8
From: mike 


It appears that the Vista disease has struck Encarta.....




On Wed, 27 Dec 2006 09:58:10 +1100, John Beckett
 wrote:

>Sorry I haven't been able to join in the moaning about Vista (I haven't
>tried it), so I thought I would whinge about something else that's really
>been bugging me for a while.
>
>While cleaning up, I found I had a "Microsoft Encarta 97 World
Atlas" CD
>that I had never used. Nervously, I installed it. Excellent product.
>
>However, there are some rough bits in Encarta 97 atlas, so I thought I
>would buy the current Encarta 2006. OMFG!
>
>Area occupied by Encarta 97 atlas: 93% of screen
>Area occupied by Encarta 2006 atlas: 58% (42% for GUI!)
>
>The designers have really gone mad on Encarta 2006. When looking at the
>atlas, instead of a simple menu that anyone can understand, there are
>stupidly large icons to change the type of map. It takes SEVENTEEN clicks
>to scroll through the list of icons!
>
>I suppose that some people (babies? idiots?) find the icons more
>attractive, but they are so painful to use that you've forgotten what you
>were trying to do by the time you work out what icon you want.
>
>I have realised by now that Encarta is intended for kids. Take the "Visual
>Browser" for example. When you look at an article, there is a REALLY
>STUPID animation on the screen with zero content. If you give in and click
>"take the tour" it shows a very attractive whirling ring of icons. It's
>very clever, and my heart bleeds when I think of the programming effort
>required to produce this nonsense.
>
>Anyway, my nomination for the 2006 GUI Madness award is Encarta 2006.
>
>BTW I use Google Earth and Google Maps and Wikipedia - they're great.
>
>John

--- BBBS/NT v4.01 Flag-5