[sugar] Mini-Conference Proposal: Toolbars & Tabs

[Benjamin M. Schwartz]

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Greg Smith (gregmsmi) wrote:
| Thousands of hours of teacher training have already gone in to the
| current XO deployments. Any dramatic change to the look and feel of the
| GUI will largely negate that.

I strongly disagree; indeed, I feel precisely the opposite.

The classic case is the arrival of Windows 95.  Windows 95 used a
completely different GUI metaphor from Windows 3.1 (the preceding
version).  Absolutely everything was entirely different: the multitasking
metaphor, the launch metaphor, the nature of the window management, the
desktop metaphor... all completely new.  The interface bore no resemblance
to the previous version.

Windows 95 sold millions of copies, and was a breakthrough sales leader
for Microsoft.  I heard endless glowing reviews of the interface.  I never
heard anyone complain that they had to relearn everything.  In part, this
was because the applications had not changed greatly.  The same would be
true in our case: redesigning Sugar does not change which Activities it runs.

Perhaps, in the intervening decade, first-world computer users have
convinced themselves that they cannot adapt, but they are wrong.  Humans
are very adaptable.  A teacher who has learned one version of Sugar will
not have to spend more than a few days or hours with the new version
before understanding it.

I strongly encourage the Sugar team to choose a "legacy free" philosophy.
~ The user interface should be improved whenever it is possible to do so.
Changes to the underlying system that break existing Activities should not
be avoided either; the Activity developers will make the necessary
changes, as we have been doing all along.

Ultimately, this is a moot point.  Major changes to Sugar, even after the
current redesign, are necessary, and they are coming.  They include
pervasive chat, bulletin boards, buddy groups, new datastore, and other
major improvements.  I look forward to their implementation.

- --Ben
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