Wide Screens Take Over
The trend toward widescreen displays on laptops doesn't make sense to me. Business users spend the most time on documents that are longer than they are wider, spreadsheets notwithstanding, yet displays are going the other way to the 16:9 resolution.
Worse, the screens are actually getting shorter. My 14" T60 has a resolution of 1280x1024 (SXGA, 5:4). The the 14.1" display on the base model T61 has a resolution of 1280x800 (WXGA), more than 200 pixels shorter than mine. Unfortunately, all new ThinkPad T models have the wide screen; in fairness, some are taller than 1024.
This is no doubt the result of the booming HDTV market, which drives down the price of all LCDs in the 16:9 form factor.
The other bad thing about wider screens is bigger laptops overall. The smallest T61, with the 14.1" screen, is an inch wider than my T60. The 15.4" T61 is another inch wider and won't fit in the excellent and expensive rolling case I've been using for the past 7 years.
I wonder when it was that traveling business users stopped getting the features they need?
July 6, 2008
XP Ends its Long Run
The last day of June, 2008 is the last day of life for Windows XP. Many thought Microsoft would relent and continue its availability; no dice.
XP will still be available in the "Vista Downgrade" program. I don't consider this a viable alternative.
As of July 1, my recommendation to clients is Windows Vista Business SP1. I'll have more advice here in the near future.
June 24, 2008
What About Mac?
I just wound down an engagement in which I deployed Macintosh systems, mostly iMacs, at a startup client. Except for one Vista laptop, the entire office, both business folks and Web developers, are using Macs.
The bottom line is that work is getting done and most users seem quite happy with their machines.
Nonetheless, a few copies of Windows XP running via VMWare were necessary to run such programs as Microsoft Project and Visio. This adds some expense, albeit only for a few stations. It does put into clear focus the absence of these top-notch business applications from the Mac software portfolio.
For this and other reasons, I bought a Mac Mini for my own use. One of my goals was to test the assertion, strongly implied by Apple's brilliant series of TV ads, that "Macs just work" and, of course, that "Vista is terrible." I spent five intensive days working on the Mini, during which time I encountered system crashes and the Mac's refusal to return inserted CDs. There were other small annoyances.
During that same period, I experienced no problems with my XP Pro laptop or my wife's Vista laptop.
June 23, 2008
How Wide the Web?
When designing Web sites for my clients, I am often asked how wide the site should be.
The answer is that the site should be as narrow as necessary to accommodate its visitors without causing a horizontal scroll bar to appear in the browser when the site is viewed at maximum browser size. Why? Because horizontal scrolling is much more inconvenient for the user than vertical scrolling. The question thus becomes what kind of equipment do your visitors have?
Many sites still assume that visitors may be using a display as small as 800x600 pixels. Based on my own observation of my clients' sites, such visitors account for 5% or less of the total. I expect this to drop to 3% next year.
Stated another way, 95% or more of the visitors are using a display whose width is at least 1024 pixels. The most common display size is still 1024x768, but widescreen displays are gaining very rapidly.
Therefore, I design Web sites for a width of just under 1000 pixels. I test all my Web site designs in the major browsers on both Windows and Macintosh to make sure horizontal scrolling will not appear on displays 1024 pixels wide.
March 15, 2008