News for hackers. Stuff that matters.
Re:HP brings Windows 7 back 'due to popular demand' as buyer... by WiseWeasel on Monday January 20, 2014 @08:06PM (#7092736)
Swipe gestures are a pain with a mouse, because you need to move the mouse to the right spot, click, drag in the opposite direction and then release, requiring a non-trivial amount of effort; and it just feels wrong when you're expected to do so regularly because you know there has to be a better way (like the way it used to work). Decades of desktop UI design focused on "discoverability" also mean that an unindicated need for a swipe gesture in order to access core functionality is frustratingly non-obvious to people experienced with classic desktop interfaces, and these will tend to be people whose advice is requested in purchasing decisions.

Swiping is awesomely natural on a touchscreen, but obviously sub-optimal otherwise. Reliance on a swipe gesture should be avoided in UI design for a mouse/touchpad and keyboard environment, in favor of buttons and menus, and mouse wheel/two-fingered scroll support.

Re:HP brings Windows 7 back 'due to popular demand' as buyer... by Amezarak on Monday January 20, 2014 @08:58PM (#7092935)
If swipe gestures even work with the mouse in Windows 8, I didn't know it and it never occurred to me to even try, though now I'm curious to see what happens when I get back on my laptop. I never even considered trying. You don't do swipes if you have a keyboard and mouse in Windows 8, you use your buttons, menus, clicks, and mouse-wheel just as you suggest. Where did you get the idea that the Win8 interface required gestures?
Re:HP brings Windows 7 back 'due to popular demand' as buyer... by Amezarak on Monday January 20, 2014 @10:14PM (#7093204)
You don't need to swipe, you just move the mouse to the corner of the screen (or use the keyboard shortcut.)
Re:HP brings Windows 7 back 'due to popular demand' as buyer... by WiseWeasel on Monday January 20, 2014 @10:29PM (#7093255)
So you can! Well that's embarrassing. Guess I could try using the thing before I stick my foot in my mouth.
Re:HP brings Windows 7 back 'due to popular demand' as buyer... by WiseWeasel on Monday January 20, 2014 @10:12PM (#7093194)
Opening the Charms bar.