Questions tagged [operating-systems]
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12 questions
1 vote
1 answer
75 views
Is there a specification for OS-default mouse and keyboard text navigation and selection behavior?
On desktop platforms, each OS has a (relatively similar) set of behavior for text input navigation and selection. Some simple things include moving the cursor left, right, up, and down when tapping ...
- 1,734
1 vote
4 answers
687 views
How to display Timestamps which are unambiguous?
Problem: I need to name log files in such a way that the file name is unambiguous to humans. My initial solution was to go from largest to smallest unit with zero padding each unit... ...
- 16k
0 votes
1 answer
185 views
Which platforms support a Hyper modifier key?
I've seen that some platforms support the modifier key Hyper (separate from Ctrl, Alt, Shift, Super/Cmd/Windows modifier keys). While this is not a common modifier, It's available in X11, and I read ...
- 505
3 votes
1 answer
313 views
Have you seen this file-manager/desktop UI pattern anywhere?
so I've been doing a lot of personal research on operating systems lately, partially inspired by my personal projects with Linux. Prior to getting into Linux I didn't really understand the ...
- 173
9 votes
3 answers
2k views
Is there a universally recognizable, OS agnostic glyph for the Super key?
The reason I'm asking is trivial, but I can't come up with a better place to ask. I bought a keyboard that has Super keys with the vendor logo printed on them. I've been meaning to replace them with ...
- 101
94 votes
15 answers
18k views
What is the significance of the start-up sound of a system?
What is the significance of start-up sound of a system, like mobile phones, operating systems etc.? What aspect of user experience does it enhance?
- 1,265
1 vote
2 answers
134 views
Undesired change of application focus by the OS
Some desktop Operating System (OS) do spontaneously switch focus among applications without the user being aware of it. A typical issue is when you are typing in text editor and suddenly another app ...
- 181
6 votes
2 answers
3k views
Are there any natural/reverse scrolling usability studies?
I am wondering whether there are any usability studies out there regarding natural vs. reverse (traditional) scrolling. I tried to google the matter a bit and it seems natural scrolling took off with ...
- 163
10 votes
2 answers
591 views
Are there any Linux distro communities which focus on developing the user experience?
(Background: I have recently been working on open source projects with a friend, mostly assisting with UX. My expertise area is in human factors psychology, so I tend to focus specifically on ...
5 votes
1 answer
736 views
Represent and edit object graphs with standard OS UI elements
In most cases the data that applications, forms and so on work with is relative flat. It means that the objects representing the data are actually nothing more than a collection of key-value pairs - ...
- 183
6 votes
4 answers
1k views
Do nested hierarchies of folders make sense to novice users?
I'm wondering whether there's any evidence that nested hierarchies of folders make sense to novice users. I may be wrong, but I think the complexity or difficulty of finding a file in an organized or ...
- 624
2 votes
1 answer
144 views
Should Operating Systems Hide Sizes of Files/Folders the User is Denied Access to?
If there are files or folders the current user should be denied access to, should their sizes be displayed when the user asks, for example with the ls -l command on Linux or the places the Windows ...
- 123