Questions tagged [windows-os]
use this tag for questions related to Microsoft Operating System family.
161 questions
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Is Windows really so broken regarding credentails?
I'm wondering if I missed something huge or has Windows really such a bad UX that you need to type in your credentials everywhere without any (half) automated autofill options?
I'm using an password ...
- 101
3
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1
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108
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What's the purpose of the colour filters in Windows/macOS/Linux desktop environments?
In their accessibility settings Windows etc. have colour filters for colour-blind people, such as people with Red-Green-Deficiencies (Deuteranopia, Protanopia etc.). As a non-affected person, I wonder ...
- 377
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232
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Material Design Best Practice: Should a dialog "Accept" button only get enabled upon changes to a mutable inner state
As far as UX goes, particularly when working within the material design specifications for a Windows app, if an accept/cancel dialog is presented to the user that is intended to mutate some "...
- 101
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2
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126
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Good way to implement secret startup options in a desktop application
I write a Windows application that needs to have some "secret" functionality. For example, the application disables certain parts of the UI if the user is running in a certain environment. ...
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6
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10k
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What is the reason for moving the start button to the middle in Windows 11?
The movement of the "start button" from the corner to the middle seems to be so much hated that it was impossible for me to find any justification for it in a short search, because all the ...
- 2,895
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Placing Destructive Action next to Save option in Mac OS
Some apps (Not all) in mac OS have the menu option Save and Close presented together in the File menu. In Windows, they are (Not all apps) placed far from each other, which makes sense to prevent the ...
- 3,651
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129
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Why does Windows 10 add files to the desktop in columns, but selects files in rows?
When I save files to the Desktop, it automatically stacks them in columns. Meaning, each added file is placed underneath the previous until it reaches the bottom. Then it wraps, and starts stacking ...
- 111
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57
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How to best display Shortcut Keys on Windows app?
I'm building an app which offers a standard workflow: the user selects or enters the name of a Source file, then a Destination file, then sets or generates a password, and hits the Go button to ...
- 215
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241
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Why do software developers frequently put the burden onto the user to install software dependencies?
I can't tell you how many times I've downloaded some software, expected to install it in seconds and be using it immediately, only to be harassed during the installation process to install all kinds ...
- 11
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3
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2k
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What should the Windows "Up" or "Alternate Select" cursor be used for?
I'm working on a Xamarin effect to enable cross-platform custom cursors, and ran into a cursor I have never seen used before on Windows:
In the Windows Runtime API, it's referred to as UpArrow, and ...
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333
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Why do so many software authors insist on forcing their users to do pointless busywork when updating their software?
A lot of software, such as Notepad++, pgAdmin 4 and Bisq, which are all open source and free of charge, with no attempts to install malware/spying in the installer, make it needlessly annoying to ...
- 11
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3
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377
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tab order of help button in dialogs
When I place the help button in dialogs like here:
What tab order should I use? It's obvious that the content panel uses tabindex values that correspond to the reading order which is supported by the ...
- 141
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2
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309
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Why is recycle bin called "bin"? [closed]
I understand why the word "recycle" is used.
I want to know why it is called a "bin".
Does "bin" mean "Binary" ?
or does it mean Trash ???
2
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1
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304
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Custom scrollbars in websites - do they make any sense?
Are custom scrollbars still needed today?
The only reason they were needed so far is because they are fugly on Windows. They are always visible and don't autohide and they just look bad. But I've see ...
- 71
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Good read (blogs, books, articles) regards enterprise desktop application Design? [closed]
We are moving from web application to Window based Desktop application, for enterprise use.
ANy recommendation for reads around enterprise application design (Not web)?
Thanks,
Iris--
- 117
2
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1
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752
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What's the purpose of this flashlight-like effect in windows callendar?
Is there any specific reason for windows callendar to have this flashlight-like hover effect?
If anything it seems to me to be distracting by spreading the area of your current mouse position. Is it ...
- 274
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815
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Is it good practice to remember a user's selection of an option as a new default?
I absence of data to decide a good default, would it be good practice to remember the users last choice in a dialog box and use that as default the next time the dialog box is opened?
Context
I have ...
- 33
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3
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2k
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Why doesn't Windows tell me which program / process is using that specific file I want to delete [closed]
Most of you should already at some point experienced this when using the Windows operating system:
You want to delete a folder, Windows will gladly delete every file except that one file which is used ...
- 99
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2
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1k
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Windows: is there a common hot key to favorite an item?
As per title: I have a list with "favorite" markers for its items, I want to add a keyboard shortcut to toggle the favorite status of an item.
is there any typical keyboard assignment in commonly ...
- 7,638
2
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3
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928
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Conformity vs. complexity (gamepad/controller layout)
I'm porting a VR app to non-VR. In VR you can move your head to look around, which you can't in a Windows app of course. This means that I also have to change the controller layout. Users might use ...
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2k
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Is it better to disable a button and show hovering message, or show a popup message when click on it?
I'm talking about Desktop applications, Windows applications.
In my application, user needs to perform a certain steps, before a button can be clicked. The issue now is that for that button, what is ...
- 354
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148
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Is UI simplification in Microsoft's products for the past ten years motivated by user experience? [duplicate]
Working mostly with Linux, I rediscover from time to time Windows and Microsoft's applications such as Internet Explorer/Edge. I also notice that the trend is not limited to Microsoft, although I don'...
- 3,744
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Is it acceptable to change the context of the application by switching ribbon tabs?
Our application has several "disciplines" for which there are various commands grouped as tabs in a ribbon.
Is it acceptable to automatically change the context of the main window, i.e, what is being ...
- 101
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105
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Redesign the Titlebar [closed]
I was wondering,
is it a good idea to redesign the Titlebar of desktop applications?
What I mean with that is to get rid of the standard Titlebar of boring Windows and redesign the Titlebar ...
- 11
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110
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Ask metadata for each file added to a folder (possibly many files added at the same time)
I have a file sync Windows desktop application that looks very much like Dropbox:
Tray icon is the only GUI.
Users mostly uses the Windows file explorer, but also programs such as MS Word that open ...
- 326
2
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2
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1k
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What is the best way to show a submenu in a tile menu design like Windows?
Recently, I designed a tiles menu and it is responsive, which means it will support desktop, tablet/iPad, and mobile devices.
But I notice it is very hard to have a submenu in it. Can anyone please ...
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2
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2k
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What's the appropriate windows equivalent for command-enter?
I use command-enter key sequences in applications like slack and gmail often and find them very helpful.
I'd like a user to be able to submit a form in a web application I'm building with command-...
- 203
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3
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1k
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Close and minimize button behavior for my desktop application
I am developing a desktop application that will run on user's PC in background(system tray). User won't have to start the app as it starts with the system. Basically this app listens to a port and ...
- 121
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559
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Expectations for checkboxes in (multi-select) list views
I'm currently rewriting some parts of a Windows application and we have a list view (report style) where a user can use checkboxes to select/deselect items.
The issue I'm having is when a user ...
- 113
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111
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Should RightToLeft be applied just to text or to image as well?
I have developed a control in which an image and text is displayed.
In left-to-right mode, the text is located on the left and the image on right side of control:
I have provided support for ...
- 113
1
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2
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135
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Enable/disable buttons for state change actions
I have a (Windows) form that shows an 'order', which can have different states and have different actions to move from one state to the other. I would like to show all possible actions, so the user ...
- 143
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24k
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The best scroll direction | Apple v.s. Windows [duplicate]
The two biggest computer companies in the world use opposite scrolling directions!
When you switch from Windows to Apple, you'll notice that Apple has its scrolling reversed. But maybe it's Windows ...
- 2,650
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333
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Why is this button of the Windows Explorer labelled "File"?
Since Windows 8, the file explorer has this glorified drop-down button:
But why is it called "File"? It allows the user to do operations related to the OS, but has nothing to do with actual "Files". ...
- 251
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103
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Improve appearance of part attributes
I develop a Windows application that manages parts.
On the left I have a tree that groups the different types of parts
On the right top all parts of the selected tree-type are listed.
And when ...
- 459
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111
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Main screen with left and top bars layout
I'm developing an windows desktop application (WPF) and we are using top and left bars to interact with a 3D Map.
My first layout idea is:
I was thinking of changing the Left Side bar to the right ...
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41
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How should we handle sample files within our application?
We have a Windows desktop application used by engineers with a mix of experience levels. We have several sample files that we ship with the program. We can install them more or less wherever we want.
...
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2
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1
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864
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3 Column CRUD layout
At my company we are developing an windows desktop application (WPF) and we are using 3 column as default of our system CRUD's.
In the first column, at the top there is the buttons to add " + " and ...
3
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0
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1k
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Windows 10 desktop-only ux guideline AND show case applications [closed]
I was previously developing Android apps. There we have the very detailed specification of the Material Design AND there are apps like Google Mail, Google Drive, Google Docs, Google Calender that ...
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574
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What's the best way to work with master/details when inside a tabbed control?
I am working on a Windows Forms desktop application and I'm trying to come up with a good design for the whole application.
I am using a sort of vertical ribbon on the left side of the main ...
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4
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643
views
save/cancel dialog from pressing cancel
download bmml source – Wireframes created with Balsamiq Mockups
I'm making a Windows desktop application. It's "too hard" to build in an Undo action.
I have a task that opens in a modal window,...
- 904
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1
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57
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Should I create my own Windows Dialogs to match my application's style [closed]
It's a pretty simple question I guess. I'm fairly new to UI design. I'm generally a programmer, but I've been putting a lot of thought into my most recent project and I think I've managed to make a ...
- 103
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280
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Mandatory icons on the Windows desktop?
I manage IT for a medium-sized VA hospital.
My users seem unable to use the Win 7 program groups effectively. Despite the fact that they need dozens of applications to do their jobs, there is a ...
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1
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186
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Windows 10 UWP: How to display hardware status to user
I'm currently writing a Surface 3 application for Windows 10 UWP. I've scoured the given design documentation but see no guidance provided for something of this nature.
My application communicates ...
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2
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102
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What should Cancel button do with edits made across multiple dialogs?
We have a Windows desktop program where from the Main screen users open a settings dialog (Dialog A). On this dialog they can edit various settings and once finished, they can click OK and changes are ...
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3
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114
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When is sync appropriate while reading a book in ebook reader?
We have ebook readers in mac, window, iOS, Android, etc. Recently, I'm working for the ebook reader for mac, window. Now, when user goes to a bookshelf, or goes into pages of a book, synchronizing ...
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77
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Where to put a single menu item on a Windows form
This is more of a design question than a technical one. I am developing a Windows application with a menu bar and toolbar. I have menu items for the File, Tools, and Help menus, but I have a few other ...
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423
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Name for a component with two lists? [duplicate]
I'm looking for something like a standard name for a visual component, consisting of two lists and arrows between them to swap elements from one list to the other - Is there an OS or framework ...
- 275
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1
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116
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Ubiquity of Side-swipe gestures
In windows, it's a fairly common experience to stumble on an app with a horizontal scrollbar and be forced to click and drag the scrollbar (terrible UX), where as in most Mac devices you can simply ...
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770
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How do Windows users interact with scrolling panes?
Let's say there's a website with a row of gallery thumbnails you can click on. It looks like this:
As a Mac user having always used either some sort of trackpad (built into the MacBook, or a Magic ...
- 210
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746
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Is there a reason behind the dark disabled buttons in Windows 10?
In Window 10 Microsoft has opted to use a rather dark gray background color for disabled buttons. Other disabled UI elements still use the light gray old pre Windows 10 disabled color. To me disabled ...
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