[MCQ]

I found this amusing.

http://news.com.com/Novell+hopes+its...l?tag=nefd.top

Novell on Thursday unveiled the features that will be available in the next version of its Linux desktop product--Suse Linux Enterprise Desktop--which the company claims will be more usable than any other desktop product on the market. "We have made a big investment taking the Linux desktop past everybody. The usability work we've done is not to reinvent Windows, but to reinvent a better desktop," Greg Mancusi-Ungaro, Novell's director of marketing for Linux and open source, told ZDNet UK on Wednesday. "When Microsoft Vista ships it will catch up to us in a number of areas, but we'll enjoy six months where Novell's Linux desktop is in the lead," he said. The Suse Linux Enterprise Desktop (SLED), which will be available beginning this summer, is a "big change for Linux" as it is now suitable for all enterprise users, according to Mancusi-Ungaro. "Up until now the Linux desktop has primarily been deployed in specialized circumstances--as a fixed-function workstation or as a transactional desktop," he said. "Now, for the first time, we can tell you with confidence that it can be deployed for general office workers."

Near the end of the article they mention that Novell's done all sorts of usability tests and have a site posted with results and updates. So I visit the site.

http://www.betterdesktop.org/wiki/index.php?title=Main

Looking at their test data, the scores seem to be mixed. Good overall, but nothing outstanding.

The login test was interesting... apparently some usability genius thought that presenting the input boxes for username and password on separate screens, with no way to see them simultaneously, was the best way.

Videos of many of the test setups are there for viewing, to see the usability study in action.
http://www.betterdesktop.org/wiki/index.php?title=Data

They're kinda funny if nothing else. The "add new user" test was interesting. Subjects 2 and 24 didn't complete the task at all, but somehow they rated the experience as 6/10?

Guess Novell will have to go back to the drawing board.

[Wickers]

It's a bit over hyped, I'll agree.

However, Novell has put a lot of R&D into the Linux desktop... and they have been getting some great results. (and some red ink along the way)

I'm looking forward to SLED, I spent a few months working on NLD9 and the spit shine Novell put into it really showed.