I’ve been using Windows Vista since the early beta releases and, for the most part, it’s not given me many problems. I normally leave my computer running but needed to reboot it today. I figured this was a simple task. Surely Microsoft would make this very easy to accomplish.
So I click on the Vista logo in the down in the far left corner and am presented with the following screen. (Click graphic to enlarge)
I believe I’m supposed to select one of the three buttons I’ve gone ahead and labeled. Which of these three buttons would chose to reboot your computer? After a few seconds I chose the prize located behind button #1. But when I mouse over it I receive this message from Microsoft: “Saves your session and puts your computer in a low-power state so that you can quickly resume working”. Well, it sure looked like a POWER button but I guess not. I’m not even sure that that sentence means.
Button #2 actually does what you’d think it would; it locks your computer.
Now here’s where things get interesting. When I click on button #3 I’m presented with a menu filled with another SIX OPTIONS! You’ve got to be kidding. (Click graphic to enlarge)
How many meetings within the Vista group did it take to put this work of art together? I can now do the following:
Switch User – Nice, but not what I’m looking to do
Log Off – Is this like reboot or more like shut down?
Lock – isn’t this what button #2 is for?
Restart – I *think* this is what I need?
Sleep – What?? How is this different from button #1and its “low-power” state of slumber?
Shut Down – Whew! By the time you get this far, you’ll probably want to just shut the thing down!
All I wanted to do was reboot my computer.
I just finished reading an article in this week’s Fortune Magazine where Google design guru, Marissa Mayer, is interviewed. She reviews hundreds of new ideas and is responsible for maintaining the simplicity and ease of use of Google homepage. After watching one review she felt the team had some good ideas but was trying to do too much. She remarked: “If you give users more to choose from, they’ll actually chose worse”.
One of my coworkers has a mantra that he’s done using software products that make him “feel stupid”. That’s how I feel as I try to accomplish one of the easiest task an operating system should handle. Do I really need to decide between nine options when it comes time to reboot my computer.
Microsoft, sometimes you make me feel stupid.
Nordquist Blog 
Your co-worker sounds like a smart guy. I’ll bet he’s a cool dude. Like Sinatra/ James Dean cool. 🙂
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So let me get this straight…You have been using Vista since the early beta days, but are just now taking the Shutdown/Reboot/etc functions for a spin? How exactly did you accomplish this task during that whole try out period, pull the power cord?
Really, this posting screams more of false confusion/outrage/suprise and less of legitimate gripe than the usual postings. Were you equally as confused and made to feel stupid when the word “Start” disappeared from the launch bar? Probably not. Back on your Sept. 19th “Good/Bad/Ugly” posting, the Reboot rant is not to be found in your list, but instead “The interface feels a lot more polished than XP”…Seems it wasn’t a problem back then, but now is such an outrageous design flaw that it deserves a posting all unto itself.
And lets clear something up here, there are not “another” six options, that would imply a total of 8 available. There are 4 additional, plus the two that are in happy button form on the Start, I mean Windows Orb, bar with their textual representations also available in the pop-up menu. Most users probably do not use all of the shutdown options available to them, but instead rely on a few common tasks. This would be where the two happy buttons come in, as quick common tasks that the user can click on. This is in line with the Mayer philosophy of limiting immediately available choices. So you want to Shut Down your machine, or Reboot? Great, the option is still there for you on the side menu. I’d venture it’s even more clear than the textual drop-down menu in Windows iterations past because you can see all our options at once instead of having to arrow down to the one you want. There are no new unfamiliar options available in this menu (even less than XP actually, where’s Hibernate) to become acquainted with, so what if MS chose to put the Sleep function in prime accesibility as a button instead of Shut Down.
To be fair, your one valid note in this posting is how the universal Power icon is misleading in this OS. Traditionally on a consumer appliance this happy symbol, when impacted, would turn off a device all the way. Instead, MS chose to swap its functionality with the Sleep state, and heck, they even tell you as much in a warning before execution. Is this really all that self-esteem altering for you over all the other changes they’ve made to the GUI? Instead of feeling like you’re being insulted by the OS, give yourself a pat on the back, you discovered a change in the OS layout, adapted to how it works now and in the end were able to reboot your machine. That is the magic of the human brain adapting to a new environment. But to come off in such a rant that this will destroy the usability of your PC is just childish MS bashing.
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Professor Counterpoint:
You bring up some good points. Yes, I have been using Vista for some time now and this is the first time I’ve decided to comment on the shutdown options. I wanted to give it some time to see if it made sense to me over time. Sort of like getting used to the “ribbons” on Office 2007. (Hated them at first, like them now).
I like the fact that I can move my mouse over to button 3 and see all my options. But I wish they had put the most used shutdown options a click away instead if three.
I didn’t mean to come off in a rant. Just a bit confused that some parts of Vista are so well done and feel so polished while others have become more complex.
You might be onto something about the adapting brain comment. My brain has been doing a lot of that lately while I relearn Office 2007 and Vista. Probably not a bad thing I suppose.
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