Excellent article - but will anyone at Microsoft read it???
Although I am by no means an Apple fanboy, I have noticed that Apple has never made a radical change to its user interface so I particularly like point 7. I don't know what it is about Microsoft that makes it feel a need for change when there is no need. Two UIs from Microsoft that I consider real steps backward in terms of usability are the Ribbon Interface in Office 2007 onwards and the Metro Interface. I know it's said that you can't learn from others' mistakes but Microsoft should take a look at Coca Cola's major mistake when they changed the formula for the standard drink. They asked lots of drinkers whether they liked the taste of the new formula; what they didn't ask was whether the drinkers preferred the new to the original. This was only discovered when, after changing over completely to the new formula, millions of Cocal Cola drinkers rejected it and asked why they couldn't buy the original formula. Coca Cola learned from its mistake and reverted to the original formula. Remember, Microsoft, making a U turn isn't a sign of weakness. It's having the courage to admit that a mistake has been made and that you're going to correct it.
