Glenn’s calculators and converters save me time (and have done for around a decade) and pain calculating things my poor brain refuses to comprehend.  I love these tools.

So I was rather pleased when Glenn asked me to let folks reading this blog know that he’s offering his suite at a deep discount to you right on the holiday season.

For a tiny  US $20 – that’s $19 off – Glenn is going to let you have:

• ESBCalc Pro (Powerful Scientific Calculator for Windows)
• ESBUnitConv Pro (Fantastic Unit Conversion Software for Windows)
• ESBProgCalc Pro (Essential Programmer’s Calculator for Windows).
• PLUS he’ll throw in free upgrades as well any new calculators
  that are added to the suite, FREE of charge.

He must be mad – I’m to cheap to be this generous. 

They really are a nice suite and I’m dead serious about how often I use them.  Frankly I’d call them indispensible.  Even my 13 year old daughter – who is showing all the signs of being better at math than I ever was with off the chart results at the end of this year (must be her Mother’s brains, can’t have come from me) is well and truly hooked on the suite.

OK.  The vital link.  Check out the suite here, download the trials, evaluate – but be quick as the offer expires on the 25th of December 2008.

Here’s your link:  http://www.esbconsult.com/calcspecial.htm

**ESB logo is a Trademark of ESB Consultancy.

Disclaimer for the eternally cynical – My interest in posting this is purely that of a friend and to assist a fellow ISV.  I receive no monetary, gratuity, commission or reward for the posting of this article beyond doing something nice for somebody who has certainly helped me over the years..

Scott Kane

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Word also has it that the ribbon will be available in Windows 2007 as a standard control and thus native for use by ISV’s.  I have a feeling MS will extend this widget further in VisualStudio (SP2 has it for VS C++ already).

As I love UI study, and as I’m always keen to examine and consider knew paradigms I’ve been taking a closer look.  If MS are behind this, as they seem to be, in terms of unifying it across the OS GUI then we all need to consider the implications.

There are a log of folks who hate the ribbon period.  But then we get this with nearly every GUI introduction on most platforms.  Even Apple copped criticism for their Unified toolbar when first introduced.

I’m going to say here at the outset that I’m not one of them.  While I’ve taken a cursory look in the past I only recently moved up to Office 2007.  I like the ribbon there, it looks good, it’s functional and it seems to work well in the Office paradigm.

However I do see some issues in respect of UI design and the ribbon.

The pro’s, to me are:

• The control is rather nice for simplifying complex menu structures.
• The control certainly is consistent.
• It seems to be novice friendly.
• It’s certainly shiny. 

The con’s, as I seem them for ISV’s include:

• Some people do hate them.
• Non complex applications (few menu options) don’t really need the ribbon approach in my opinion.
• It’s expensive on screen real-estate.
• It’s awkward for single task and single focus applications.

I’m sure there are more

I’ve read reports from ISV’s ranging from “Our users hated it” to “Our users loved it.”

I’m yet to hear an ISV state their users asked for it.  But perhaps that will change as more people begin to use Office 2007, more applications incorporate the technology and of course when Windows 7 is released.

For my part a product like MixAction generally tends to be a single focus application.  Placing controls in a similar pattern to that currently used in MixAction where the VCR Play, Rewind, Fast Forward buttons are on the toolbar creates a paradox under the ribbon.  Selecting a new tab (short of wastefully duplicating buttons across tabs) means these buttons would be hidden.  Not desirable in an application requiring reflex response, even with the existing use of keyboard shortcuts that so many users invariably fail to take advantage of.

So in this instance, I can’t see a fit for an application of this nature unless something, and I don’t know what, changes in terms of how the ribbon is implemented by Microsoft.  It’s very much a document centric control.

For the MixAction audio editing tools, a separate UI and something I’ll be discussing soon in relation to using Reflection, it may well be a good fit.

So, shiny or not, right now I can’t see any reason or purpose in shifting to the Ribbon paradigm for my own application.  Though I notice an existing competitor of mine has introduced it into their application, kind of.  It’s one of those kludge ribbons from a developer seemingly to stingy to purchase a custom control and it fails – epically in look, feel and implementation IMHO.

Latest Star Trek Trailer

If you’re not aware of it the Star Trek original series franchise is being resurrected for a new movie.  You can check out the most recent trailer below:

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Fellow ISV Andy Bryce is asking on his blog “What do you buy a programmer for Christmas?” and he has a surprising answer.  Check out the article as there’s a good cause behind it.

Scott Kane

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Normally all new and untested software I download is installed into a virtual machine.  It’s gotten to the stage now where you can’t trust anyone it seems.

Occasionally though, I admit, if I know or know of the developer through a trade organization, forum or contact I’ll install into a main machine and not virtual.

I did so tonight and the company concerned should be bloody ashamed of themselves for installing  – hereby known on this blog – CRAPBAR – into Internet Explorer without my permission or giving me the option to choose not to have it installed in the installer or documenting it’s installation in the install doc’s (yes, I actually do read those).

I have Google’s toolbar installed, my own decision.  Why do I need some shady piece of net junk made by a developer of no fixed genetic value as well?

Said Micro ISV got a stern warning and this applies now to anybody who thinks this is OK and yours truly confirms they are doing it.

That warning is this.  Cut it out or I’ll name the product here.

It’ll be labeled “CRAPBAR” along with the company or your own name if not trading as a company and I’ll make sure it gets on page one of Google for your search terms – and that’s no idle threat.

I’ve got nothing against revenue models for people trying to earn a buck, but this is surreptitious and this one is identified as Spyware by some sources.

In addition, this isn’t freeware, this guy is marketing a 30 day trial download, so why the additional crap?

It’s simple.  Just ask the user – OK?

The ISV has seven days to address this by placing a warning in his installer or I’ll name and article him here.  That simple.  Not a move that’ll win me to many friends I might add – but screw it!  What gives a person the idea that they have the right to violate any part of a users system in this manner?

We’ll see if he calls my bluff in seven days.  I have a gut feeling he will. 

Scott Kane

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