Which computer operating system is best for Aspies
It seems too much like the later systems moved in a more flashy direction. They are full of features for Neurotypical users.
The older systems were designed more in line with spartan logic.
What are your thoughts?
In the Beginning was The Command Line -- Neal Stephenson.
ruveyn
I would say OS/2 warp.
It is a great pity it is no longer being developed but Presentation Manager (it's Object Orientated User Interface - OOUI) is the best thing I have ever used, It was the first OS to ship with voice support especially useful to the likes of me who are dyslexic.
It is still available in the form of eComStation but unfortunately does not have the modern multimedia support needed nowadays (Again the multimedia support it had in the early days greatly excelled anything else available in its day even that of the Macs (there was even a version written for the PowerPC)).
I still use it when I can and it is as rock solid and stable as something very rock solid and stable.
Check out http://www.ecomstation.com/ you can even download a free demo.
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The Mac is the most consistent.
The menus are always in the same place at the top of the screen.
The menus are always in the same order, and the contents of the menus are generally in the same order and similar physical location within the menu. The apple menu contains system-related things. The application menu contains application-related things(like preferences and quit[and Check for updates if the application was written correctly]). The File, Edit, View menus and the ones coming immediately after that contain commands related to files. The Window menu contains a list of the program's current and available windows, and the Help menu contains commands related to getting help.
The keyboard shortcut commands are generally the same between programs on OS X, too. For example, in almost any program I can hit command and , to bring up the preferences. Keyboard shortcuts are also related to what they do. For example, I can quit a program by hitting command q or close a window by hitting command w. I can hit command and the first letter of whatever I want to do(unless one is already taken, in which case the letter at the end of the word may be used, unless that's used too, in which case a different letter may be used).
In comparison, in Linux or Windows applications, preferences may appear under the Tools or Edit menus, and may be named things like Options, Preferences, TheNameOfTheProgram preferences, TheNameOfTheProgram Options or other things. Keyboard shortcuts in Windows often are unrelated to their command. There is no Windows shortcut to quit a program, only alt f4 to close the current window. There is no reason alt f4 should be used to close a window or f2 should be used to rename a file.
Last edited by matt on 20 Apr 2009, 12:49 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Well Xanderbeanz,
You are right, vista has a horrible man machine interface. I can not work out how to get it to search for a file the same way as 95, 98 and NT did.
I think vista has too many silly bits, but on the subject of toast it is possible to get round bread which is the same size as a CD. In the past I have joked about a new version of the USB bus which has an extra pair of wires which would deliver 10 A at 230 V 50 Hz. This would be ideal for the USBgrill or USBtoaster. The new USB system would need touchproof plugs and sockets, perhapes something based on N series would do nicely.
Perhapes I should suggest a new version of the IDE bus which has two very thick extra wires which can deliver 30 A 230 V to a disk. This would be ideal for a CD writer which makes toast. I think that when I think of 230 V AC I am being a little eurocentric, I think that our friends from over the pond would be more happy if I suggested a 400 Hz system based on a very modified ATX switch mode pack which would deliver 2kW from a 110-50-0-110-305 volt system with five extra wires. That way you could plug in almost anything which runs on single phase AC.
My vote has to go to windows 2000, 32 bit disk access and the ability to use large disks.
[quote="Xanderbeanz"]aspies are stereotypically a very computer literate bunch, and there probably IS truth in that stereotype, so my answer is thus:
NOT VISTA....
vista adds a load of fool proof crap that annoys the computer literate, you put a CD in, a screen pops up saying "what do you want windows to do?" with a list filled with "play CD, copy CD, make some toast, show me some seizure inducing screen savers, blog this CD on myfacetwit, whatever".....I WANT WINDOWS TO DO NOTHING, JUST SIT THERE, UNTIL I GO TO "MY COMPUTER" CLICK ON THE CD ICON AND TELL YOU TO F***ING PLAY IT!
you click on a program icon and it says "are you sure you want windows to run this program?" YO MOTHERF***ER, I DOUBLE-CLICKED THAT ICON, OF COURSE I WANT TO F***ING RUN THE PROGRAM!
[quote]
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Diagnosed under the DSM5 rules with autism spectrum disorder, under DSM4 psychologist said would have been AS (299.80) but I suspect that I am somewhere between 299.80 and 299.00 (Autism) under DSM4.
To be honest, I was happy with DOS.
These days I mostly use Windows XP.
I'm not going Vista and will reserve judgement on Windows 7.
95 and 98SE were good.
I've run Ubuntu at home and also the Google Operating System (which is based on Debian Linux).
There's no system that's specifically better or worse for aspies.
The menus are always in the same place at the top of the screen.
The menus are always in the same order, and the contents of the menus are generally in the same order and similar physical location within the menu. The apple menu contains system-related things. The application menu contains application-related things(like preferences and quit[and Check for updates if the application was written correctly]). The File, Edit, View menus and the ones coming immediately after that contain commands related to files. The Window menu contains a list of the program's current and available windows, and the Help menu contains commands related to getting help.
The keyboard shortcut commands are generally the same between programs on OS X, too. For example, in almost any program I can hit command and , to bring up the preferences. Keyboard shortcuts are also related to what they do. For example, I can quit a program by hitting command q or close a window by hitting command w. I can hit command and the first letter of whatever I want to do(unless one is already taken, in which case the letter at the end of the word may be used, unless that's used too, in which case a different letter may be used).
In comparison, in Linux or Windows applications, preferences may appear under the Tools or Edit menus, and may be named things like Options, Preferences, TheNameOfTheProgram preferences, TheNameOfTheProgram Options or other things. Keyboard shortcuts in Windows often are unrelated to their command. There is no Windows shortcut to quit a program, only alt f4 to close the current window. There is no reason alt f4 should be used to close a window or f2 should be used to rename a file.
As a lifelong Mac user until last summer (when I began using Ubuntu), I believe that Apple OS X has one of the worst-designed user interfaces out there. The lack of a taskbar/window list is a hassle. The dock is little more than a party trick, I would rather have a functioning hierarchical menu system to access my programs. Sure, the Mac has eye candy, but nothing compares to Compiz Fusion. As far as your references to the UI in "Linux or Windows applications," that really only applies to Windows. In GNU/Linux the UI is basically whatever you want it to be, and GNOME and XFCE make much more sense to me than the OS X interface does. And Finder can not compare to PCManFM or even to Nautilus.
An aside: I'm booted up in OS X right now. It is the easiest interface to use, but not the best. It slows me down at times, and it annoys me by choosing stupid default behaviors and not permitting me to change the defaults.
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IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH
I think it's any OS that does what you want the way you want it.
Vista is a loser...hands down. Windows7 should be a massive improvement.
I was hesitant to go from 98 to XP, but I can't complain. Of course, my AS doesn't really impact this area of my life as I like fiddling with PCs.
KingdomOfRats
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95/98
2000/XP
Vista/Seven
So, what will the real 7 be called? Windows 2012?
Windows bouffir [bouffir=french for 'bloat',if google search is right].
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Well of late I have been running Windows 7 it don't seem too bad but it sucks as much as all the others.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d85p7JZXNy8[/youtube]
I guess I have at some stage run them all right back to cassette tape and a boot strap loader.
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LostInEmulation
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I would say GNU/Linux because you can do almost everything on the command line. I am not a very graphical person, my qualia of consciousness is more textual and aural than visual. That makes me 'get' command lines very easily. It is also rather logical compared to Mac OS X and Windows, which always seemed to be arbitrarily restricted to me.
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- Drag a folder to the dock.
- Right-click or hold control while clicking on said folder and choose View content as List
After doing that, you can click on said folder to browse it as a hierarchical menu.
To have its icon appear as a folder rather than as a pile of its contents, you could also right-click on the folder again and choose Display as Folder
As for the lack of a window list, there is a menu at the top of almost all Mac programs(if they are written correctly) that is named Window and has a list of all open windows. Users can also right-click on any program in the dock to see a list of its open windows.
And users may use Exposé features to view all open windows at once.
On older Macs, hitting the F9 key would show all open windows, hitting F10 would show all windows for only the active program, and F11 would show the desktop.
On newer Macs, there is a key on the keyboard with a picture of a box with three smaller boxed in it. It's usually the F3 key, and hitting this window lets the user see all open windows.
Different keys to activate these functions may be chosen in System Preferences:Exposé & Spaces:Exposé. If you have a multi-button mouse, you can also assign these functions to mouse buttons.
I'm aware of all those features. But the little "stacks" thing is not a real menu system. Exposé is only necessary because OS X doesn't have real window management via a taskbar at the bottom of the screen. Besides I can have the same features as exposé (but better customized to my own preferences) via Compiz. Alt-tab doesn't exist, and cmd-tab only cycles through apps (not individual windows). All the alternative methods you listed for moving around between windows in OS X are far less efficient than the GNOME, or even Windows, equivalents. The reason I like GNU/Linux is because it doesn't dictate how I'm going to interact with my computer and then force me to get used to it. I get to make decisions about how the UI should look and feel. The result is a system tailored to my preferences.
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WAR IS PEACE
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH
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