UI for netBook Pro Symbian

[MartinMaxwell]

I am posting an illustration of a proposed UI for netBook Pro Symbian derived from Series 90.

The application opened is Symbian Word.

The UI has been compensated for different screen size and different pixel pitch (0.13 mm in Series 90 vs 0.21 mm in netBook Pro). Therefore, the command buttons should roughly have the same size as in the netBook ER5/Eikon.

I think that something along these lines could be extremely user friendly and radically more attractive than the pedestrian and somewhat dull UI of NETBOOK PRO WinCE.

Reactions please!

cheers
Martin

[Beakynet]

Originally posted by MartinMaxwell
Reactions please!

cheers
Martin

I personally like the UI. I have always been a fan of the EIKON UI and didn't really like the Nokia 92xx UI. However, the System screen and the 'Extras' 'button' are perhaps where the UI will make the biggest difference - any insight there? That said, word does look good, though the additional ability to show colour icons on the buttons would liven up the display still further.:)

[MartinMaxwell]

I have always been a fan of the EIKON UI and didn't really like the Nokia 92xx UI.
Totally agree. Everything that is good about Nokia 92xx UI (or Series 80) was taken from Eikon. Everything that is bad about it was taken from the Nokia 9110...

However, the System screen and the 'Extras' 'button' are perhaps where the UI will make the biggest difference - any insight there?
If the netBook Pro Symbian is to have any chance of economic feasibility it is a prerequisite that the hardware is *identical* between the WinCE and Symbian version. This will eliminate costly redesign, any additional support cost, warranty costs etc as well as reducing incremental marketing costs. Therefore: no silkscreen buttons including Desk (the green or orange one to the left on a netBook Classic) or Extras.

There are two ways of addressing this problem, of which both may apply at the same time:

1. An application launch bar at the bottom of the screen, similar to the UIQ Application Picker. This application launch bar would have Desk to the extreme left and Extras to the extreme right and about 10-12 application icons spread out between them. (Imagine a longer version of the Application Picker bar on the top of a P800/900 or A920 screen).

2. Specific Fn/Ctrl/Shift commands, e.g.
Hitting Ctrl twice => Desk
Hitting Shift twice => Extras (which is logical, you 'shift' application)
Hitting Fn twice => Insert character (as in Series 80 - in fact one of the few good things introduced by it)
Ctrl+Space => toggle between applications (like Macro5 in Eikon)
Menu key => show the Menu as in Eikon
Ctrl+< and Ctrl+> => Zoom in and out
Fn+< and Fn+> => Increase or reduce brightness (as in Eikon)
Fn+/ => Help (as in Eikon)
Cut/Copy/Paste as in Eikon (and Windows/Mac for that matter)

the additional ability to show colour icons on the buttons would liven up the display still further.:)

I also have the same view. This feature was removed from Revo onwards (or rather: it has not been used, because it is still supported by the OS...and can be accessed from C++ or OPL) . Sadly it is not in Series 90, unless I have missed some feature in the Series 90 'skin framework'.

We can put it on the wishlist, but with secondary priority.

BTW, speaking of 'skins'. The Series 90 supports 'skins' even more comprehensively than UIQ. This means that you can easily define your 'Eikon-style' skin and make it look almost like a netBook Classic....

cheers
Martin

[wanman]

The UI mock up does look great although I am concerned that it still looks a little simplistic. If (and that is a very big if) the Netbook Pro could be sold with a Symbian OS, then the current batch of office applications would need to be 'beefed up' to at least the levels of the Windows CE offerings, to make it worth while. This would need to include inbuilt conversion utilities to convert to and from other formats (i.e. microsoft office).

This is going to be a really pricey machine even without a Symbian OS, so to make this sellable for the consumer, it is going to have to offer all the WinCE can offer and alot more, as people are not going to buy an expensive piece of kit with the conversion/connectivity problems that we have all had to put up with on the netBook (ok I can think of worst things...but you get the picture).

Ok perhaps the current netBook is manageable but to encourage people to swap laptops for Netbook Pros (with or without Symbian), it needs to be a breeze to use and also have the ability to interact with other systems easily. If possible, Psiwin needs to be abolished (or integrated with the OS) so that all conversion and backing up routines are handled within the unit itself providing the ability to chat to other windows machine like....err....a Windows machine.

Ok this may be completely over the top, but to make a Symbian version sellable, these issues need to be all addressed.

Great start though Max and I look forward to other such screen shot mockups.

[MartinMaxwell]

If (and that is a very big if) the Netbook Pro could be sold with a Symbian OS, then the current batch of office applications would need to be 'beefed up' to at least the levels of the Windows CE offerings,

What features specifically? The last review I read - albeit a few years ago - stated that Symbian Office for the Nokia 9210 was *more* feature rich than Pocket Office, but things could of course have changed since then.

This would need to include inbuilt conversion utilities to convert to and from other formats (i.e. microsoft office).

I believe Symbian Office has all the conversions needed today. In fact, also here I have understood that Symbian Office converts MS Office XP better than Pocket Office for CE does. Again I could be wrong because I have not used Pocket Office for while.

people are not going to buy an expensive piece of kit with the conversion/connectivity problems that we have all had to put up with on the netBook (ok I can think of worst things...but you get the picture).

You are perfectly right. But I think this is history. Symbian OS Word and Sheet can read and write MS Office XP files very well indeed. And the Presentation application can view PowerPoint files very well too. Plus you now also have Adobe Acrobat built in and a range of image file converters.

Ok perhaps the current netBook is manageable but to encourage people to swap laptops for Netbook Pros (with or without Symbian), it needs to be a breeze to use and also have the ability to interact with other systems easily.

People should also be aware of that these requirements are also relevant for NETBOOK PRO WinCE. Just because it is Microsoft does not mean that you are somehow magically compatible with everything that moves. In fact, it appears that the WinCE version is quite limited unless you also buy/download a healthy lorry-load of 3rd party software (see other threads about this). For instance, it's only got WordPad when you buy it!!!!!

If possible, Psiwin needs to be abolished (or integrated with the OS) so that all conversion and backing up routines are handled within the unit itself providing the ability to chat to other windows machine like....err....a Windows machine.

Agreed. And PsiWin's successors for P800/P900, Nokia 6600, Nokia 7700 etc etc are working exactly as you describe it. They do not do any conversions. All conversions are done on the machine itself. Also remember that "PsiWin", from Symbian OS v7.0s onwards also supports Bluetooth. So you can sync with your PC or mobile while the netBook Pro is still in your briefcase...

cheers
Martin

[BradC]

Just looking at the Teklogix ads in Pocket PC magazine, I get the feeling that Telogix is very much tied up with the M$ family *play godfather theme music here*. So unless Nokia buys up PsionTelogix, I seriously doubt youll ever see a Symbian Netbook Pro.

[eriksandblom]

Hi Martin

Thanks for all you et al are doing to make the Symbian Netbook happen. I would really love to have such a device, and the more I learn to use and love my Netbook Classic, the more I'm certain it is a very useful tool, not just for me.

But, well, I don't really like the look of that UI you're suggesting. I don't like the Windows XP look either and always switch back to the old look, which I think is clean and elegant.

I think Mac OS X is the only UI that really succeeds with the lollipop look. Plus they have moved away from the lollipop look with every release; apart from brushed aluminum, I think we're looking at a synthesis reminiscent of milk:
http://www.maxthemes.com/themes/milk.htm


I'm happy as long as the original netbook look is available, and I suspect work done on the UI might be better spent elsewhere. If not, I would like some milk please :-)

[MartinMaxwell]

But, well, I don't really like the look of that UI you're suggesting.

The layout is not really my invention. It is the default Series 90 layout for Nokia 7700, but rescaled and dot-pitch-adjusted for the netBook Pro Symbian.

Also remember that you can recreate the Eikon-look by setting an "Eikon-skin".

I have however since discovered that the Command Bar buttons are 25% larger than they should be, a slight miscalculation from my side...

[Mobilix]

Hi Martin!


Nice try, but...:

I think it should be more elegant and sophisticated on that expensive machine!

Smaller buttons would help, icons on them maybe too.

Would be funny to create a try...

Ciao
Mobilix

[MartinMaxwell]

I think it should be more elegant and sophisticated on that expensive machine!

In this first illustration I have tried to keep it as close to Series 90 as possible to avoid additional development cost. My thought is that if we build it too sophisticated, the cost will be prohibitive.

If Psion Teklogix is ever going to realise the opportunity for them that the Symbian version offers, they will likely not be prepared to develop and support their own indigenous UI. Therefore, Series 90, is important. Of the current Symbian UIs, Series 60, UIQ, Series 80 and Series 90, it is the latter that is the closest to Eikon, closely followed by UIQ.

Making the netBook Pro Symbian close to Series 90 means that you will also have access to a larger supply of applications.

Take note that all the basic elements of the Series 90 UI (Command Buttons, Menu system, Status Bar) are the same as with Eikon. My suggestion is still, therefore, to meet personal taste by using different skins.

cheers
Martin

[cangiante]

Originally posted by MartinMaxwell
In this first illustration I have tried to keep it as close to Series 90 as possible to avoid additional development cost. My thought is that if we build it too sophisticated, the cost will be prohibitive.

...

My suggestion is still, therefore, to meet personal taste by using different skins.

cheers
Martin

Ciao Martin,
I am not sure to have properly understood the meaning of the word "skin", in relation to the UI. Could you please explain this concept?

[MartinMaxwell]

I am not sure to have properly understood the meaning of the word "skin", in relation to the UI. Could you please explain this concept?
Changing "skin" is when you put your own colours and icons to a user interface while keeping the user interface elements. Advanced skins may even include rearranging of buttons, dialogue boxes etc.

Attached are two Series 90 skins. This time it is the Messaging application. None of them look very nice, but they show what I mean. Now imagine that we could create an Eikon looking skins, which you actually can in Series 90. I am sure that would give a more professional look! Though I am still uncertain whether it is possible to put Icons on Command Buttons.

cheers
Martin

[Mobilix]

Thanks Martin!

In my opinion it should not look 1:1 like EIKON, because it's not EIKON.

When key elements are nearly on the same positions with nearly the same commands on it, that should be enough.

We can compare it with Windows 95, 98, 2000 and XP - it's a progress.

So maybe should give the coloured EIKON from netBook and WINS a slightely fresher look - maybe in form of a skin, maybi in the GUI underneath.

Ciao
Mobilix

[MartinMaxwell]

Thanks for your input!

We can compare it with Windows 95, 98, 2000 and XP - it's a progress.

Are you sure it's a progress? :-)

Suffice to say that there seem to be quite different views on that matter.

[Mobilix]

In case of Windows' progress,
i have to admit, that i use W2k,
because of XP's colours and hidden expert features... ;-)

Ciao
Mobilix

[daniel_harker]

Does anyone know of open-source Visual Basic Symbian emulators?

[toeknob]

Redesigning the UI, contrary to what you think, is NOT what would take the most time or cost the most money. I have no doubt that Psion could come up with a few cute icons and a nice looking skin fairly easily. The big issue is device driver support. That is, drivers for various types of PCMCIA cards, CompactFlash cards other than memory, USB printers, and on and on. Windows CE has it, Symbian doesn't. This is what has caused compatibility issues for Psion in the past and will continue to do so into the future. For phones, the hardware support requirements are much more limited--at most you might have a couple SDIO devices (peripherals that use the SD card slot) on the market. But subnotebooks, it's a whole different ball game. CE has extensive device driver support, so does Palm for that matter; Symbian doesn't, and this is the biggest obstacle to the future of a Symbian-based netBook Pro.

-Mike

P.S. Part of the reason for the historic lack of drivers may have been Psion's apparent reluctance to release the specifications for creating such drivers, if what I've read is true. Alas, now their closed architecture has left them behind, and it seems too late for us to do anything about it...

[daniel_harker]

My post was wrong, not editors, emulators.

Adapting a symbian emulator for WinCE would make drivers less of a worry.

[MartinMaxwell]

That is, drivers for various types of PCMCIA cards, CompactFlash cards other than memory, USB printers, and on and on. Windows CE has it, Symbian doesn't. This is what has caused compatibility issues for Psion in the past and will continue to do so into the future. For phones, the hardware support requirements are much more limited--at most you might have a couple SDIO devices (peripherals that use the SD card slot) on the market. But subnotebooks, it's a whole different ball game. CE has extensive device driver support, so does Palm for that matter; Symbian doesn't, and this is the biggest obstacle to the future of a Symbian-based netBook Pro.

I can only repeat - again - that these statements are *baseless*.

1. Already the netBook Classic (Symbian OS v5.0) supports various types of PCMCIA cards. It is only the 16-bit bus that makes use of 32-bit bus PCMCIA cards impossible, but that is a *hardware* matter. That is the underlying reason why netBook Classic only supports 16-bit WiFi cards and 16-bit VGA cards etc.

2. The basic support for non-memory CF cards etc is in Symbian v7.0, but it is up to the hardware manufacturer to use it or not. The Sendo X, for instance, (Symbian OS v6.1) will support full SDIO.

3. Symbian OS v7.0 has full support for USB master functions, i.e. including printers.

4. It is equally erroneous to blame the *operating system* for not providing drivers. That is of course out of touch with reality. Who is the provider of drivers - the accessory manufacturer or the device manufacturers - is a volume game. But in any case it does not fall on the OS. In Psion days, there was not much volume, and Psion was basically running the race alone, so HP, Canon and the like did not find it attractive enough to provide drivers. Consequently, Psion had to do it themselves. Today the situation is totally different. There are now seldom any driver problems for Symbian OS. And a driver in a high volume Nokia 6600 (Symbian OS v7.0s/Series 60) device will work just as well in a relatively low volume netBook Pro Symbian (Symbian OS v7.0s/UIn) device.

5. If SDIO is such as 'smartphonic' feature, why does then the netBook Pro come with SDIO? And why these derogatory statements about 'smartphones'. The 'Smartphone', as far as the operating system features goes, is a *superset* of the 'PDA', not a subset. For instance, Symbian OS gives more comprehensive support for telephony, while WinCE more or less treats GSM/GPRS cards as just another modem... A netBook Pro Symbian with a GSM/GPRS card in the PCMCIA slot, a Bluetooth card in the CF slot and a Bluetooth headset effectively becomes a Communicator, leveraging on Symbian's integrated telephony and messaging.

In conclusion, the things you have put forward as 'obstacles' are but smokescreens.

cheers
Martin

[MartinMaxwell]

Originally posted by daniel_harker
Does anyone know of open-source Visual Basic Symbian emulators?

Not sure really what you mean here. If you are referring to an open source Visual Basic compatible IDE, the answer is no. On the other hand, if you are looking for a Visual Basic IDE for Symbian OS, AppForge is the answer.

AppForge is providing two product families, of which I think that the latter will over time supplant the former:

- MobileVB, which makes it possible to develop in Visual Basic for Symbian OS and makes it easier to port VB applications written for Windows or WinCE to Symbian OS.

- Crossfire, which provides the possibility of running .NET applications on Symbian OS, including VB.NET (VB7), C# and support for Visual Studio .NET for Symbian OS.

However, AppForge is not open source, you have to pay for a developer licence, but it is not too expensive.


The other alternative is Open Programming Language (OPL). OPL is now completely open source, see for instance:

http://www.allaboutopl.com/wiki/OPLWikiHome

http://opl-dev.sourceforge.net/

Until recently, OPL has been lagging behind in terms of support for devices. But this is now changing and it gives good support, including most OPXs, for Symbian OS v6.0/Series 80 and has just recently reached v0.30 for Symbian OS v6.1/Series 60 and Symbian OS v7.0s/Series 60. A very early version of OPL has also been tested on Symbian OS v7.0/UIQ.

Of course, OPL is not VB, personally I like OPL better, but if you're used to VB you're likely to think otherwise.

OPL is not object based like VB, but it is just as powerful, and in most cases faster. OPL is closer to traditional structured BASIC, with some influences from C. One of OPLs most powerful features is that you can elegantly create new OPL keywords by wrapping C++ DLLs in, so called, OPXs, which you can access from OPL via INCLUDE statements. Also the OPXs have been made open source so this gives you a perfect starting point for creating you own OPXs.

Several OPXs have been added post-Psion. These include:

- SendAs.opx, which allows you to send and receive SMS, Faxes etc.
- Convert.opx, which facilitates ASCII <-> Unicode conversion
- AppFrame.opx, which allows control of device specific features, e.g. turning the Series 60 title bar on and off.


(NOTE TO MODERATORS: perhaps both his questions and my answers should be moved to the programming section)

cheers
Martin

[daniel_harker]

No, I want a symbian emulator (ie that allows symbian to be ran on windows) that is written in Visual Basic with source code available.

[MartinMaxwell]

Originally posted by daniel_harker
No, I want an symbian emulator (ie that allos symbian to be ran on windows) that is written in Visual Basic with source code available.

Your question sort of defeats itself. It is impossible to write such an emulator in Visual Basic and expect any kind of performance out of it.

The Symbian OS SDKs include full Symbian OS emulators which run on Windows, sometimes called 'WINS'. These have been available for free download from ER5 and onwards. But they are simply based on Symbian OS C++ source code compiled for Intel -86 combined with various scripts.

In fact, the netBook Pro Series 90 style UI which started the 'UI for netBook Pro Symbian' thread was partially created by tweaking the Series 90 WINS.

WINS itself almost hasn't changed at all since ER5.

cheers
Martin

[daniel_harker]

Well you see I want to get a VB.net source code as VB.net 2003 comes with "Smart Device" Tools, which I hope to use to port the emulator to WinCE.net.

The emulator won't be much use as I don't have the rights to distibute the things I create with it (I have an educational lisence), buit at least it will show Psion that it is possible. If a 17 YO with no training can do it, surely their geezers can.

Or, I could document the development and then try to find someone who has the rights to port it.

[MartinMaxwell]

As far as I know, AppForge is the only IDE provider active in this domain. But their Symbian OS support is getting from mediocre to really excellent! Perhaps you should get in direct touch with them.

www.appforge.com

However, I am not sure how far they would be able to go in terms of providing source code. But talk with them and explain your situation and aims. I find them very responsive, in particular when you mention Symbian. I think they are really keen on becoming a major force in providing development tools for Symbian OS.

[Amendment 18 Dec 03: the AppForge person that seems most involved in their Symbian programme is Mr Doug Benson, VP of Marketing]

cheers
Martin

[daredevil]

Did the browser e.g. Opera on Series 90 support video streaming like the IE? Is there an apps that is similar to MS Media Player available?

[MartinMaxwell]

Did the browser e.g. Opera on Series 90 support video streaming like the IE? Is there an apps that is similar to MS Media Player available?

Yes on both accounts.

Symbian OS v7.0s supports both music and video streaming. The way in which this is accessed might differ between the models, but support for MPEG4 and Real 8 is already in the OS.

The Nokia 7700 - the first Series 90 device - is also claimed by Nokia to support both audio and video streaming.

cheers
Martin

[PlutoPants]

I was reading somewhere recently (I think in a mag I was perusing at my local reference library - WHS) how Windows followed Apple in 'bubblegumming' or 'aquafying' their GUIs for the naughties (WinXP and MacOsX respectively).
However, now, with MacOS10.3 (Panther - they must be running out of big cats by now, what's next....big fierce lion, maybe a tie-in with Disney...Mac OS10.6 Simba - [BTW I am a dedicated Mac user - I'm just tickled by the names used]?) seems to have sobered-up a little and dropped the soft aqua-interface to go back to a slightly more MacOS9 feel.
I expect that the big rounded-corner button feel of Windows will, in time, go back to a more 'grown-up' environement.
In playing around with different Window-managers in Unix, and I guess with Windows Media Player and Mozilla skins I got a feel for what 'skinning' can do. A lot is on personal preference really. In my experience, many people like to customise their interfaces - it's a human need to set yourself apart and to declare your individuality and, let's face it, to show off to others that you can do it.
In the past I have liked software on my Psion ER5s that mimicked Windows in a way with taskbars and desktop shortcuts. However, I have found Macro Managers more useful in everyday use.
I would love to see a GUI that was tweakable to some extent by the user, if only so that those who weren't keen on 'bubblegum' could revert to 'minimalist'. If skins were easily creatable (open-source) as they are for some desktop applications (an, I believe PPC), then slowly users would have more choice. Also, enhanced Macro-managers could add to the usability of the interface.
Maybe there is even an opportunity for cross-marketing? Imagine a licensed (to kill?) GUI skin for 007. How about sponsorship deals with Honda Motorbikes or Porsche or football teams. All of these could be relevant in a new Symbian keyboarded device since presumably video, GPS and score updates would be part of the software available.
There's a lot of good debate going on in this thread. This is just my daft vision.
George

[MartinMaxwell]

In the past I have liked software on my Psion ER5s that mimicked Windows in a way with taskbars and desktop shortcuts. However, I have found Macro Managers more useful in everyday use.

Well, personally I do not share your view of mimicking Windows. (call me fan if you like...but as a professional user I'd rather wish I had it the other way around - software on Windows mimicking Eikon...) I prefer a UI to be document centric, which means that you - just like on a real wooden desktop - put the documents you are currently working on on the desktop and that you store those that you are not working on in various folders, which is rather like the original MacIntosh way. In a document centric UI, the document 'knows' which applications that can be invoked to view, print, present or edit it. For me, these Windows shortcuts and taskbars just add unnecessary clutter, they seem to me expressing something like "oh dear...I know my user interface is awful...let's add some gizmos so that it's less obvious".

As far as I am concerned, the main fallacy of v6/Series 80 (Nokia 92xx-series) was that Nokia tried to impose too many Microsoft paradigms on the Eikon base, including a very unuserfriendly file manager and a desk application supporting shortcuts. Perhaps their basic intention was for Windows users to feel at home. But they lost the beauty of the Eikon document centricity. And they learnt their lesson, Series 80 is not marketed anymore, and Series 90 appears much closer to original Eikon.

Instead, I agree with your point that macro managers are more useful. The reason: all users are different and have different needs, and no user interface designer, no matter how brilliant, can come up with something that fits everyone. Macro5 did most of that for v5/Eikon. For a v7/Series 90, or for a proposed v7/UIn (or perhaps a v7/Eikon) I believe many people will want to have something similar to Macro5. And I am sure someone will develop it once we get over the first major hurdle...to actually realise the netBook Pro Symbian.

It should perhaps be noted that other Symbian OS UIs, like UIQ and Series 60, are 'application centric'. In fact, without 3rd party software, accessing documents and folders outside of the applications is not supported. This is, of course, on purpose.

Symbian OS, itself, supports both paradigms equally well.

cheers
Martin

[PlutoPants]

Martin,
Yes, I accept your point about 'document-centric-icity'. I perhaps gave too much the impression that I liked the Windows-type GUI. I certainly don't and always prefered the older MacOs approach.
My point derived from the notion that both MacOS and Windows were similar in adopting stylised GUIs that, in time, I'm sure will be considered very Y2K era.
However, I always appreciated the fact that EPOC could be tweaked with a different front end - or features that mimicked other approaches (WinEPOC and Start5 etc). Each user having some choice to use their own preference can only be a boon to any OS. Because of EPOC being greyscale, tweakability seemed to be far more than just changing colours of backgrounds and toolbars - it meant finding alternative ways of navigating.
I agree with you also when you say EIKON should be mimicked by other OSes. By nature it has to be simple, functional and unbloated. However, the adoption of other ideas (eg for menu clicks - dare I say it, the pressing and holding of PocketPC was annoying in some ways but useful in others - and although Macs only use 1 button, I still use the CTRL key or a 3 button mouse in order to access contect-sensitive menus.)
We have been through an era where the 'look' is part of the selling of a computer. User-friendly colours, personalisation and some reccognisable buttons (notably the universal X for quitting and the File-Edit-View menu protocol) mean that more buyers feel 'at home'.
One challenge has been to make a new Os/ platform intuitive enough for those using it for the first time. Usually, and I'm sure you are more au-fait with this Martin than myself, a 'kidology' is needed to lull the user into performing the main actions they need just using logic and some guesswork. Most people are not wanting to read the manual before they get clicking!
I still remember the software I have had to train people on and the differences over the years. Personally, WordXP is so 'bubblegummy' that it is harder to train people to mailmerge on it than it was with Word97 - Mainly because the menus are too gimmicky and, in the hope of being all 'wizardy', end up confusing people. In my experience, people prefer to try to understand a little about what they are doing and what the computer is doing when you click this. Very often I have found people confused by the Wizards because they do not understand in the least (and are not required to get to understand in the normal course of things) what exactly they are doing. There is always a point when a user wants to do something slightly different from what the wizaed wants them to do.
For this reason, ironically, I always found that training in MSAccess was in some ways simpler than in Word because of the more utilitarian menu-driven environment. Trainees expect it to be more technical because it is less flowery and cosmetically enhanced.
To use a database package such as Access or PSiDat, to get the most out of it, then a little knowledge about WHAT you are doing at each stage is invaulable.
In my mind, then, gimmicky, wizardy interfaces are counter-productive. This does seem related to the application/ document-centric notion and perhaps corresonds to these two questions:
1) Have you tried this?
2) What exactly do you want to do?
The former tries to make life easier for the user by making groups of task appear easy, but by nature can fall down when you need it to do something it isn't programmed to do in the way it wants to. The kiddology is that a monkey could do it.
The latter leaves the user to make their own decisions and involves learning and some thinking.
I would prefer to see more matter-of-fact GUIs, which can be skinable and utilise customised macros for those wanting them. One of the best things about Psions was OPL inclusion. It allowed anyone to learn how to do things. Many cut their teeth on OPL without spending a penny more and moved on to other languages. It would be risky if this freedom were denied in any new SymbookPro. WinCE has a long way to go before it catches up the amount of cheap and freely available third-party software in the EPOC/ SIBO worlds.
Mind you, I guess that is why I've been a Psion user for so long. For us, small is beautiful - and in my experience - that means in scale of files, applications, storage and even cost. Long may it continue.
George:)

[daniel_harker]

Definately agree about the inclusion of skins. But "Bubblegummy" appearance doesn't need to mean "Try to make this easy and make a total muck up of it in the process". Windows XP uses Themes and skins obssisevely. But disable these and you still have the Wizards there, and they are just as difficult. Try to configure WinXP networking with the wizards and it does a good job, until you want to tweak it yourself. The wizards assume you already have background knowledge of what you are doing.

But we need not sacrifice skins to to improve the wizards. Everyone has a different preference. My sister dopesn't like transparent casings on devices, I do. My Nan liked pink, I like blue.

I have flashing neon lights on my PC, my sister locks it on purple.