I think I am coming up to my second or even third week in SimplePup.
It has some important lessons for Puppy
Simple is good - it is easy
The icons on the base invite clicking and it becomes obvious what they do . . .
To make it more familiar to the timid Windows user it could by default be moved to the left . . .
Good
Polished icons - these have been submitted continually to the Puppy forum but in SimplePup they are there . . . Nice!
Having a speaker that you can click on or just drag the green sound bar up - great. It just feels polished.
The best thing about SimplePup is I do not have to search through the menu (Puppy - this is funny - has a bloated menu - I can not always find things easily)
Everything is simple and obvious in SimplePup and very usable
I am NOT going to search and change icons - I am not going to run programs from the CLI. Most mainstream users similarly do not have the time or inclination either. You may squirm. You may think the world should be full of operating system geeks and CLI gurus - but it ain't
If you have wifi it is probably ideal to set up and use SimplePup - How are those using wifi getting on -seems good?
I think SimplePup is the ideal platform for those wishing to translate Puppy into other languages
Niggles
Can not change the time (they put the clocks forward yesterday in the UK) this should involve the menu change time - does it work in Puppy 1.0.7?
Firefox crashes - 1 - 3 times a day - believe it or not I still prefer Firefox and of course this has nothing to do with Simple Pup BUT of course does impact on it - It may be (and I suspect is) something to do with the xfce interface. Mozilla/Seamonkey and Opera are more reliable. I would stick with Firefox it is is very pleasant to use.
Gaim needs to be there
Some more xine Codec needs to be there - not sure which - apple mov I think
Is Java too mainstream to leave out? The thing is too huge?
The xfce WM can crash when changing to different themes
Will I be returning to mainstream puppy for 1.0.9? and use the new Alpha of Puppy2 for 31March upload? - yes I should think so. But SimplePup I believe is the way Puppy should move (though I doubt the xfce WM will be used)
OK the one simple lesson for Puppy is this:
Simplicity
For eg. why are the icons in the top left.?
I invariably drag the ones I use to the bottom of the screen. Do others do this? If so then does it make sense to arrange the icons along the bottom of the screen, as on the Mac? Or is the existing arrangement working better?
Again and AGAIN and AGAIN programmers have to be reminded - it is not how good your underlying code is - it is how it impacts and interacts with the end user that determines its success and adoption.
Do try SimplePup and report back. I for one like it enough to use it and continue using it. All credit to Barry, Pizzasgood, timcriger and everyone who made SimplePup our best Puplet to date.
woof woof
More about SimplePup and download location
http://www.murga.org/~puppy/viewtopic.php?p=42964#42964
