Open Source Weblog

*According to the character Karla in Microserfs by Douglas Coupland, Windows is distinctly male (left-side of brain, linear logical) operating system while the Mac is distinctly female (right side of brain, holistic, creative).

While this might be a simplification, it does mean that by using Citrix's GoToMyPC to control my office Windows PC using my home iMac I may be effectively using both sides of my brain at once.

Either way I tend to end up with a headache, as while GoToMyPC on a Mac is great in terms of functionality - giving me full access to Windows-only applications on my office PC via a browser - it does lack something in terms of usability.

This is presumably something that is beyond Citrix's control, but the adoption by Microsoft and Apple of individual usability features (Microsoft's right click and mouse scroll, Apple's Apple key commands) can lead to a fair amount of confusion when you are effectively using both systems (the Windows interface via Apple keyboard, mouse and monitor), and neither of the sets of features actually work.

I generally have no problem switching from one system to another, but using both at the same time for anything longer than 10 minutes or so is a major headache - even if it is good enough on a functional level.

All of which led me to wonder whether desktop Linux can claim some middle ground in terms of usability and brain-usage. Certainly from the recent demonstrations of Novell's SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop it would appear that the company has borrowed some of the best Windows and Mac usability features, as well as adding some of its own. Whether that will be enough to overcome barriers to entry is another matter, of course.