Major usability issues with the installer

[felipemdc]

Hello,

First I'd like to say that I am very happy that people created this new distribution. I always liked Mandrake and Conectiva, but later on I was getting each time less happy with Mandriva. At some point in time it seamed like they hided the download links for the free edition, you had to go though strange menus to find it =( Then now they removed the live CD, there are only DVD download options, so zero options if you just want a small download and get quickly started with the distribution. All of this made me want to find a new distribution, but none of the others is nearly as good as Mandriva =) Mostly apt-get and yum are tottaly buggy and take ages to do anything ... this just wastes so much time, while urpmi is so fast and efficient =D So summing up I am really happy that now we have a Mandriva-like distribution which actually cares about its users and offers nice download options with net install, CD install, etc =D

Ok, so now going to the not so nice part. The current install program from Mageia 1 has many serious issues:

1> There is no Back button. You can only move forward or cancel, this is really annoying
2> There is no input field to test the keyboard layouts. How can the user know just from reading the list which is the best for him?
3> All Tree View controls (for time zones for example) require you to press espace to open the sub-options. It should also open suboptions by pressing the right arrow key.
4> Again Tree View controls, the left arrow key should move it upwards in the tree structure 1 level up and pressing again it should close the item (hiding subitems)

I hope Mageia 2 will have this issues fixed =D

thanks,

[Max]

Hello,

First I'd like to say that I am very happy that people created this new distribution. I always liked Mandrake and Conectiva, but later on I was getting each time less happy with Mandriva. At some point in time it seamed like they hided the download links for the free edition, you had to go though strange menus to find it =( Then now they removed the live CD, there are only DVD download options, so zero options if you just want a small download and get quickly started with the distribution. All of this made me want to find a new distribution, but none of the others is nearly as good as Mandriva =) Mostly apt-get and yum are tottaly buggy and take ages to do anything ... this just wastes so much time, while urpmi is so fast and efficient =D So summing up I am really happy that now we have a Mandriva-like distribution which actually cares about its users and offers nice download options with net install, CD install, etc =D

Hello and welcome!
We're glad to have you, and we hope that you enjoy your new distro.

Ok, so now going to the not so nice part. The current install program from Mageia 1 has many serious issues:

1> There is no Back button. You can only move forward or cancel, this is really annoying

The back button has been discussed before, but it's very impractical to implement. Once the process has begun and certain steps have been taken it's hard to undo them or return to a previous state. I am told that this used to be a feature years ago, but was removed because it was always buggy.

2> There is no input field to test the keyboard layouts. How can the user know just from reading the list which is the best for him?

There is a thread here: viewtopic.php?f=29&t=265 for discussions on improving the installer, you are more than welcome to post your thoughts there, and even file a bug (request). This is a community, and everyone can participate

3> All Tree View controls (for time zones for example) require you to press espace to open the sub-options. It should also open suboptions by pressing the right arrow key.

Really? That is quite odd. If I recall my own installation correctly I was able to click the arrows to open sub options. You might want to file a bug for that.

4> Again Tree View controls, the left arrow key should move it upwards in the tree structure 1 level up and pressing again it should close the item (hiding subitems)

I hope Mageia 2 will have this issues fixed =D

thanks,

Again, it's all open to discussion, feel free to contribute.