OS GUI

This subject, and the resulting text, grew out of this thread on Lycoris’ community web site. Feel free to come by to see what others had to say on this subject, pro (yes, there are others who have issues with some of the things as they now are) and con. 20 August 2004
The Origin

This subject, and the resulting text, grew out of this thread on Lycoris’ community web site. Feel free to come by to see what others had to say on this subject, pro (yes, there are others who have issues with some of the things as they now are) and con.

While that thread, and the discussion therein, dealt specifically with web site designs now, which have their main menu links on the left side of the web browser window, this document attempts to deal with the subject on a broader scope. The suggested change will affect operating systems and in the case of GNU/Linux, the design of window managers as well.

It will go beyond the web browser and effect changes to the layout of your finance software, your office program, and multimedia programs like Xine and RealPlayer. These are typically some of the most popular programs used on the average computer users’ digital desktop. Therefore, most should be able to visualize the suggested changes within these programs. They are not the only ones however. There are a host of other programs that could benefit from this left and right-handed thinking in computer programming and operating system design. Since I cannot list all of these, I mention the more popular program types above.

This is not a novel idea -- as far as I can deduce -- even though I was not able to find any worthwhile documentation on the subject. Typing the terms “right-hand,” and other combination of these words, in the search field of several different search sites yield only information on right clicking, and closing a program by clicking on the X in the upper right hand corner of most programs. Amidst all of that, I still refuse to accept that no one has thought of this before now, or that I am so forward-thinking that I am the first to desire and see the need for taking into consideration (as far as software is concerned) the differences between a right-handed person and a left-handed person, like we do now in the case of mouse configuration. If nothing else, I might only be the first to write about it.

To some at this moment, this might seem too far-fetched to entertain any further thought on this idea, and I would disagree. This, I believe, is only the tip of the iceberg. With further thinking and deeper probing, this idea should bring greater reward in the form of better functionality, more productive computing, as well as other benefits we are not yet aware of. This is the first stage of the exploration of this idea, so bear with me and read on. You are sure to learn a thing or two.

The Mouse

I will not go into too much detail about the birth, and ultimate rise to fame of the computer mouse. I will however mention that Douglas Engelbart developed it in the 1960s. The included image shows the first mouse, which was developed by Mr. Engelbart. Following its development however, the mouse did not appear on the computer scene until 1984, when it was shipped with the Apple Macintosh.

The First Mouse

The 24-year period between 1960 (when the mouse was first developed), and 1984 (when Apple released it with their Macintosh computer), the pointing device of choice were graphics tablets, light pens, joy sticks, and various others. Many of us can recall one or more of these devices connected to computer systems with black and white monitors.

Macintosh Mouse

Typically, these systems’ main function was that of Teletype devices used only to input text. Lucky for us however, these devices never gained popularity, even though pointing was viewed as a normal human action. As a result mouse types, functions, and features today are being developed faster than we can say grumpelstiltskin.

Interestingly enough, during the time that Macintosh users were enjoying the many benefits of a computer system with a mouse as an interface device, PC users could not. During this time, the PC operating system could not support a mouse. That soon changed however with the release of Windows 3.1, which standardized Graphical User Interfaces (GUIs) on the PC desktop, and helped to bring the mouse into greater acceptance.

Similar to its living namesake, the mouse has grown. The computer mouse has grown (as far as connectivity is concerned) from a serial device to a PS2 device, to an USB device, and today wireless computer mouse is becoming the norm. Also, originally released with only one button, mouse today can have as many as 5 or more buttons, which can be customized to perform various computer functions like Save, Cut, Paste, etc.

Optical mouse

My favorite improvement of all the ones mentioned, and the unmentioned as well, is the removal of the ball in the mouse and the evolution into the current optical (light) mouse. No longer are we subject to the misbehaving mouse, whose refusal to go where the user intends the cursor to go typically required the removal and cleaning of the ball in the center of the device. An optical mouse has no ball, but instead uses light to perform the required function.


Our computer lives, as a result of improvements in mouse technology, are vastly improved because of many of these innovative changes to the mouse. Today, if you so desire, you can even acquire a foot mouse, which is used by the foot, versus the more popular hand mouse.

The NoHands (foot) Mouse

As the image shows, it comes as two parts -- called pedals -- and is sold under the name “NoHands Mouse.” One pedal controls cursor movement, while the other controls mouse clicks. This design is supposed to alleviate carpals tunnel in the fingers and wrist, and no doubt came about when we began to realize the health risks associated with repetitive movements of the fingers and wrist.

Somewhere along the way, it was determined that a mouse would serve both the right-handed person as well as the left-handed person via software on the computer system. When this function actually became available I cannot say, but whenever it did, I feel it did not go far enough into addressing the needs of the computer user. It did not effect similar changes in the operating system and in computer programs.

In my opinion, it should have caused the design of programs and the computer desktop (at a minimum), to also evolve to take into consideration the needs of the right-handed person, as it did the needs of the person who needed a left hand mouse. In this case, the assumption is being made here that the mouse was originally designed for the right-handed user, which might not be accurate.


My World

In my perfect computer world, my operating system would ask me (either during installation or setup of the new operating system) which mouse-type I prefer and configure not only the software-driven mouse to my selection, but the desktop and residing software as well.

My desktop would have the default desktop icons placed on the right of the screen to coincide with my preference. The Flower Menu (the Start button on Windows systems) would be on the right side of the taskbar, and all this will be configured this way because of the choice I made at one installation/setup screen during the operating system configuration.

By the same token, when I launch my programs, they would display my right- handed settings. Functions buttons or menus such as File, Edit, Save, Print, etc., will be positioned in the upper right of the screen in my OpenOffice.org program.

Back, Forward, Home, and so on in the Mozilla web browser, which are placed in the upper left side by default, would magically appear on the right where they are best suited for my person.

When I surf the web, my preference would then be detected by some new programming magic. These settings would either be built into the web browser or added to “web page/site” development programs by default. They would then translate the page being viewed for a right-hander or maybe web site/page designers by some miracle, would make their design take effect of the web browser’s settings and display web pages for the right-handed person, or whatever the user setting is, by default.

By now, you no doubt get my point.

I want better convenience in my computing, both on and off the web. I want to do most, if not all, of the things I do now on the left side of my computer desktop as a right-handed person, on the right side of the computer.

I also want to do most, if not all, of the things I now must do in the upper left side of a program, in the upper right side of the programs I use. Sure, it might take some getting used to. In the long run however, I think it will prove to be a more productive environment. At the minimum, it will cut mouse and cursor travel distance since it will remove the need to scroll all the way to the left each time I want to launch a program from the start menu, or when I want to open a new program from the File menu of a particular program.

To be fair, Windows and GNU/Linux allows for the placement of the Task Bar on any of the four sides of the desktop. This does not go far enough to satisfy my needs however, even though it is a move towards what I envision. I want my operating system and my programs (and some do, via floating icon and menu bars) to offer similar features natively


You Can Do It

Many subscribe to the theory that whatever the mind can conceive, it can achieve. Some things, as you can imagine, take longer than others however. Just think for a moment about many of the things that we take for granted today. Many of these are things that were once thought to be impossible. Lets take for example, traveling at the speed of sound; travels to and from the moon (even though there are those today who still do not accept this as an accomplished fete); 300-gigabyte capacity hard drives; an electronic pace maker; kidney transplant, and so on. Most of these things are being experienced or performed on a regular basis now, and without even a second thought.

Having said that, I am confident some of these ideas must have met with some criticism, and talking heads saying how impossible a task it is. Someone did not listen however. As a result, today we enjoy the various benefits that these accomplished fetes have given to us.

Now, I am no computer programmer nor do I even come close to being one for that matter. Therefore, what would be required to make this dream come to life is beyond me. I do know this though; it is possible. I don’t care who does it either, even though I have some preferences, all I want is for it to be done in my life time so I won’t have to spend so much time configuring my desktop to my preferences. I don’t know the impact that it might have on the world either. I do imagine, and would very much like to believe, that it will bring great improvement and better personalization options to our computer lives. But beyond that, I cannot say. Concern over how the world will react did not deter the pioneers of the above-mentioned accomplishments, I don’t think, and it will not deter the right person who sees and reads these few lines either.


I thank you, sir or madam, in advance.