August 30, 2010

I didn't know I used that so much

In Windows they call it "hover help"

At least they used to. Microsoft changes marketing names of things all the time. Trouble is that the more I explore Mac stuff, the more this minor help feature seems to go the way of the dodo.
I first noticed it navigating around an apple store on the web. The links just didn't seem to pop up at you. Then, when I installed iTunes on my PC, I was looking for the PAUSE button for some downloads from the free SDK lessons. You cannot tell that's a button!
I mean, the color doesn't change, the size, the cursor icon remains without response. I found myself hovering and hoping for a tag - hover help that is - a little help - moving parts.
The next thing you know I'm asking myself the big question: When I press this, will it pause it, try to play it or some thing that I can not guess yet?

REFS:

This is the stuff I was downloading ...

Closing thought(s):

See if Cocoa or Objective-c has this capacity. Maybe it's just a cultural thing.

1 comment:

  1. I later found a couple of places where something comes up when one hovers. So it can be done. In reading more about the application creation process, there might be a slight nudge toward the already built in items - meaning everyone else besides me already knows that is a button and what it does. Naw ...

    ReplyDelete

Be nice... it's the only internet we have.