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Enso 2 redesign...

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nontroppo:
This is an interesting article from the Humanized guys on what was wrong in Enso 1 and what will be improved in Enso 2. They are taking their contentious quasimodal interface and modifying it so only the VERB is entered in that mode, the noun/action is modal (or not as they think). Food for though for FARR 3.

http://humanized.com/weblog/2008/01/31/enso-20-design-thoughts/

mouser:
yes i will be very interested in hearing what they come up with.
i just hope i can read their stuff without gagging on their normal "this is the most revolutionary idea in the history of the universe" vibe that i got from their previous work.

nontroppo:
mouser: just drink more koolaid! :P

Lashiec:
i just hope i can read their stuff without gagging on their normal "this is the most revolutionary idea in the history of the universe" vibe that i got from their previous work.
-mouser (January 31, 2008, 07:28 PM)
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Don't worry, they've kicked up their ego a notch:

By paring the quasimodal portion of Enso down to just the command name, Enso has become the best keyboard shortcut system in existence.

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Bravo, someone has forgotten about the meaning of the expression "being humble" ::)

It's amazing how someone can be so arrogant and yet have a program with huge usability issues, like forcing you to hold CAPS Lock while typing something. And yet, the guys are still maintaining it while they think for the best approach (they call that "a complex process") to focus Enso. Fella, use a damn hotkey, like any other launcher out there, sheesh. Also, they try to reinvent the wheel too much when it comes to interact with Enso using previously used data, something that FARR resolves with a single key and the use of the standard shortcuts in Windows. OK, enough bashing.

Actually, the program has good ideas and some others are planned. The autocompletion thingy, with the template boxes (I can't remember the exact name) giving you a visual cue of what the action does and what arguments you can use with it, it's really cool, I mean, it clears much of the problems of having to remember how this or the other function works. Kudos for that idea.

Some of the things they're investigating for the next major version are also quite good. First, the learning algorithm means one can create on the fly, and with usage time, their own reduced shortcuts for the various actions the program has. Applying it to FARR means that someone can customize the FARR default aliases without actually modifying them. And finally, the resume option. I like that, it does exactly what it suggests, sending Enso to sleep with the already inputted options and bringing it up with another hotkey stroke, something that could be easily integrated with FARR (I think somebody already asked for it...)

nontroppo:
 ;D (though I like quasimodal mode personally :p)

First, the learning algorithm means one can create on the fly, and with usage time, their own reduced shortcuts for the various actions the program has
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Quicksilver does this, and I've suggested elsewhere that it would be a nice feature for FARR to have. Basically FARR currently weights results with scores, but if it weighted entered text to results too you would get fragment learning over time. That would improve FARRs heuristics. Along with the other heuristic rules, FARR would actually have the most advanced matching in the world! ;)

And finally, the resume option. I like that, it does exactly what it suggests, sending Enso to sleep with the already inputted options and bringing it up with another hotkey stroke, something that could be easily integrated with FARR (I think somebody already asked for it...)
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Yep, this is a nice idea...

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