Open ludasmokva opened 6 years ago
Klocman
commented
6 years ago I'm thinking about adding a "Quick filters" menu item (next ti View and Basic operations), and move View Updates etc. to it. You could then quickly select what you want to see from that menu (only store apps, updates, etc.)
I'll also add many other new options like this, so please give me a list of what would be useful. (that is, option name + what exactly it should display)
ludasmokva
commented
6 years ago I'd be happy to. Let me give it some thought so I can provide a more comprehensive list right off the bat.
In the spirit of full disclosure, I want to make it clear that I am not highly tech-savvy, so my views would represent the average, non-tech oriented user. While I think this would be a beneficial viewpoint, your more tech-savvy users may want to weigh in and would probably have some excellent comments.
Klocman
commented
6 years ago I am not highly tech-savvy, so my views would represent the average, non-tech oriented use
Which is exactly what I want :) Knowledgeable users often use applications completely differently, and don't even think about many things that someone new might immediately notice.
I'm not sure if this will make it to the new update, I'll be finishing it in about an hour.
ludasmokva
commented
6 years ago Ok... Here is a preliminary list. Some of it is old news, but I figured I would just provide a comprehensive list in one place regardless. (Yes, it is long, go grab a coffee or a drink):
DEFAULT View: As mentioned, this would simply be the most common view a user uses and would show up when the program starts. As a default, it could show all common programs. - I would not include specialized programs or addons like system tools or the like. Those items are for advanced users and should remain hidden for the average user so they don't get confused or overwhelmed. If you are feeling adventurous, you could allow customization. If a user wants to customize it, they could customize it by either picking an existing view option and setting it as a default, or creating their own customized filtered view, and setting it as the default. They could name it 'Joe-Shmo's View' or 'Mary-Contrary's View'. Sort of like a 'favourites'. It could also contain a 'reset' button which resets it back to the default view.
BROWSERS: Self Explanatory
BROWSER TOOLS: This could be sectioned between:
I'm not certain if there is a proper terminology protocol here. For example, are Add-Ons and Extensions really the same thing? If there are cross-overs, you could simply create a heading that combines the two. Example: Apps & Add-Ons. This is something I cannot help you with as I am not a programmer.
From an organizational point of view, I think it is much more practical to separate them by type of tool rather than by Browser. There would be a column that would show which Browser is associated with which tool and I think that would be enough. I think, however, that there may be those that disagree. So you could have a few different secondary sorting views within:
a) You could have the primary sort by type and a secondary sort would group all types from the same Browser together. So, for example, under the primary heading Extensions, all Firefox extensions would be grouped together and alphabetically sorted;
But this should all be within one menu View. What I mean is that the "Menu View" is Browser Tools, and within "Browser Tools" you could have the sort features. Otherwise, you will have too many Menu Views, and that in itself could be an issue. Remember the KISS acronym (Keep It Simple Stup... Silly) ;)
There is a question regarding the updates/maintenance tools for Browsers. I am a little torn whether this should fall under 'Other' in this section, or if they should be included with 'Browsers'.... maybe both just to be safe? I don't know. You could probably even combine #2 and #3 as the vast majority of people would only have a handful of browsers. So the Main View could actually be "Browsers and Browser Tools" or "Everything Browsers!". The key for this section would be that they would be Browser initiated tools - loaded by or through browsers. In that manner, even if BCU has difficulty uninstalling something, the user would know that this could be a browser-initiated install rather than a user-initiated install.
UTILITIES ONLY: I don't know if this is possible, and perhaps it is unnecessary, but it would be nice to be able to separate programs focused on productivity vs. programs focused on utility. For example, utilities such as CCleaner, UltraISO, Process Hacker, File Managers, Firewalls, Anti-Virus.... etc would be utilities. Again, I am not certain of the terminology protocol associated here, so it may not be as easy as it sounds. But to be able to separate the two would make it convenient especially if you have a lot of utility programs installed, and can't remember the names. The question arises as to what everyone considers a utility? I have an icon organizer - is that a program or a utility? How about VLC? Or a media manager? Media converter? A font manager? So I am not certain of the criteria, but you could always choose a criteria and then specify in your wiki which criteria was used, and that users should also check Programs. It would still probably be beneficial to separate it to some extent regardless of the criteria used. This section would NOT include Browser Utilities. To that end, a note at the top of the page could make this clear and provide a link to the Browser Tools view.
PROGRAMS ONLY: This is tricky. The thought & purpose behind this is manageability - to avoid huge lists and long searches. For example, I know I installed a program to edit icons, but can't remember what it was called. In this manner, you have a shorter list showing only programs. The issue, of course, is similar to that of Utilities: What constitutes a program? My basic idea is if it doesn't fall into "Utilities", it falls into "Programs". And more specific criteria can be isolated through the filtering system. But for the basic user, this may be enough.
JUNK or ODDS & ENDS or MISCELLANY or WTF? :) : This section would be a cross between a clean-up and a dump. It could include PuPs, toolbars not associated with Browsers (is there such a thing?) and even incomplete or broken installs that cannot really be categorized as Programs because they are (or seem to be) damaged. In essence, anything that BCU 'sees' but cannot categorize. Some of it could actually be legit, and you could have an option to 'label' it as a program or utility and thus have it appear in another view. I am not certain if such a thing is possible, but it occurs to me that in almost every organizational system, there are outliers, and this would be a good place for them. If BCU doesn't know what to do with it, dump it here. It may be able to uninstall it, it may not. But at least it will show the user it exists, and the user can then decide what to do.
SYSTEM TOOLS & COMPONENTS-ADVANCED: This is a basic section or starting point for advanced users. I won't really comment too much here as I think more experienced users would be better suited to provide details. Off hand, I think of Visual++, .NET etc. One possible issue is a crossover between Tools/Components and Utilities. Generally speaking, I think "Utilities" should focus primarily on user-installed utilities, while this section is more system based. Like I said, more experienced users could provide more insight. This would be a section that the average user should 'peruse' but not really do anything as it could have detrimental effect on existing programs - and there should be a warning at the top: DON'T DO ANYTHING UNLESS YOU KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING - AND IF YOU CHOOSE TO DO IT ANYWAY, BE READY TO RE-INSTALL.
UPDATE TOOLS: I don't know if this is possible, but OMG would it be awesome if it was!!! In the first place, you This view would be a section where those pesky update apps would be isolated. The ones that come with various programs and then perform automatic updates or 'suggest' (continuously) that you should update. Now I know this is sometimes a setting within a program, but it sometimes is a separate app as well. You could list the Browser ones here, but also for other programs like Ninite, MS Office, etc... Not sure if it's possible or too dangerous for some as it may be built in, but for instance, for instance I keep getting messages from Glassware trying to force me to update, and I would love to be able to disable and/or uninstall that.
This may actually involve a reg entry, and I don't know if there is a standardization involved in such entries that would allow BCU to isolate them. But if there is, such a 'view' could target those reg entries. You could also build into that 'View' a disclaimer of sorts. You could let people know that this is more an experimental feature and provided more as a knowledge base for research purposes. And that before 'deleting' anything in a reg entry, they should not only do a back-up, but also research that entry to ensure it would do what they want. This feature would be more for intermediate-to-advanced users.
8a. (MS) UPDATES: Not sure if this should be a 'View' or simply remain as a filtering option. I think the only 'updates' are from MS - some protected some not. And I think, for the most part, this requires a slightly higher knowledge base to edit correctly, and therefore should not be easily accessible for the average user. The user can always create it in the #9 CUSTOM VIEW section. Don't know.... perhaps I'm wrong.
CONCLUSION: I apologize for being verbose, but in my defense, you did ask! :) Going back to #1 - the default view, I would include the PROGRAMS, UTILITIES, & BROWSERS view details to make the 'default' view. Those are essentially the key things most users are aware of and essentially would be equivalent to the default Windows ADD PROGRAMS tool. And with the option to customize and have additional views, it would be easy enough for a user to dig deeper. But a default should be relatively general, so I would not overburden it. Just my thought.
In any case, hope this gives you something to think about. And maybe others - if they are not too overwhelmed by the long post - will also add details that will help you clarify your thought process.
Let me know if you want me to write another book. :) :)
Klocman
commented
6 years ago Big thanks for the exhaustive list, there's some very good ideas there.
For now I added some simple filtering presets that could be implemented without much additional work.
There is currently no system in place to separate browsers, crapware and other categories of apps. Browsers are definitely doable, since BCU already can detect if a running process is a web browser. Other might not be that easy. I guess I could add an option to filter by amount of stars to sort of get the crapware.
The rest is going on the back burner unless anyone has any good ideas on how to detect what an app is.
Hi! It would be really cool to have an easy access 'default-view' or 'home' button.
Currently, if I change views (to look at 'View unregistered' or 'View Updates' or go through filtering, it takes me several steps to get back to the original view (the one that appears when BCU is started up where it lists all the programs BCU recognizes). What I have to do now is set Comparison Method to 'contains any' and the Target Property to 'is valid'. That takes me back to the original listing of all the programs - a 'home page' of sorts. (At least that's what it appears like.)
Perhaps this already exists, and I don't know about it. But if it doesn't, a 'default' view could be set by the user in settings, and a button could be created to automatically bring you to that default-view from other views/screens. Or, if that's too much, you could simply create a 'default-view' option in the View menu drop-down items which again brings you back to the original view you get when you open up BCU. Just a thought. :)