When customizing the colors of the IDE, I'd prefer that changes are applied automatically, without having to click "apply changes". After clicking OK in a color dialog, I've already decided what the new value has to be.
I can imagine that for some uses there are situations where they don't want changes to be applied immediately, so the "apply changes" button serves a purpose.
But the confirmation that follows can be removed entirely. Of course users want to apply the changes.
The fact that they clicked a button that says "apply changes" less than a second ago is a strong indicator for that. :)
There would be an argument to keep this confirmation if it provided extra information (warnings, or an indication of what exactly will be updated) that helps them decide to continue or not. But right now, you click "apply changes", and the next question is: "do you want to apply the changes?". I don't think that many people change their mind at that point. It just gets in the way.
Some usability thing:
When customizing the colors of the IDE, I'd prefer that changes are applied automatically, without having to click "apply changes". After clicking OK in a color dialog, I've already decided what the new value has to be.
I can imagine that for some uses there are situations where they don't want changes to be applied immediately, so the "apply changes" button serves a purpose.
But the confirmation that follows can be removed entirely. Of course users want to apply the changes. The fact that they clicked a button that says "apply changes" less than a second ago is a strong indicator for that. :)
There would be an argument to keep this confirmation if it provided extra information (warnings, or an indication of what exactly will be updated) that helps them decide to continue or not. But right now, you click "apply changes", and the next question is: "do you want to apply the changes?". I don't think that many people change their mind at that point. It just gets in the way.