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yet another Microsoft blogger

# Wednesday, June 13, 2007

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Most annoying Vista Feature: Replace Confirmations

In months of using Vista, I am generally very happy with the upgrade. There are dozens of features I have come to rely on, and a few that have just saved my ass a few times. However, there are things I do all the time, that are far worse on Vista.

Z-Order bug when copying files via FTP.

I copy files to my FTP server quite frequently. I like doing it from the shell cause it's fast and easy. However, whenever I try and replace a file that already exists I am greeted with this:

image

When what I want to see is this:

image

But this dialog is hiding behind the useless dialog saying it's calculating the time required to do something.

It doesn't stop there. Annoying issue #2.

Copying files locally or to a network share is annoying.

First thing is that I am greeted with this:

image

It seems that calculating time happens forever, while file copying just hangs out.

Then when you are replacing duplicate files you get this:

image

Holy Cow, hoe much information do I need to read here? And why are so many colors pictures and icons use? Compare this to XP where you have a dialog I don't even remember what it says, followed by some buttons I just know to click. The only improvement I can think of here is that you can check "Do this for next n conflicts" as opposed to just putting up a modal dialog each time.

I'd be happy if issue #1 is fixed in SP1, but issue #2, while annoying, I can live with.

Software
Posted Thursday, June 14, 2007    Permalink    Comments [11]  View blog reactions

 

Wednesday, June 13, 2007 8:24:43 PM (Pacific Daylight Time, UTC-07:00)
I, for one, think "replace confirmation" is one of the best feature of Vista. It gives me, in one view, all I need to know about the replacer and replacee and is a big timesaver for me.

I agree with you that for those who dislike it there should be an option to turn it off or get a leaner version.
Samir Shah
Wednesday, June 13, 2007 8:54:18 PM (Pacific Daylight Time, UTC-07:00)
I gave up with the built in ftp this weekend because of issue number 1. It drives me nuts.
I don't know why but for issue two i find it far more confusing. a simple message box telling me there is a file with the same name is all i need ( maybe a details button/tab?) I constantly forget to check apply to all. what a pain.
Aaron Fischer
Wednesday, June 13, 2007 9:20:42 PM (Pacific Daylight Time, UTC-07:00)
Dude! That zorder problem absolutely sucks! I use FTP all the time and it's a total PITA.
Steve Trefethen
Wednesday, June 13, 2007 9:23:41 PM (Pacific Daylight Time, UTC-07:00)
One more thing, I did a little write-up on that wonderful Copy File dialog myself.
Steve Trefethen
Wednesday, June 13, 2007 9:25:59 PM (Pacific Daylight Time, UTC-07:00)
Ditto both of these, especially the ftp dialog. I wonder how/why that wasn't fixed. I agree, though, the general experience on Vista is great. Kudos.
John Walker
Wednesday, June 13, 2007 9:29:53 PM (Pacific Daylight Time, UTC-07:00)
The problem with the dialog is that it destroyed my congnitive mind map. The correct answer to dialog #2 was always "Yes".... I never had to read any text. Now I have to read all sorts of text and click checkboxes followed by a button to do the same thing that took one click.
Omar Shahine
Wednesday, June 13, 2007 11:07:48 PM (Pacific Daylight Time, UTC-07:00)
In issue #2, I got used to clicking the area instead of the button. The amount of information I get is what makes the dialog very good for me.
Samir Shah
Thursday, June 14, 2007 6:43:18 AM (Pacific Daylight Time, UTC-07:00)
Issue #1 is really annoying. I had bugged this during the Vista beta only to get a won't fix - I hope they will fix it in SP1 but I doubt it as it probably won't meet the bar.
Gregor
Saturday, June 16, 2007 3:28:45 AM (Pacific Daylight Time, UTC-07:00)
I like the "Copy, but keep both files" option alot. The rest is just "whatever", has to be done so...live with it :P
Daniel
Tuesday, June 19, 2007 7:52:30 AM (Pacific Daylight Time, UTC-07:00)
I love the new replace dialog. It's much better. As a general UI design guidelines I think you should avoid message boxes that have a Yes/No response because they are too ambiguous and require you to read and comprehend the entire message, even for routine messages.

For example, do you remember what Windows XP says if you try to copy a folder that already exists? It's pretty crappy. It's something like do you want to copy the folders because the contents of the folder will be replaced by what you're copying. Not in those words but something along those lines. When really all that matters are the files.

So the new dialog is nice because 1) it waits until the end to give you conflicts 2) as you mentioned you have that checkbox which eliminates the need for a Yes to All and gives the ability to do a No For All without shift clicking and 3) you can easily understand what your action is going to do. It tells you which file is newer, the command you carry out isn't a yes/no question.

Oh yeah and z-order bug sucks.
Josh Einstein
Saturday, November 03, 2007 4:32:52 PM (Pacific Daylight Time, UTC-07:00)
The problem is not the dialog boxes. The real problem is that Vista does not replace the folder and its files with new ones. It simply merges the contents of the folders. In other terms, it creates a new folder that contains old files with new files. It is really sh....ty.
Adam Leite
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