Winstep

Software Technologies


 Winstep Forums


Print view
Board index : Winstep Forums : General Discussion  [ 149 posts ] Go to page Previous  1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ... 10  Next
Author Message
 Post subject: Re: So, what's next after v18.1?
PostPosted: Sun Jan 28, 2018 6:58 pm 
Offline
Site Admin
Site Admin
User avatar

Joined: Thu Feb 26, 2004 8:30 pm
Posts: 11930
Ok, slight existential doubt:

The icon for the new 'Power Saving' internal command is a green leaf, which is a symbol of energy saving.

Attachment:
GreenLeef2.png
GreenLeef2.png [ 43.79 KiB | Viewed 17145 times ]


And here lies the problem: on one side, a green button should mean maximum energy savings are in effect, on the other, green should be the normal state, yellow the intermediate, and red should mean full power savings are in effect (since this will disable parts of the normal functioning of the application).

_OR_ (a bit like the Alarm Manager IC) gray scale for off, green for on (Medium) and red for Full power savings. Or should green be Full power savings and yellow Medium?

What do you guys think?

Also, there is an alternative icon where the green-yellow-red state progression might make more sense, but I like the green leaf icon better:

Attachment:
PowerOn2.png
PowerOn2.png [ 28.09 KiB | Viewed 17145 times ]

_________________
Jorge Coelho
Winstep Xtreme - Xtreme Power!
http://www.winstep.net - Winstep Software Technologies


Back to top
 Profile WWW 
 
 Post subject: Re: So, what's next after v18.1?
PostPosted: Sun Jan 28, 2018 6:59 pm 
Offline
Site Admin
Site Admin
User avatar

Joined: Thu Feb 26, 2004 8:30 pm
Posts: 11930
seeker wrote:
didnt means seconds, meant minutes. it was actually the clock that made me point out modules stopping working while i was watching a movie on other screen as i noticed wrong time


Yeah, but that has already been fixed in v18.1.

_________________
Jorge Coelho
Winstep Xtreme - Xtreme Power!
http://www.winstep.net - Winstep Software Technologies


Back to top
 Profile WWW 
 
 Post subject: Re: So, what's next after v18.1?
PostPosted: Sun Jan 28, 2018 7:45 pm 
Offline

Joined: Tue Mar 01, 2016 11:46 am
Posts: 568
winstep wrote:
seeker wrote:
didnt means seconds, meant minutes. it was actually the clock that made me point out modules stopping working while i was watching a movie on other screen as i noticed wrong time


Yeah, but that has already been fixed in v18.1.

i know, my point is that the clock is one of the things that shouldnt go below once a minute (opposed to some things that can stop completely)


Back to top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: So, what's next after v18.1?
PostPosted: Sun Jan 28, 2018 8:19 pm 
Offline
Site Admin
Site Admin
User avatar

Joined: Thu Feb 26, 2004 8:30 pm
Posts: 11930
seeker wrote:
i know, my point is that the clock is one of the things that shouldnt go below once a minute (opposed to some things that can stop completely)


Goes without saying... and how about an opinion on the above? :P

_________________
Jorge Coelho
Winstep Xtreme - Xtreme Power!
http://www.winstep.net - Winstep Software Technologies


Back to top
 Profile WWW 
 
 Post subject: Re: So, what's next after v18.1?
PostPosted: Sun Jan 28, 2018 9:37 pm 
Offline

Joined: Tue Mar 01, 2016 11:46 am
Posts: 568
winstep wrote:
seeker wrote:
i know, my point is that the clock is one of the things that shouldnt go below once a minute (opposed to some things that can stop completely)


Goes without saying... and how about an opinion on the above? :P


maybe grey for off, green+ white for medium, green+orange for max?


Back to top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: So, what's next after v18.1?
PostPosted: Sun Jan 28, 2018 9:48 pm 
Offline
Site Admin
Site Admin
User avatar

Joined: Thu Feb 26, 2004 8:30 pm
Posts: 11930
seeker wrote:
maybe grey for off, green+ white for medium, green+orange for max?


Well, only the button itself changes color, the leaf remains white.

So gray button for off, green button for medium, orange button for max? Why orange and not red?

_________________
Jorge Coelho
Winstep Xtreme - Xtreme Power!
http://www.winstep.net - Winstep Software Technologies


Back to top
 Profile WWW 
 
 Post subject: Re: So, what's next after v18.1?
PostPosted: Sun Jan 28, 2018 10:49 pm 
Offline
Site Admin
Site Admin
User avatar

Joined: Thu Feb 26, 2004 8:30 pm
Posts: 11930
In the mean time here is what I have so far:

Medium Power Saving Mode:

1. All cosmetic animations are disabled. This means:

a) Wanda stops swimming.
b) Rotating globe style of the Email Checker module stops rotating even if there is mail.
c) Smooth gauge needle animations are disabled (i.e.; needle jumps from value to value)
d) User Interface slide animations are disabled.
e) Battery module charging animation is disabled.
f) Flip calendar day switching animation is disabled.
g) Moon module image is only refreshed once per hour instead of every 3 minutes.

2. All modules that usually update once per second start updating every 2 seconds.

3. Clock module is only updated every minute instead of every second.

Full Power Saving Mode:

1. In addition to everything already happening for Medium Power Saving mode, modules now only update once every 4 seconds.

###

This is just what I managed to come up with so far. There is a lot more that can be done throughout the application, but the module update rate - and disabling cosmetic animations - is, without a doubt, what will have the most impact. Pity there is no easy way to measure it.

Besides decreasing the modules update rate, I wonder what else should be reserved to the highest power saving mode. The idea is that the Medium Power Saving Mode is something the user would want to *voluntarily* activate the second his laptop starts running on battery, so it should have a noticeable effect but not be so restrictive that the user would not want to activate it unless his battery was almost critical.

For instance, what about the Shelf expanding/collapsing, sub-dock opening, etc, animations: in which mode should those be disabled?

Any ideas? This is always easier with feedback from you guys. :)

_________________
Jorge Coelho
Winstep Xtreme - Xtreme Power!
http://www.winstep.net - Winstep Software Technologies


Back to top
 Profile WWW 
 
 Post subject: Re: So, what's next after v18.1?
PostPosted: Sun Jan 28, 2018 10:51 pm 
Offline

Joined: Tue Mar 01, 2016 11:46 am
Posts: 568
winstep wrote:
seeker wrote:
maybe grey for off, green+ white for medium, green+orange for max?


Well, only the button itself changes color, the leaf remains white.

So gray button for off, green button for medium, orange button for max? Why orange and not red?

well i was thinking the whole button would change, leaf too, and i find full on complementary contrast (red on green) bit to intense, so orange instead of red

that way you would stay with logic green=eco while still having difference between modes


Back to top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: So, what's next after v18.1?
PostPosted: Sun Jan 28, 2018 10:58 pm 
Offline

Joined: Tue Mar 01, 2016 11:46 am
Posts: 568
winstep wrote:
In the mean time here is what I have so far:

Medium Power Saving Mode:

1. All cosmetic animations are disabled. This means:

a) Wanda stops swimming.
b) Rotating globe style of the Email Checker module stops rotating even if there is mail.
c) Smooth gauge needle animations are disabled (i.e.; needle jumps from value to value)
d) User Interface slide animations are disabled.
e) Battery module charging animation is disabled.
f) Flip calendar day switching animation is disabled.
g) Moon module image is only refreshed once per hour instead of every 3 minutes.

2. All modules that usually update once per second start updating every 2 seconds.

3. Clock module is only updated every minute instead of every second.

Full Power Saving Mode:

1. In addition to everything already happening for Medium Power Saving mode, modules now only update once every 4 seconds.

###

This is just what I managed to come up with so far. There is a lot more that can be done throughout the application, but the module update rate - and disabling cosmetic animations - is, without a doubt, what will have the most impact. Pity there is no easy way to measure it.

Besides decreasing the modules update rate, I wonder what else should be reserved to the highest power saving mode. The idea is that the Medium Power Saving Mode is something the user would want to *voluntarily* activate the second his laptop starts running on battery, so it should have a noticeable effect but not be so restrictive that the user would not want to activate it unless his battery was almost critical.

For instance, what about the Shelf expanding/collapsing, sub-dock opening, etc, animations: in which mode should those be disabled?

Any ideas? This is always easier with feedback from you guys. :)


maybe adding an option for user to further be able to tweak the individual module settings for modes?

different users my have different needs,
for example some might want to keep the clock running, slow the cpu meter as default, slow down ram meter even more, and completely disable weather module, moon and netmeter but leave them showing,turn wanda off, while leaving email checker at its original settings


Back to top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: So, what's next after v18.1?
PostPosted: Sun Jan 28, 2018 11:01 pm 
Offline

Joined: Tue Mar 01, 2016 11:46 am
Posts: 568
winstep wrote:

For instance, what about the Shelf expanding/collapsing, sub-dock opening, etc, animations: in which mode should those be disabled?


do those come up enough and use enough resources to make any difference?

if so, how big an impact do they have?

dont see them having that big of an impact that they should go into medium mode


Back to top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: So, what's next after v18.1?
PostPosted: Sun Jan 28, 2018 11:06 pm 
Offline

Joined: Tue Mar 01, 2016 11:46 am
Posts: 568
winstep wrote:

1. All cosmetic animations are disabled. This means:



what about sounds? when should all non critical sounds be turned off

(i would consider anything except new email notifications, user alarms, and piracy welcome mat non critical)


Back to top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: So, what's next after v18.1?
PostPosted: Sun Jan 28, 2018 11:09 pm 
Offline
Site Admin
Site Admin
User avatar

Joined: Thu Feb 26, 2004 8:30 pm
Posts: 11930
seeker wrote:
do those come up enough and use enough resources to make any difference?


Absolutely everything makes a difference. It's a cumulative effect too.

seeker wrote:
if so, how big an impact do they have?


No idea, it depends on usage patterns and I also have no way to measure what that impact actually is, all I know is that every little bit matters.

So, the real question must become: would disabling those animations be something that would make the user prefer NOT to activate the medium power savings mode? If so, then it should be moved to full power savings mode.

seeker wrote:
what about sounds? when should all non critical sounds be turned off


Good question. lol

But if you turn off, say, the Shelf expand/collapse animation, the associated sound effect also goes with it.

_________________
Jorge Coelho
Winstep Xtreme - Xtreme Power!
http://www.winstep.net - Winstep Software Technologies


Back to top
 Profile WWW 
 
 Post subject: Re: So, what's next after v18.1?
PostPosted: Sun Jan 28, 2018 11:17 pm 
Offline

Joined: Tue Mar 01, 2016 11:46 am
Posts: 568
winstep wrote:

But if you turn off, say, the Shelf expand/collapse animation, the associated sound effect also goes with it.


for one minute/hourly clock announcements cant be controlled that way (who DOES use minute clock sounds, how can that not be annoying?)
and there are probbably some more


Back to top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: So, what's next after v18.1?
PostPosted: Sun Jan 28, 2018 11:20 pm 
Offline

Joined: Tue Mar 01, 2016 11:46 am
Posts: 568
winstep wrote:
So, the real question must become: would disabling those animations be something that would make the user prefer NOT to activate the medium power savings mode? If so, then it should be moved to full power savings mode.


could be, no idea how jarring the change would be. and no idea how many users would be bothered by it, but somehow it feels like something for full savings mode to me


Back to top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: So, what's next after v18.1?
PostPosted: Mon Jan 29, 2018 7:35 am 
Offline
Site Admin
Site Admin
User avatar

Joined: Thu Feb 26, 2004 8:30 pm
Posts: 11930
seeker wrote:
but somehow it feels like something for full savings mode to me


Agreed.

In the mean time added voice notifications to the events: 'Power saving enabled', 'Ultra power saving enabled' (stole the 'Ultra' from Samsung) and 'Power saving disabled'.

Don't want users getting into a power saving mode by accident and then thinking the software is broken or something. :)

Anyway, couldn't find the exact voices that powered the other voice events, had to settle for similar male and female voices. And that's just for English... how the hell do you say 'Power Saving Enabled' in German?

_________________
Jorge Coelho
Winstep Xtreme - Xtreme Power!
http://www.winstep.net - Winstep Software Technologies


Back to top
 Profile WWW 
 
Post new topic Reply to topic Board index : Winstep Forums : General Discussion  [ 149 posts ] Go to page Previous  1, 2, 3, 4, 5 ... 10  Next
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 42 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Search for:
Jump to:  
cron