Jaunty's update notifications

[Oli Warner]

Pardon the duplicate Matthew, I forgot to click reply to all. Just
re-sending for the sake of the conversation.

On Fri, Apr 24, 2009 at 11:03 AM, Oli Warner <oli at thepcspy.com> wrote:

> Thanks for getting back to me.
>
> > If not, why on earth not? [regarding security updates being installed
>> instantly]
>>
>> That's something we need to discuss further. There are benefits to
>> installing security updates automatically, but there are also costs,
>> especially with updates to programs such as Firefox that malfunction if
>> you are running them while they are being updated.
>>
>
> Yes I can see that being an issue that needs engineering.
>
> Firefox does have session saving but I suspect that would still leave some
> users with data-loss (eg filling out Flash powered forms). And yes, services
> are another issue.
>
>
>> >...
>> > What I'm suggesting is we go all-out to ensure people know there are
>> > updates and they know what to do. Think an animated, spinning version
>> > of the update notification, balloon pop-ups explaining why installing
>> > the updates is a good idea and if they close that balloon, leave the
>> > icon in the notification area, spawning fresh balloons at increased
>> > frequency.
>> >
>> > You could argue that it's equally annoying as just spawning the update
>> > window and I'd probably agree, but I think it's that important to make
>> sure
>> > users do their updates.
>> >...
>>
>> I don't understand why you think that would be better than opening the
>> updates window.
>
>
> Well I presume it's not called the Notification Area for our health =) So
> from a desktop-unification point of view, it's obvious why, I hope.
>
> Popping up balloons demanding some action (even if they choose to click
> ignore) is a much better way for the user to understand that they have
> updates that *need* installing.
>
> Analogy time. Imagine installing updates is like paying your bills. I'd
> much rather have a letter come through the door when a bill was due. That's
> how I receive all sorts of other notifications. The current update
> notification (update manager popping up) is like waking up in the morning to
> find an agent of the company sitting in your kitchen asking for payment.
> It's intrusive and confusing.
>
> My suggestion is more intrusive than than the old behaviour but only
> because I know several people who just didn't understand what the orange
> update icon meant. An actionable balloon doesn't get in the way like a
> window does but it lets the user know that something needs doing.
>
> The extension to my idea would allow trivial updates to be done *from the
> balloon* which I think would make things even easier for non-power users
> who don't need or want to know what updates are going to be installed.
>
> But as I said before, before any changes are made, there needs to be a
> system in place so we can track how successful any given update model is.
> Very hard to guess how non-power-user treat the current methods. They might
> be ignored even more than the little orange icon. They might be a raving
> success. Who knows?!
>
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