I don't disagree with the goal of simplicity for the youngest users (as you probably remember from other mails).  I do feel that young users need such a constrained browsing experience because they can't type well and have literacy issues (can't spell urls correctly), that this should demarcate browse to be a case like TamTam where there are two alternatives.  I also think many people solve the problem of young users by making a "home page" that presents constrained alternatives with icons.  This is why I believe that Moodle will have to have a much simpler theme on a school server than any I have seen so far. <div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Jul 7, 2008 at 5:01 PM, Bobby Powers <<a href="mailto:bobbypowers@gmail.com">bobbypowers@gmail.com</a>> wrote: <blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;"> <div><div></div><div class="Wj3C7c">On Mon, Jul 7, 2008 at 7:58 PM, Eben Eliason <<a href="mailto:eben.eliason@gmail.com">eben.eliason@gmail.com</a>> wrote: > 2008/7/7 Carol Lerche <<a href="mailto:cafl@msbit.com">cafl@msbit.com</a>>: >> The UI seems pretty important to me, but obviously that's a matter of >> taste.  Not everyone likes tabbed browsing.  Correct operation of websites >> that fail with the extant browser.  Direct availability of plugins and >> addons.  One example:  scrapbook, a superb research tool.  Another example >> Google Gears (according to a recent mail being ported, presumably  because >> the browser is not standard).  I am not familiar with the Firefox codebase, >> and perhaps all these things are directly available so long as the Firefox 3 >> engine is there, but if so, there desperately needs to be a detailed body of >> documentation telling how to access these capabilities. > > I certainly acknowledge that a) the sparse UI isn't for everyone and > b) the UI is young and still needs some more work (and more features). >  It started out bare bones, and is slowly gaining important features > as we go (recently URI autocompletion, find in page text, foundational > support for global bookmarks, and other features appeared!).  It > should also be noted that tabs were part of the initial design, and > were taken out both to prevent abuse of RAM and because we thought > that it might be confused adjacent to the link sharing feature, which > we felt was a really important addition for our target audience and > collaborative learning.  I'd consider adding them in light of recent > engine improvements, assuming we can prove that kids navigate them > naturally. > > Additionally, I'd love to see other individuals with interest porting > other browsers to the XO.  I think someone was working on this with > Opera.  Perhaps a more full featured Firefox could also be Sugarized. > However, we designed the current Browse as is to be purposely sparse, > to give kids the basics without overloading them with things that > could get in the way. I think there's a place for Browse as a default > browser, especially for kids under 8 or so, even if other more complex > browsers appear as viable alternatives. </div></div>+1 > - Eben > </blockquote></div> -- Frisbeetarianism is the belief that when you die, your soul goes up on the roof and gets stuck -- George Carlin