The Marginalization of the Progress Meter
Back in the late 80's, when using computers was fun, I remember installing software on my Amiga 500 and a progress meter would keep me informed as to the current state of completion of the installation routine. That was when progress meters were "progress meters" and wizards were characters in games.
Recently I've had the pleasure of installing or uninstalling a number of different pieces of software on various computers: Intellisync on a workstation at work, DSL software on my parents' computer, and Windows updates on my work PC. The fucking progress meter is useless. With Intellisync, the meter reaches 100% several times before it is actually done. With the DSL software, it went through two cycles during an uninstall and then there was a long pause with no progress meter while the hard disk was still churning away. And with Windows update I got a progress meter for downloading and then another for installing, but the one for installing didn't start moving until several seconds had passed. Progress meters suck shit.
Clearly the progress meter is a useless tool in software installations these days. It has become a requirement for all software installers, but the reason for this is lost.
A progress meter should start as soon as the "install" or "start" button is clicked. It should indicate the relative amount of time for an installation to complete. There should be one and only one progress meter for all installations, with individual steps of the installation using only a proportionate share of the meter. And lastly, it should hit 100% at the moment that the installation is done, not ten seconds before and not before any final summary pages are displayed.
Watching a progress meter is like watching water boil; it takes forever because you seem to be hanging on each little blip of progress. With progress meters, unlike boiling water, sometimes you have to watch it five times before it is done. If they have to be so irrelevant, stick a fucking game or a movie on there.
Recently I've had the pleasure of installing or uninstalling a number of different pieces of software on various computers: Intellisync on a workstation at work, DSL software on my parents' computer, and Windows updates on my work PC. The fucking progress meter is useless. With Intellisync, the meter reaches 100% several times before it is actually done. With the DSL software, it went through two cycles during an uninstall and then there was a long pause with no progress meter while the hard disk was still churning away. And with Windows update I got a progress meter for downloading and then another for installing, but the one for installing didn't start moving until several seconds had passed. Progress meters suck shit.
Clearly the progress meter is a useless tool in software installations these days. It has become a requirement for all software installers, but the reason for this is lost.
A progress meter should start as soon as the "install" or "start" button is clicked. It should indicate the relative amount of time for an installation to complete. There should be one and only one progress meter for all installations, with individual steps of the installation using only a proportionate share of the meter. And lastly, it should hit 100% at the moment that the installation is done, not ten seconds before and not before any final summary pages are displayed.
Watching a progress meter is like watching water boil; it takes forever because you seem to be hanging on each little blip of progress. With progress meters, unlike boiling water, sometimes you have to watch it five times before it is done. If they have to be so irrelevant, stick a fucking game or a movie on there.
posted by Andy at
1:03 PM
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