googlemad Posted July 6, 2009 Posted July 6, 2009 Could anyone share their opinions on if they think a cluttered desktop is best (i.e. all the program icons on the desktop) is best or if a non cluttered desktop is best (i.e. essentials like My Docs etc on desktop, programs all located within start menu) is best? I was hoping to trial a 'uncluttered' desktop in at least one IT suite for the next academic year as it just seems unlogical and since some of our kit that wanted upgrading this year isn't getting upgraded I thought by removing most of the desktop icons it might lead to (slightly!) improved performance on login
Edu-IT Posted July 6, 2009 Posted July 6, 2009 Personally I prefer uncluttered desktops. I don't mind navigating through the start menu to find what I need, as long as that is structured logically and everything is organised.
FN-GM Posted July 6, 2009 Posted July 6, 2009 I only have 4 icons on my desktop. 1. My Computer 2. FireFox 3. VNC 4. Remote Desktop Connection on my Mac i have one icon.
AndyD Posted July 6, 2009 Posted July 6, 2009 No clutter at all. Programs loaded through a toolbar on the taskbar and through the Start Menu for My Recent Documents etc
srochford Posted July 6, 2009 Posted July 6, 2009 I personally hate cluttered desktops but I think it is very much a personal preference which makes it very difficult if you're using mandatory profiles. With a bit of user training, Vista (and Windows 7) makes things a bit easier; you press the Windows key and start typing part of the name of the program you want. It then doesn't matter how logical or organised your desktop is; users can quickly find what they want.
dhicks Posted July 6, 2009 Posted July 6, 2009 Could anyone share their opinions on if they think a cluttered desktop is best (i.e. all the program icons on the desktop) is best or if a non cluttered desktop is best (i.e. essentials like My Docs etc on desktop, programs all located within start menu) is best? Uncluttered. Everything, including the wastebasket, should be out of the way on the toolbars. The desktop background should be a plain, solid colour. Current files you are working on should be on the desktop, arranged right-to-left in columns of related files. -- David Hicks
elsiegee40 Posted July 6, 2009 Posted July 6, 2009 Uncluttered With a well-organised Start-Menu is far preferable (and easier to maintain IMO)
EduTech Posted July 6, 2009 Posted July 6, 2009 From a school point of view, we are going for the non-cluttered way forward, students/staff will have to navigate through the start menu to get to the local apps, everything else i.e. email, vle will be accessed via the Learning Platform. From my personal point of veiw, i have a faily clutter free desktop.. i access all apps from the start menu, well up until i started using windows 7 and i now tend to have everything pinned to the task bar! the desktop now tends to be a dumping ground for download apps/docs etc and they stay there until i get chance to sort through it James.
FN-GM Posted July 6, 2009 Posted July 6, 2009 Personally i don’t think you should try to push staff on how they have their desktops etc. I think the computer should be personal. Staff should have the ability to set the desktops how they wish and what works best for them. At the end of the day we are all different, a layout that works for me might not work for another person. I do how ever think the only thing they should have on the desktop are shortcuts and in a school environment i don’t think staff should be allowed to use photos as desktops. We use the school logo on ours.
Ignatius Posted July 6, 2009 Posted July 6, 2009 Uncluttered. I have been led to believe that a cluttered desktop results in reduced performance (as mentioned the OP) though I don't know whether I was told that by someone tweaking my tail just to get me to tidy my desktop. Whether it was or not, it worked!
FN-GM Posted July 6, 2009 Posted July 6, 2009 Uncluttered. I have been led to believe that a cluttered desktop results in reduced performance (as mentioned the OP) though I don't know whether I was told that by someone tweaking my tail just to get me to tidy my desktop. Whether it was or not, it worked! Depends on the speed of machines. 80% of our machines are 3ghz dual core with 3 - 4gb ram. The others are 3.2ghz P4 with 3GB Ram. We dont really notice anything to be honest. The initial loading takes slightly longer
somabc Posted July 6, 2009 Posted July 6, 2009 Uncluttered! Vista / Win 7 searchbar on the start menu lets you quickly start any app, plus there is always launchy (windows)/ gnome do (linux) / quicksilver (mac)
powdarrmonkey Posted July 6, 2009 Posted July 6, 2009 Uncluttered. Only the most essential, 'use me' applications deserve a spot on the desktop; everything else should be relegated to the start menu where it belongs. We have a handful of important things - quick access to our VLE, Office and Webmail mostly, or specialist applications on 'task' machines. At home, my desktop is totally empty.
john Posted July 6, 2009 Posted July 6, 2009 Messy I have mine in groups of things so a load of folders, shortcuts, web links, bat files etc I don't practice what I preach though as its a nothing on your desktop please place and theres me with 2 TFTs full of icons
R0M Posted July 7, 2009 Posted July 7, 2009 I go for uncluttered when the computer is fist set up but staff can change what they have on their desktop. I personally have 5 Icons: My Computer, Firefox, Putty, Remote Desktop, a short cut to an excel spreadsheet I use all the time and the Recycle bin.
elsiegee40 Posted July 7, 2009 Posted July 7, 2009 Another argument in favour of the uncluttered dektop... It makes it quicker to spot those 500 squillion Gbyte files that the teachers have saved to their desktop once they start moaning about slow login times
garethEds Posted July 7, 2009 Posted July 7, 2009 I only have 4 icons on my desktop. 1. My Computer 2. FireFox 3. VNC 4. Remote Desktop Connection on my Mac i have one icon. I would love to be that organised. I have an awful habit of saving to the desktop so I know where everything is. Every now and again I have a sort out and move things around. Even on my Mac I save to the desktop. It annoyes me. I do find it quicker to access stuff rather than go hunting in MyDocuments or Documents. GJE
FN-GM Posted July 7, 2009 Posted July 7, 2009 I would love to be that organised. I have an awful habit of saving to the desktop so I know where everything is. Every now and again I have a sort out and move things around. Even on my Mac I save to the desktop. It annoyes me. I do find it quicker to access stuff rather than go hunting in MyDocuments or Documents. GJE Well i do have a bad habbit of saving loose files in the documents folder. Its like my bedroom looks tidy from the outside until you see all the crap under the bed.
enjay Posted July 7, 2009 Posted July 7, 2009 Staff/student desktops contain the standard MyDocs link, and that is it. The All Programs shortcuts are sorted very logically, and fairly quickly the Recently Used list on the Start Menu is sufficient for most if not all users. Our old network (C2.4) had icons and sub-folders of icons all over the desktop and it was impossible to find anything amidst all the other icons. I have been asked to put "key shortcuts" on the desktop, but don't want to open those particular flood gates. My own desktop has a few shortcuts to key network locations and files which I'm opening several times a day, but is otherwise clutter-free. Everything else is in the Recently Used or accessible via Vista's search. Home PC's desktop is totally clear. I toy the idea of giving staff access to the Quick Launch, but never really get round to looking at how to make that work.
webman Posted July 7, 2009 Posted July 7, 2009 Uncluttered. Our users (both staff and students) have nothing on the desktops - everything arranged and categorised on the Start menu.
LeMarchand Posted July 7, 2009 Posted July 7, 2009 Uncluttered. School desktops have a solid colour (one for students, another for teachers), and (from memory) Recycle Bin, IE, My Computer and My Docs with a cut-down start menu grouping programs into Literacy, Numeracy etc. School laptops have a "normal" Start Menu and when I give them out have just the Recycle Bin on the desktop + the "school" colour. Teachers and kids can do what they like thereafter (and do). My own school laptop (XP) has a desktop with my cat reclining for wallpaper and no icons, but I rarely see her as I tend to have all windows maximised and use the pinned Start Menu items/Launchy to open programs. My home desktop (Vista) follows the same plan as my laptop with a different wallpaper and a launcher in the sidebar for my "frequently used" programs/the Start Menu to launch programs. The sidebar has a clock, a memory and CPU usage gauge, the launcher, weather, scrolling RSS feeds and a lock/restart/off button panel.
gshaw Posted July 7, 2009 Posted July 7, 2009 As a standard setup for PCs, there's about 4 icons on the desktop - the usual suspects plus Word and a link to our IT Services Intranet Portal. Background is a nifty looking blue abstract one with our logo and some BGInfo bits in the bottom right corner... looks very neat On my personal PC... two 22" screens running at 1680x1050 filled with icons! I go through a LOT of files and easiest place is dumping it on the desktop... working in Photoshop is the worst for this There's also a few folders called "Clearup" and when I feel like "cleaning" everything goes in there
Gatt Posted July 7, 2009 Posted July 7, 2009 Uncluttered - I only have the Recycle Bin on mine, everything gets pinned to the start menu and the taskbar in Win7. Pupils & Staff get nothing on theirs - All icons hidden and no permissions to save anything to the desktop.. Backgrounds set with BGInfo to display their Display Name from AD, workstation ID and the school logo.. I always think its better to have a standard desktop throughout the school Will be looking at creating a Win7 Logon Background for the school as well. For an example of cluttered - see either DB or ZH's [laptop] desktop (forget which one it was now from the conference!) - virtually every pixel had some file/shortcut/folder, etc on it!!
BatchFile Posted July 7, 2009 Posted July 7, 2009 for the kids, redirected, read only and cluttered with stuff they need to go straight to for their curriculum. Staff, please themselves with the advice that the more they put on, the slower their logon will be! mine, train crash
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