Doktor Kleanor - 10.4maintenance & problem solving utility |
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Some observations - Version: 10.4, 9/15/2005 04:37PM PST
(2 of 2 users found this comment useful)
John Sawyer
This can be a useful utility for those few problems that it fixes; it will be even more useful when/if the author adds more fixes. However, for most of what Doktor Kleanor does, it doesn't tell you what commands it's going to execute. There's a general explanation in the readme file, and on the developer's web site, for what it does for problems with Safari, Mac Help, and Microsoft Word, but that's about it, and it doesn't specifically list the actual commands, which would be nice to have, since sometimes there's some disagreement among various users as to the best commands to accomplish a specific task.
I also have one little complaint about the new Terminal interface. It's OK, and cutely retro with its black screen and green lettering (though I think most users would be happier with the former GUI interface), but the first choice you're now given is to simply enter "1" if you have a problem, and "0" if you don't. I suppose this is handy for users who just want to launch the utility and see what it looks like, or who change their mind, or suddenly have something else to do, but if you enter "0", it takes Doktor Kleanor 15 seconds to respond, at which point the Doktor Kleanor Terminal window closes, but Terminal is left running. I suppose that's fine for people who want to stay in Terminal, but it would be a little confusing for people not used to using Terminal. At least there should be some feedback in Doktor Kleanor's Terminal window as to what's going to happen when you enter "0", and it should happen faster. As it is, you'd be better off just quitting from Terminal, or just closing the Doktor Kleanor window.
I also have one little complaint about the new Terminal interface. It's OK, and cutely retro with its black screen and green lettering (though I think most users would be happier with the former GUI interface), but the first choice you're now given is to simply enter "1" if you have a problem, and "0" if you don't. I suppose this is handy for users who just want to launch the utility and see what it looks like, or who change their mind, or suddenly have something else to do, but if you enter "0", it takes Doktor Kleanor 15 seconds to respond, at which point the Doktor Kleanor Terminal window closes, but Terminal is left running. I suppose that's fine for people who want to stay in Terminal, but it would be a little confusing for people not used to using Terminal. At least there should be some feedback in Doktor Kleanor's Terminal window as to what's going to happen when you enter "0", and it should happen faster. As it is, you'd be better off just quitting from Terminal, or just closing the Doktor Kleanor window.
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- Some observations
Xeator's delusion - Version: 10.4, 9/15/2005 11:08AM PST
(4 of 4 users found this comment useful)
John Sawyer
Xeator's anti-review below, really is pathetic, so here's my anti-rant, since Xeator's not the only one that thinks that way (but blissfully few do).
It may be partially true that "Apple assumes Mac users are fairly intelligent", but that doesn't mean Apple thinks they "can figure things out without assistance"--Apple provides assistance in the support section of their web site, and assistance by phone, and though Apple's web site's help documents, and some phone tech support personnel, leave something to be desired, as well as phone support being too expensive after your warranty expires (it used to be free), at least they do provide some assistance. Besides, how many people can figure everything out "without assistance"? And if assistance is available, why not avail yourself of it when that's the better option? Sure it's good to learn how to do it yourself to handle future problems, but sometimes you just need to get the problem fixed now.
Xeator's comment "If a user needs assistance, OS X assumes they know how to use a reference library and look up the solution to their problem", is pretty puzzling. Where's that reference library located? As he states, it's not the OS X Help application, which doesn't contain the answers to the kinds of problems handled by utilities like Doktor Cleaner. So where is that library? I don't have one of those in my home town, nor have I found such a single, central web location for all Mac solutions. I'd like a web address, please. And I don't mean any of the Mac troubleshooting sites--I use them all the time since that's part of my job, and they're often very helpful, but it's dumb to expect everyone to go on a troubleshooting discussion spree every time some OS X problem arises. Since new problems crop up with OS X all the time, why not have a central troubleshooting UTILITY than can handle a lot of these problems? I wouldn't try to impose on someone, Mac or Windows user, the automatic requirement that they should have to devote a large part of each day to researching and learning how to troubleshoot their Mac. I know that's sometimes what needs to be done, but if a utility can sometimes short-circuit that process when you need to get a project done, so much the better. If that utility describes how it does each fix, that would be even better--I haven't tried Doktor Cleaner yet, so I don't know if it does that.
My guess is that Xeator has been careful not to have any real experience with computer users other than those at his own "level". I've worked with thousands of both average and above-average Mac users since 1985, and even after many of them have used the Mac for years, many people either don't know or have to be reminded about some of the most basic things--for instance, the Chooser under pre-OS X, to select their printer. The same "permanent beginner" phenomenon is true with many people using OS X. I don't particularly like what this says about a lot of people, but it's a fact. What's going on with these users is the usual variety of cultural realities--most people don't want to become computer jockeys just to get their work done, and others are still intimidated by computers. These are still real people, with plenty of other skills. I don't give them a hard time.
So to think that all Mac users are automatically able, or have the time, to wade through the web sites, execute scripts manually in Terminal, etc., is pretty naïve. You can WANT that to be true, but it ain't gonna happen. And it doesn't have to be true.
It may be partially true that "Apple assumes Mac users are fairly intelligent", but that doesn't mean Apple thinks they "can figure things out without assistance"--Apple provides assistance in the support section of their web site, and assistance by phone, and though Apple's web site's help documents, and some phone tech support personnel, leave something to be desired, as well as phone support being too expensive after your warranty expires (it used to be free), at least they do provide some assistance. Besides, how many people can figure everything out "without assistance"? And if assistance is available, why not avail yourself of it when that's the better option? Sure it's good to learn how to do it yourself to handle future problems, but sometimes you just need to get the problem fixed now.
Xeator's comment "If a user needs assistance, OS X assumes they know how to use a reference library and look up the solution to their problem", is pretty puzzling. Where's that reference library located? As he states, it's not the OS X Help application, which doesn't contain the answers to the kinds of problems handled by utilities like Doktor Cleaner. So where is that library? I don't have one of those in my home town, nor have I found such a single, central web location for all Mac solutions. I'd like a web address, please. And I don't mean any of the Mac troubleshooting sites--I use them all the time since that's part of my job, and they're often very helpful, but it's dumb to expect everyone to go on a troubleshooting discussion spree every time some OS X problem arises. Since new problems crop up with OS X all the time, why not have a central troubleshooting UTILITY than can handle a lot of these problems? I wouldn't try to impose on someone, Mac or Windows user, the automatic requirement that they should have to devote a large part of each day to researching and learning how to troubleshoot their Mac. I know that's sometimes what needs to be done, but if a utility can sometimes short-circuit that process when you need to get a project done, so much the better. If that utility describes how it does each fix, that would be even better--I haven't tried Doktor Cleaner yet, so I don't know if it does that.
My guess is that Xeator has been careful not to have any real experience with computer users other than those at his own "level". I've worked with thousands of both average and above-average Mac users since 1985, and even after many of them have used the Mac for years, many people either don't know or have to be reminded about some of the most basic things--for instance, the Chooser under pre-OS X, to select their printer. The same "permanent beginner" phenomenon is true with many people using OS X. I don't particularly like what this says about a lot of people, but it's a fact. What's going on with these users is the usual variety of cultural realities--most people don't want to become computer jockeys just to get their work done, and others are still intimidated by computers. These are still real people, with plenty of other skills. I don't give them a hard time.
So to think that all Mac users are automatically able, or have the time, to wade through the web sites, execute scripts manually in Terminal, etc., is pretty naïve. You can WANT that to be true, but it ain't gonna happen. And it doesn't have to be true.
Simple and sweet !!
Thank you !!!