Microsoft defends use of ribbon in Windows 8

Microsoft's choice to add the ribbon interface to Windows 8's Explorer has triggered some complaints, but the company is sticking by its decision.

Posting another installment of the "Building Windows 8" blog last Friday, Windows and Windows Live Division president Steven Sinofsky responded to user feedback over some recent blogs, including one from August 29 in which the company revealed that Windows Explorer would sport a ribbon interface.

That bit of news prompted a fair number of user comments, especially from many unhappy with the ribbon.

"We chose the ribbon mechanism, and to those that find that a flawed choice, there isn't much we can do other than disagree," Sinofsky wrote. "We were certain, and this proved out, that the dislike of the ribbon is most intense in the audience of this blog."

Despite the complaints, Sinofsky claims that satisfaction with software that uses the ribbon is much higher and that its usage is broader and deeper. But still, the company seems to be resigned to the fact that some people just don't like it.

"We also know a very small set of people remain unhappy," Sinofsky said. "That was true in versions before the introduction of the Ribbon mechanism, though obviously for different reasons. It might be the case that no matter what we do, there will be a small set of people that are not satisfied?"

Sinofsky did admit that there's been a lot of "back and forth" at Microsoft about the ribbon, specifically whether it's geared for beginners or more advanced users.

Looking at the history of how a user interfaces with Windows, menus used to be designed for beginners, while the keyboard was adopted by power users, according to Sinofsky. Context menus (popup menus triggered by a click of the right mouse button) were originally geared for advanced users but grew popular with everyone. And now Microsoft finds that menus and toolbars are favored by more advanced users.

The goal at Microsoft, says Sinofsky, has been try to unify all these different ways of interfacing with Windows to make things simpler and the screen less cluttered, one reason the company has gravitated toward the ribbon.

Google Buys G.Co To Create An Official URL Shortcut For Google Products

Google joins Internet biggies Twitter (T.Co) , Overstock (O.co) and Amazon (A.Co, Z.Co and K.Co) today in taking over the G.Co domain name, buying the TLD in order to build the official URL shortcut for Google products like GMail, Documents and Photos. While representatives from the .Co registry wouldn’t comment on the specific pricing of the deal, .Co-founder Juan Diego Calle recently told Reuters that in general single letter domains costs more than $1.5 million.

Google says it will use the domain in order to create a shortcut for all its products and services using the format g.co/[XYZproduct/service] and that the domain will be live sometime later in the afternoon today. ”You can visit a G.CO shortcut confident you will always end up at a page for a Google product or service,” said Google VP of consumer marketing Gary Briggs in a release.

Run out of Colombia (and with the support of the Colombian government), the .Co domain is hard core targeting itself towards tech companies big and small. Also announced today is the 500 Startups‘ .Co rebranding; the incubator will be moving from 500Startups.com to 500.co this fall. While not as mainstream, the 500 Startups move is probably just as monumental as the Google news, as it give the domain street cred and solidifies that idea that the “Co” in .Co means companies.

Emphasizing this point, 500 Startups co-founder Dave McClure said that he recommends the .Co domain to all his now 150 startups, ” “With .Co, startups can launch businesses and brands on a short, cool, credible domain name — without having to shell out a million bucks to do it.” “CO is quickly becoming the hot new geek TLD in Silicon Valley,” he said.

The .Co domain registry is two days away from the first anniversary of its public launch and most recently hit 1 million registered domains after ten months of existence. Its marketing and advertising push has been aimed at tech companies who have thus far had to settle for a lame mainstream .com domains — i.e. no vowels, weird spelling, etc — or have had to shell out tons of VC cash for the domains that they want. The new enough .Co offers a viable alternative.

“We want to be inspiring people with big dreams and big ideas to do it on a .Co.,” .Co  Director Lori Anne Wardi told me about the registry’s aspirations on the phone earlier, “We want to be a platform for the world’s next great businesses.”