More user interface customization please.

[mjncad]

I like Affinity products; but I use them as secondary and tertiary support software to my CAD software.  Therefore it would be nice if I could create my own custom toolbars and palettes instead of relying on the gymnastics (mental & physical) of keyboard shortcuts and drilling down through pulldown menus.  This includes the typical New, Open, Save, etc. icons found in other Windows programs.

Thanks & cheers, Matt

[Pšenda]

5 hours ago, mjncad said:

This includes the typical New, Open, Save, etc. icons found in other Windows programs.

For example, the request for the possibility of placing standard Undo/Redo buttons has been there for many years - Serif unfortunately does not reflect the needs of users.

[PaoloT]

Among the typical Windows icons there is one representing a square with a cut corner, that should mean 'Save'. What the heck is it, in the real world???

 

[GarryP]

13 minutes ago, PaoloT said:

Among the typical Windows icons there is one representing a square with a cut corner, that should mean 'Save'. What the heck is it, in the real world???

If it’s what I think you mean, it’s a representation of a 3.5” floppy disc, usually with the label at the top and the protective slider (with a gap in it) at the bottom. The chamfered corner was there so you didn’t put the disc the wrong way round into the disc drive.

[Pšenda]

1 hour ago, GarryP said:

If it’s what I think you mean, it’s a representation of a 3.5” floppy disc, usually with the label at the top and the protective slider (with a gap in it) at the bottom. The chamfered corner was there so you didn’t put the disc the wrong way round into the disc drive.

Something like that:
 

[fde101]

Considering that the first versions of Windows shipped on 5.25" disks (360 KB each) which did not have that chamfer (and which actually were "floppy" In that they could wobble a bit if you held them by the label and waved them up and down in the air), a 3.5" disk icon is relatively modern.

I wonder how many 360 KB disks it would take to distribute Windows 11...  hmm, the 22H2 ISO for x64 is 5.56 GB in size, so somewhere around 16,195 disks?  Not as many as I would have thought actually 🙂  3.5" disks had twice the capacity until they went to HD, so more like 8,098 3.5" DD disks, or 4,049 3.5" HD disks...  of course all of this ignores formatting info and assumes the disks are completely full, etc.

[GRAFKOM]

Zastanawiasz się nad propozycją sprzed 7 lat?

Nie spodziewałbym się, że Serif spełni twoje życzenie.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[PaulEC]

 

8 hours ago, PaoloT said:

Among the typical Windows icons there is one representing a square with a cut corner, that should mean 'Save'. What the heck is it, in the real world???

8 hours ago, GarryP said:

If it’s what I think you mean, it’s a representation of a 3.5” floppy disc, usually with the label at the top and the protective slider (with a gap in it) at the bottom. The chamfered corner was there so you didn’t put the disc the wrong way round into the disc drive.

If anyone thinks the Save symbol is a little anachronistic, how about the UK road sign for a railway crossing without a barrier, (Mainline steam trains ceased to run in 1968.)
Apparently it is going to be changed as so few younger drivers recognise a steam train!

[PaoloT]

6 hours ago, Pšenda said:

Something like that:

Exactly, this icon. And what should it be, in the real world? May I buy it somewhere?

[carl123]

2 minutes ago, PaoloT said:

May I buy it somewhere?

Yes, lots of places still sell them and use them

https://tonerinkonline.co.uk/products/floppy-disks-mf2hd

[PaoloT]

2 hours ago, fde101 said:

Windows shipped on 5.25" disks (360 KB each) which did not have that chamfer (and which actually were "floppy"

3.5” floppies weren't floppy at all. And hard disks were not so hard, considering how often they broke!

 

[PaoloT]

1 minute ago, carl123 said:

Yes, lots of places still sell them and use them

I will not investigate further, because I don't want to discover any new frontier of perversion…

 

[fde101]

2 hours ago, PaoloT said:

3.5” floppies weren't floppy at all.

Technically "floppy" refers to the magnetically coated disc inside the outer shell of the disk, and even with 3.5" floppy disks, those are in fact floppy - it is the outer shell of the 3.5" disk which is hard.

Of course, we've been completely ignoring 8" floppy disks throughout this thread which is now WAY off topic (not to mention the so-called "twiggy disks" - and probably no need to continue doing so either... )

[mjncad]

Thanks for all the interesting replies. 

Yep, data storage has come a long way since the first 300mb disk pack I used consisted of multiple 12" (300mm) platters in an enclosure the size of a clothes washing machine.

Whether Serif is responsive or not is something I don't have any experience with as this UI interface customization suggestion is my first.  However; all software companies have a reputation for being unresponsive to users' requests.  This has spilled over into numerous other industries.  It reminds me of Lily Tomlin's Ernestine the phone company operator who famously said, "We don't care, we don't have to; we're the phone company."

[GarryP]

For anyone who thinks floppy disks are obsolete, see:

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240510-floppy-disks-why-some-people-are-still-in-love-with-this-obsolete-computer-storage-technology 

[Pšenda]

19 hours ago, fde101 said:

and which actually were "floppy" In that they could wobble a bit if you held them by the label and waved them up and down in the air

If anyone needs it, I still have one new/packed box 🙂