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> And what is their justification for this decision? I'm not saying that
style guides don't have their place, but they are not infallible and have
even been known to be amended in later versions (even the venerable AP
manual gets changed from time to time).
>
> I refuse to accept Microsoft's opinion on a style issue unless I can hear
a justification that makes more sense than the alternatives.
Interesting thought - the way new terminology becomes "accepted." Here's my
take on the matter.
Clicking a selection/button in a program's window is a term for an action
consisting of several steps: Use the mouse to move the cursor to a desired
location in the window and pressing the left (typically) mouse button, thus
peforming a function in the program. It's just a term for this whole
process. To add the "on" is unnecessary, and may have been added because
the whole idea of a GUI was kinda sorta like working with a real console
with real buttons you pressed, toggled, pushed or turned.
I think there is some confusion regarding the physical concept of clicking
an object. There is nothing on the screen that's being "clicked" the way
you'd click one of those D-Day clickers the 101st Airborne had. You hear
that cute little "click" - or, actually, two clicks - come from the mouse
button, but that's simply a feedback-type sound that lets the user know the
button was completely and correctly pressed. (Did you ever use one of those
"quiet" keyboards or mouse devices that were semi-popular in the mid-80's?
Zero sound, zero click, zero feedback. It was like using a mouse/keyboard
made of slightly hard jello.)
Another way of looking at it: You're pressing the mouse button. In a
similar vein, would you say "press on the [F1] key"?
Paul Strasser
Windsor Technologies, Inc.
2569 Park Lane, Suite 200
Lafayette, Colorado 80026
Phone: 303-926-1982
FAX: 303-926-1510
E-mail: paul -dot- strasser -at- windsor-tech -dot- com
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