[gregbarbosa]

Wow. I hate how so many Windows applications are considerably uglier compared to Mac counterparts. The Windows apps don't seem to push forward Windows design but rather get stuck in the Windows XP design days. This is beautifully designed and clear.

The graph visualization is prime, and I love that the peaks are "rounded" out instead of sharp declines (sharp declines would make it look more like a live stock ticker).

Extremely well done, and exactly something I have been looking for. I will keep an eye out for the Mac version.

[cledet]

GitHub for Windows is another beautifully designed Windows app. They even published a blog post about it:

https://github.com/blog/1151-designing-github-for-windows

[slavik81]

It's a little over-simplified, I think. In migrating some technical writers to git, I thought it might be a good tool to introduce people to git.

I ran into 5 problems:

1. It spit out vague error messages, requiring repeating the action in the CLI to see git's actual, specific problem.

2. There's no option to do the initial clone via ssh, which was a problem because http was failing to download the full repository.

3. It can't do merges, so you end up needing to use the git CLI anyways.

4. It crashed repeatedly while trying to handle large (1GB) repositories. Very sluggish and occasionally unresponsive on smaller repositories, too, especially with large single commits.

5. Various minor bugs. People would ask me stuff like 'how do I discard changes?' and I'd discover they'd gotten into a state where the menu would not appear until the software was restarted. They found it difficult to know when something confusing was inherent or a bug.

I wanted to love it, because it looks like it's good for beginners. Unfortunately, being pretty is not the same as being easy to use.

[azatris]

I've found Sourcetree to be powerful, simple and beautiful. It is also clear and good for learning.

[slavik81]

Huh. I didn't realize Sourcetree was available for Windows. That would have been worth a shot.

In the end, I introduced them to the git CLI, simply because I could always answer or find an answer to their questions about it.

[bkurtz13]

I was able to get some people who were apprehensive about git on board after finding SourceTree.

[ark15]

I have run into 2, 3, 4, 5 as well. And in general, I often feel like the tool is not telling me what it is doing (especially while handling large repos when operations some time take considerably longer)

I have since switched to SourceTree and it is working out well so far.

[theflagbug]

Here is a library that helps to create such an interface: http://mahapps.com/

It's also mentioned in the blog post you've posted.

Disclaimer: I'm one of the developers of MahApps.Metro, I hope nobody minds the shameless self-promotion

[jmcqk6]

MahApps.Metro has been my go to for simple interfaces. Mix it with ReactiveUI and some saner DI, and it's just awesome. Thanks very much for your work!

[theflagbug]

Ha, yeah, ReactiveUI is awesome, I use it in all of my projects

[taspeotis]

Thank you for your work on MahApps. It's not perfect but does 95% of what I need when I drop it in to small WPF applications.

[theflagbug]

If you tell me what's not perfect, maybe I can fix it :)

[winslow]

It would be really cool to use this with pyQt. I know Qt has styling already so maybe it isn't needed?

[theflagbug]

This is a WPF library, so I don't think it'd work with pyQt

[winslow]

Oh I know it's a WPF, I just meant a library for pyQT or if Qt could do it by itself.

[jimmaswell]

GitHub for windows was awful last time I tried it. Didn't follow standard desktop application HIG and was annoying to figure out, sluggish. I've had a markedly better time with SourceTree. I hate it when apps force their own design instead of following the user's window manager settings and form.

[bitJericho]

Github for windows is mind bogglingly bad. It's like staring into the sun. Nothing works like you'd expect it. They do their own thing. They should consider using a design similar to btSync. Now that's a good clean UI/UX.

[gcb0]

that app has less features than a rock.

[rjbwork]

While true, it does what i need to do, sync my branches with my github for doing PRs.

[Brajeshwar]

I use Github for Mac, just for that feature - selectively write 'meaningful' comments while pushing files.

[blueskin_]

Didn't you get the metro^H^H^H^H^Hmemo? Features and options are bad as they will confuse and scare the user. </s>

[andrewd18]

Agreed. At least with a rock I can print off my source code, wrap it around the rock, and rapidly transfer it to my coworker.

[lucb1e]

Finally. I thought I was stupid for not being able to help the Windows guys in class with their git guis.

[higherpurpose]

Nailed down the whole Windows Metro style experience.

[blueskin_]

Useless for actual computing but designed to appeal to anyone a room temperature IQ.

[slowmotiony]

Looks like the Zune app for Windows.

[blueskin_]

Too metro for my tastes (or to be usable).

[rational-future]

I'm a Windows user (go on, press the down arrow) and I don't care about app design. Give me military ship grey windows, text menus and a way to hide all icons. Windows 2000 was for me the apogee of 2D design.

[jdhzzz]

I'm in on Windows 2000. Active window titles that could be set to bright colors to distinguish the active window from all the others (mine was canary yellow). I miss you Win2k.

[fencepost]

I don't have a Windows 8.x box to check on, but on Windows 7 you can still set the display attributes for active windows - it's just a bit more buried.

To do so:

  * Right-click on the Desktop background, Personalize

  * Select Window Color button/link at the bottom

  * Select "Advanced appearance settings..." link

  * Click on the Active Title Bar in the preview area, or 
    select Active Title Bar from the Item dropdown

  * Customize the font appearance, including font, color, size and weight.

[Intermernet]

I may be wrong, but as far as I know, the only way to access these settings in Win8 (without extra apps) is regedit. HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Colors has the keys you want.

[yzzxy]

Despite flat design being categorized as a fad by design news today, I would LOVE a Win2k style desktop with flat design. Could probably just be a texture swap.

[guardian5x]

Not sure if that is what you mean, but Windows 8 has flat Window borders, buttons, etc. even on the Desktop.

[yzzxy]

The design language I generally like but I really want hard-to-learn, fast-to-use utilitarian UI like in Windows.

[rplnt]

I've that aroglassy thingy disabled on Windows 7, looks about the same as XP without that ugly Luna (seriosly, who thought of that?).

[boomlinde]

I think that you are missing out on the concept of design if you limit your understanding of it to the color and shape of the widgets. When it comes to Windows, I definitely prefer the W2K look, but I wouldn't say that I don't care about app design.

[keypusher]

I'm on Win7, but it looks exactly like the classic Win2K desktop. Grey bars, bottom taskbar, no pins, classic and functional.

[lucb1e]

> go on, press the down arrow

There you go. Nothing wrong with the comment, but since you asked...

The people mentioning "this is an unpopular opinion", "why the downvotes" or "this will be downvoted to hell" always get the upvotes and indeed, I see the comment doesn't turn gray when I downvote so it means others already upvoted.

[eric_h]

On the subject of Mac counterparts, I highly recommend Little Snitch for this particular functionality.

I have no affiliation with the developer, I've just found Little Snitch to be quite useful and thought I'd share (admittedly it's graphs aren't as nice as this app's).

[film42]

Also not affiliated but I've been using Little Snitch for about 5 years now, and I can't recommend this app enough. It's the first app I install on a new OSX installation.

[Sealy]

I love the app and what it represents. You have a great story and motive behind it. I'm +1 for a mac version as I think your work is beautiful. I'll share this with a few friends.

[archagon]

Super useful if you spend a lot of time tethering. Just set everything to "ask" and build up your whitelist over time. After that, you no longer have to worry about remembering to turn off your torrents, CrashPlan, etc.

[ridgeguy]

Second your Little Snitch recommendation. Invaluable.

[ManFromUranus]

There are windows design guidelines, most developers/ISV's adhere to them.

Another point: many companies don't want to spend any time or effort on design, as for most applications, it won't translate into additional revenue. I would argue that many customers don't even care what the app looks like so long as it works and they can figure out how to use it.

Also you don't want to have to re-learn how to computer for every single application you open because somebody got bored with the current state of design for a network traffic monitoring tool.

[roadnottaken]

I agree. I hate how certain programs (e.g. Adobe Creative Suite) feel the need to re-invent UX paradigms in every new version. I 99% don't care how an app looks if it's useful.

[cledet]

Good design will make a product understandable

[nyrina]

I think in this case, there is a difference between UX and Design. They do overlap, but not completely.

UX is about the user experience - or rather, the user understanding the program.

Design is about the application looking good.

You can have both, or you can have either one, or neither.

The command prompt is a good example of the former - I'm sure we can all agree that the design isn't great, but functionality wise, it's doing it's job perfect. Giving commands to experienced users.

Perhaps it's my understanding of basic 3D programs, but I would point to 3D programs being the exact opposite, having a great design without a good UX. I always feel like I'm limited, in that I don't understand the millions of options. The programs themselves looks great, but I just don't understand how to use 90% of their functions.

[greenwalls]

Thanks! It was actually very difficult to make rounded peaks due to the way network activity tends to suddenly spike. Sometimes the mini graph at the bottom of the UI doesn't match up exactly with the top graph due to our rounded graph but we're improving it all the time. I also hate the way spiky graphs look.

[rullgrus]

It might look good on "standard" resolutions but unfortunately it doesn't handle Windows 8.1 scaling and a high resolution monitor that well. For example the "Usage" tab is unusable for me with fonts cut off in half and labels to the diagrams unreadable.

[greenwalls]

Working on a fix.

[Wintamute]

+1 for the nice design of this app! But personally, unless the curves represent actual data points, I think they're somewhat disingenuous. Granted they look prettier than spikes but they give a false representation of the resolution of the data.

[greenwalls]

You are correct, it's not perfect but we're always trying to improve the graph so it's a better representation.

[blueskin_]

>Wow. I hate how so many Windows applications are considerably uglier compared to Mac counterparts.

I lost you after this sentence. I thought you were about to use this program as a shining example of ugly windows software.