Skip to main content
Microsoft
The Old New Thing
The Old New Thing
  • Home
  • DevBlogs
    • App Center
    • Azure DevOps
    • Notification Hubs
    • Visual Studio
    • Visual Studio Code
    • Visual Studio for Mac
    • Azure Artifacts
    • Azure Boards
    • Azure Pipelines
    • Azure Repos
    • Azure Test Plans
    • DevOps
    • C++
    • Java
    • Java Blog in Chinese
    • JavaScript
    • PowerShell
    • Python
    • Q#
    • Scripting
    • TypeScript
    • Visual Basic
    • Visual C#
    • Visual F#
    • .NET
    • ASP.NET
    • NuGet
    • Xamarin
    • Apps for Windows
    • Azure Government
    • Azure SDKs
    • Bing Dev Center
    • Command Line
    • Developer Support
    • DirectX Developer Blog
    • IoT Developer
    • Math In Office
    • Microsoft Edge Dev
    • Microsoft Azure
    • Office 365 Development
    • Old New Thing
    • PAX Graph
    • PAX Media
    • PAX Windows
    • Perf and Diagnostics
    • PIX on Windows
    • Startup Developers
    • Surface Duo
    • Sustainable Software
    • Windows Search Platform
    • Azure Cosmos DB
    • Azure Data Studio
    • Azure SQL
    • Azure Synapse Analytics
    • OData
    • Revolutions R
    • SQL Server Data Tools

    The Old New Thing

    August 2007 | Page 2 of 5 | The Old New Thing

    What happens at LL Bean at three in the morning?
    What happens at LL Bean at three in the morning?
    Raymond ChenRaymond ChenAugust 24, 2007Aug 24, 200708/24/07
    The LL Bean flagship store in Maine is open 24 hours a day. Joshua Gleason went to see what people do there at three in the morning. There are people around, but they're not shopping...

    Comments are closed.0Non-Computer
    Microspeak: Value proposition
    Microspeak: Value proposition
    Raymond ChenRaymond ChenAugust 24, 2007Aug 24, 200708/24/07
    This term is used outside Microsoft as well, but it still bothers me. The value proposition is the benefit that the end-user gets from your product, the thing that convinces them to buy it. What makes it even more annoying is when it is abbreviated to value prop. Sample usage: "The main value proposition of this model is that it permits ...

    Comments are closed.0MicrospeakOther
    Which Windows font is named after a tabloid headline?
    Which Windows font is named after a tabloid headline?
    Raymond ChenRaymond ChenAugust 23, 2007Aug 23, 200708/23/07
    Daniel Will-Harris explains the background of several Windows fonts, including the story of where the names for some of the fonts came from. Do you know which Windows font is named after a tabloid headline about aliens? On the topic of font history, the designer of Comic Sans, Vincent Connare, has written a bit on the font's history on ...

    Comments are closed.0History
    Nested fly-out menus are a usability nightmare
    Nested fly-out menus are a usability nightmare
    Raymond ChenRaymond ChenAugust 23, 2007Aug 23, 200708/23/07
    The Windows Vista Start menu abandoned the flyout model for the "All Programs" menu because nested fly-out menus are a usability nightmare, and not just for novices. Research has shown that once you have menus more than one level deep, you have the problem that the slightly wiggle of the mouse can take the big, complicated menu hierarchy that...

    Comments are closed.0Other
    Disclaimers and such
    Disclaimers and such
    Raymond ChenRaymond ChenAugust 22, 2007Aug 22, 200708/22/07
    Statements made in a general sense may have exceptions even if such exceptions are not explicitly acknowledged. Example: "Dogs have four legs." There are dogs which do not have four legs, but as a general rule, dogs have four legs. Statements are not independently fact-checked. They are based on personal experience and recollection, augmented...

    Comments are closed.0OtherPages
    The Northwest Mahler Orchestra presents Messiaen's Turangalîla Symphony
    The Northwest Mahler Orchestra presents Messiaen's Turangalîla Symphony
    Raymond ChenRaymond ChenAugust 22, 2007Aug 22, 200708/22/07
    On September 9th, the newly-renamed Northwest Mahler Orchestra will be performing the Seattle premiere of Olivier Messiaen's Turangalîla Symphony at Benaroya Hall. I first heard this piece back in the 1990's in a live performance by the San Francisco Symphony. It's a large, sprawling work, and I was wise to have attended the pre-...

    Comments are closed.0Non-Computer
    Windows Vista has more extended options on the context menu
    Windows Vista has more extended options on the context menu
    Raymond ChenRaymond ChenAugust 22, 2007Aug 22, 200708/22/07
    As we saw when we discussed context menus, holding down the shift key when opening a context menu adds so-called extended verbs to the menu. These are verbs that are less frequently used whose presence would clutter up the menu or pose an attractive nuisance. For example, the "Command Prompt Here" command is an extended command since your ...

    Comments are closed.0Tips/Support
    At last you can turn off the USB 2.0 balloon
    At last you can turn off the USB 2.0 balloon
    Raymond ChenRaymond ChenAugust 21, 2007Aug 21, 200708/21/07
    One of the more annoying messages in Windows XP¹ is the "This USB device can perform faster" balloon that appears whenever you plug in a USB 2.0-capable device into a USB 1.0 port. When I click on that balooon, I get a message that says, "Sorry, you don't have any USB 2.0 ports. You'll have to install one to be able to...

    Comments are closed.0Tips/Support
    We're all in this together: Maintaining common tools
    We're all in this together: Maintaining common tools
    Raymond ChenRaymond ChenAugust 21, 2007Aug 21, 200708/21/07
    In the Windows division, as with any other product group, there is a common "bag of tools" that people tend to rely on to get through the day. Occasionally, somebody will encounter a problem with one of these tools. When I run Program Q, I get the message XYZ, and then it appears to get stuck in an infinite loop allocating more and more ...

    Comments are closed.0OtherThe social skills of a thermonuclear device
    When you copy a folder, why are the contents merged with the existing contents?
    When you copy a folder, why are the contents merged with the existing contents?
    Raymond ChenRaymond ChenAugust 20, 2007Aug 20, 200708/20/07
    When you use Explorer to copy a folder, and the folder already exists at the destination, Explorer merges the contents of the folder being copied with the folder that is already there. Why was this behavior chosen instead of replacing the existing folder? My colleague Bob Day explains.¹ Nitpicker's Corner ¹Although this statement...

    Comments are closed.0Other
    • Previous page
    • Page 1
    • Page 2
    • Page 3
    • Page 4
    • Page 5
    • Next page
    Archive
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014
  • February 2014
  • January 2014
  • December 2013
  • November 2013
  • October 2013
  • September 2013
  • August 2013
  • July 2013
  • June 2013
  • May 2013
  • April 2013
  • March 2013
  • February 2013
  • January 2013
  • December 2012
  • November 2012
  • October 2012
  • September 2012
  • August 2012
  • July 2012
  • June 2012
  • May 2012
  • April 2012
  • March 2012
  • February 2012
  • January 2012
  • December 2011
  • November 2011
  • October 2011
  • September 2011
  • August 2011
  • July 2011
  • June 2011
  • May 2011
  • April 2011
  • March 2011
  • February 2011
  • January 2011
  • December 2010
  • November 2010
  • October 2010
  • September 2010
  • August 2010
  • July 2010
  • June 2010
  • May 2010
  • April 2010
  • March 2010
  • February 2010
  • January 2010
  • December 2009
  • November 2009
  • October 2009
  • September 2009
  • August 2009
  • July 2009
  • June 2009
  • May 2009
  • April 2009
  • March 2009
  • February 2009
  • January 2009
  • December 2008
  • November 2008
  • October 2008
  • September 2008
  • August 2008
  • July 2008
  • June 2008
  • May 2008
  • April 2008
  • March 2008
  • February 2008
  • January 2008
  • December 2007
  • November 2007
  • October 2007
  • September 2007
  • August 2007
  • July 2007
  • June 2007
  • May 2007
  • April 2007
  • March 2007
  • February 2007
  • January 2007
  • December 2006
  • November 2006
  • October 2006
  • September 2006
  • August 2006
  • July 2006
  • June 2006
  • May 2006
  • April 2006
  • March 2006
  • February 2006
  • January 2006
  • December 2005
  • November 2005
  • October 2005
  • September 2005
  • August 2005
  • July 2005
  • June 2005
  • May 2005
  • April 2005
  • March 2005
  • February 2005
  • January 2005
  • December 2004
  • November 2004
  • October 2004
  • September 2004
  • August 2004
  • July 2004
  • June 2004
  • May 2004
  • April 2004
  • March 2004
  • February 2004
  • January 2004
  • December 2003
  • November 2003
  • October 2003
  • September 2003
  • August 2003
  • July 2003
  • Relevant Links

    I wrote a book
    Ground rules
    Disclaimers and such
    My necktie's Twitter

    Categories

    Code
    History
    Tips/Support
    Other
    Non-Computer

    Stay informed

    Login
    Code Block
    What's new
    • Surface Duo
    • Surface Laptop Go
    • Surface Pro X
    • Surface Go 2
    • Surface Book 3
    • Microsoft 365
    • Windows 10 apps
    • HoloLens 2
    Microsoft Store
    • Account profile
    • Download Center
    • Microsoft Store support
    • Returns
    • Order tracking
    • Virtual workshops and training
    • Microsoft Store Promise
    • Financing
    Education
    • Microsoft in education
    • Office for students
    • Office 365 for schools
    • Deals for students & parents
    • Microsoft Azure in education
    Enterprise
    • Azure
    • AppSource
    • Automotive
    • Government
    • Healthcare
    • Manufacturing
    • Financial services
    • Retail
    Developer
    • Microsoft Visual Studio
    • Windows Dev Center
    • Developer Center
    • Microsoft developer program
    • Channel 9
    • Microsoft 365 Dev Center
    • Microsoft 365 Developer Program
    • Microsoft Garage
    Company
    • Careers
    • About Microsoft
    • Company news
    • Privacy at Microsoft
    • Investors
    • Diversity and inclusion
    • Accessibility
    • Security
    English (United States)
    • Sitemap
    • Contact Microsoft
    • Privacy
    • Manage cookies
    • Terms of use
    • Trademarks
    • Safety & eco
    • About our ads
    • © Microsoft 2021