Figure 4 2   Theme Preferences dialog in GNOME

Usability

Usability tests have shown that modern Linux desktops like GNOME or KDE are 

very competitive with the Windows XP desktop. Especially new users (children, 

elder people, etc.) having no former experience with Windows or Mac user 

interfaces have no problems at all with a Linux desktop. They just have to get 

used to their new environment and computers in general, which is a normal 

process. In the following reports you can read more details about this success 

story of Linux usability on the desktop:

http://www.linux usability.de/download/linux_usability_report_en.pdf

http://www.userinstinct.com/viewpost.php?postid=gnome26review

A lot of work in many different areas had to be done to achieve these results:

Internationalization (UTF 8, Pango, etc.)

Accessibility (for example, for blind people or users with physical disabilities)

 Chapter 4. Technical planning 

59