Does Outlook have live scrolling and resizing on Vista?

[UA]

Just wondering if this is a byproduct of using Outlook 2007 on a non-
Vista operating system (Windows XP):

1) When scrolling the contacts window by clicking and dragging the
"thumb" of the scroll bar, the list doesn't move until you let go of
the mouse button. This happens in all of the contact views (Business
Cards, Phone List, etc.). I also find this happens with mail folders
which contain many messages (>200).

2) When resizing a message window, the message contents do not re-flow
until you let go of the mouse button.

These are steps backwards in usability compared to Outlook 2003 (and
99% of other Windows applications). I suspect this doesn't happen in
Vista, but would like someone to confirm this for me.

Thanks!

 

[Diane Poremsky]

what mouse do you use? the generic mouse or Logitech drivers don't support
live scrolling.

 

[UA]

I should clarify, this has nothing to do with my mouse. I'm talking
about clicking and dragging the "thumb" on the scrollbar on the right
side of a listview (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrollbar). Most
listviews will scroll the contents, as you drag the mouse. Outlook
2007 does not do this.

Also, when resizing windows, most applications will "flow" the
contents within the window as it is being re-sized. The Outlook 2007
message window does not do this.

Years ago applications would purposely NOT refresh the screen until
the direct manipulation was finished due to performance issues. But
today with gigahertz processors and advanced graphic cards, this is no
longer a valid concern.

I was just wondering if I'm seeing this it's because I'm not the
Windows Vista Aero interface, or if Outlook 2007 does this on all
platforms.

 

[Brian Tillman]

I should clarify, this has nothing to do with my mouse. I'm talking
about clicking and dragging the "thumb" on the scrollbar on the right
side of a listview (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrollbar). Most
listviews will scroll the contents, as you drag the mouse. Outlook
2007 does not do this.

Correct. Outlook 2003 works the same way, on both Windows XP and Vista.

Also, when resizing windows, most applications will "flow" the
contents within the window as it is being re-sized. The Outlook 2007
message window does not do this.

I don't know what window you're referring to with this.

I was just wondering if I'm seeing this it's because I'm not the
Windows Vista Aero interface, or if Outlook 2007 does this on all
platforms.

All platforms.

 

[Diane Poremsky]

Does it work if you just roll the wheel within the message list, without
holding the button down to drag the slider?

Messages won't reflow while the mouse button is down.

 

[UA]

I don't know what window you're referring to with this.

The *message* window. Double click an email to open it. Now size the
right edge of that window to make it skinnier. The text will be
obscured by the side of the window you're sizing until you let go of
the mouse button. At that point the text will "re-flow".

To see an example of what I mean by "re-flow", open Notepad. Make sure
Word Wrap is on (Format menu). Fill it with lots of text and grab the
right edge of the window and start resizing it. Notice how the body
text will change shape as the window is being re-sized. Most browsers
do this as well.

Postponing a screen redraw is a technique developers use when
processor resources are at a premium. But computers have had enough
processing power to do this on the fly for years. I'm just surprised
Outlook 2007 doesn't do it. Outlook 2003 did. I was just trying to
determine if it has something to do with running on Windows XP and not
Vista.

All platforms.

That's disappointing. It's a step back in direct manipulation, the
core principal of graphical user interfaces (GUIs). It creates a gap
between what the user is doing and what the result of their action
will be. It's actually ironic as "Live Previews" are now so prevalent
in other Office applications (Word, Excel, etc.).

 

[Diane Poremsky]

Postponing a screen redraw is a technique developers use when

processor resources are at a premium. But computers have had enough
processing power to do this on the fly for years. I'm just surprised
Outlook 2007 doesn't do it. Outlook 2003 did. I was just trying to
determine if it has something to do with running on Windows XP and not
Vista.

FWIW, excessive redraws are the first thing it disable when I set up a
system. It has nothing to do with processor power - I just find it annoying.
Outlook 2007 does not reflow or redraw for me on Vista business. I have aero
enabled (and show contents while dragging disabled) but I think its probably
a 'feature' in Outlook... one I (and many others) prefer.

 

[UA]

FWIW, excessive redraws are the first thing it disable when I set up a
system. It has nothing to do with processor power - I just find it annoying.

I'm not sure why one would find it annoying. If it's coded well, there
should be no flashing or other negative side effects; the contents
should re-flow at the same rate as the window resizing.

Most other applications do this and it provides useful feedback. For
example, when viewing a web page in a browser where the page is wider
than the window, you'll get a horizontal scrollbar at the bottom of
the window. To size the window so that the scrollbar disappears, just
grab the right edge of the browser and drag it to the right until the
scrollbar disappears, then let go of the mouse button. If the contents
didn't update real-time, you wouldn't know when to let go and this
would be an exercise in trial and error.

As for other WYSBYGI (what you see before you get it) techniques, I
agree some may need more work. Even on a high-end computer, some of
the Office 2007 "Live Previews" are not responsive enough. To be most
effective, the user action and subsequent preview should be tightly
coupled. If there's any sort of delay, it loses it's effectiveness and
makes the user experience less engaging.

 

[dannwebb]

For what it's worth, I know exactly what the OP is complaining about, and I'm with him 100%.

When scrolling in Outlook 2007, the window contents do not move with the scoll and you don't see the "new" content until you release the mouse button.

I completely fail to see why this is a "feature". It is the most intensely annoying thing in a long list of intensely annoying things I have found in Outlook. One respondant here states that they have "show contents while dragging" disabled and thinks most people would prefer this too.

zzzzttttt!!! Wrong.

I can think of a dozen examples of why this is unusable. Here's just one: scrolling a window to find a name in an alphabetical list. You can't tell how far to scroll because the contents of the window don't scroll with you. Duh. And don't tell me to search instead; this is not a search issue.

Every other application I've ever used scrolls contents of windows while dragging. The setting is turned on in windows by default. But Outlook 2007 doesn't do it.

Utterly infuriating!