Enso Trailer
We’ve been quiet, at Humanized. Too quiet. That’s about to change.
For the last year-and-a-half we’ve been working on a piece of software we think will change the way we use computers. Now we are weeks away from its debut. We call it Enso.
Enso is a new idea in computing that brings true universality to interfaces. It makes Windows, and everything in it, more humane. It breaks down the walls of applications. What does that mean? See for yourself. First, read this link then watch the trailer for a sneak preview of Enso.
Are you good at finding bugs? Then there’s barely enough time to sign up for the Enso beta.
Please note: Since January 15, 2008, all Enso products have been free. To get the latest version of Enso, free of charge, see the main Enso page.
RT @azaaza Enso Trailer | Follow @azaaza on Twitter | All blog posts
Braydon Fuller
Finally! This will serve as a great example for interface designers! I’m very excited.
I digg it!
Braydon Fuller
How many spellchecks DO we need! lol. OOOppps. You should skip that first part and jump straight into the product demo. How you got to your solution (pointing out the problem) isn’t more important than your solution.
Braydon Fuller
Adobe Photoshop, Aftereffects, Illustrator, and Indesign, have some pretty silly redundant functionality (with slight differences that are ‘slightly’ disorienting). There is a pen tool in all of them, and the pen tool in Photoshop & InDesign is half that of the one in Illustrator.
tom
Oh, so it’s like Quicksilver + OSX’s Text Services with extensions.
Cool.
Just wished you guys were finally going to solve the desktop metaphor.
Patrick D
Looks like a Quicksilver-equivalent for Windows.
I see that it takes a lot of inspiration from Jef Raskin’s The Human Interface, which is not surprising. I really wonder though if people are willing to go back to a command line interface (since that’s effectively what it is).
Looks interesting though — I can’t wait to see the final product.
Braydon Fuller
It would interesting to see this Enso style launcher combined with something like Matisse, or Beryl for Linux. A ZUI in combination with this style launcher, and the ability to cluster windows into ‘folders’, would cause the file manager and desktop to no longer be needed. The window manager and file manager would essentially merge functionality. Windows (not the OS) would also mature and be able to have curved edges, and transparency effects, and eventually take on three-dimensionality. Thus they would not be windows anymore, but layers, or objects.
Why don’t you guys develop for Linux. Or better yet, start your own distro, and lead the roadmap for it? There are way more innovative things going on in the Linux world, and lots of open-minds.
lqd
2 out of the 3 links in the news are actually broken.
I don’t know where the first is supposed to point to, but the second one links to trailer.html where it should be trailer.php, as does the ‘watch the trailer’ image.
Andrew
Thanks, guys, for catching the broken links. Sorry about that.
Braydon Fuller
The cmd system is controlled only by the keyboard. How would it be used with a mouse?
How would I learn what to do? Would there be a menu for me to explore my options?
Since minimizing windows is done with Enso, would it be possible to hide the title bar for all windows, in Windows?
Is it possible to select two windows at the same time? Could I select multiple windows and arrange them by name, or last modified? Would it be possible to group two windows together? Is there a hack or add-on for windows that would allow for a ZUI? Can windows not be rectangular, and could they be transparent? Can windows not be windows, in Windows?
[ICR]
I’m wondering if there will be an API so we can program our own commands.
Joel
Like Tom said, this seems an awful lot like Quicksilver with somewhat different visuals.
What makes your app particularly different from my using QS with Growl on my Mac?
Paul Caswell
Have you heard of Oliver Sims? Twelve year ago had a vision to break apart the monolithic application. I was part of the team that built a system (we called it Newi – a New World Infrastructure) that allowed objects to collaborate with each other in unanticipated ways – it was cool! I’m happy to see the idea lives on.
Read about Sims ideas here
Jono
All of your questions will be answered in the fullness of time, by which I mean later this month when Enso is released.
The app-launching features of Enso are indeed similar to Quicksilver, but Enso is much more than an app launcher. It can also be considered to be similar to OSX’s Services in some of its text-processing capability, but Enso is much more accessible than OSX Services (which strike me as a good idea which has been tragically underutilized).
What really makes Enso special is the fact that it provides a single, unified, humane interface for issuing an unlimited variety of commands. It goes much further than simply duplicating Quicksilver or any other product. There is indeed going to be an API for writing your own commands, but this will not be available at launch.
Instead of trying to write any more to convince you of Enso’s coolness, I’d rather just wait until you have a chance to try it out for yourself and see what it can do. Soon!
matt wilkie
Does this mean that Archy is abandoned? For those who’ve not heard of it, Archy is (was?) a creative commons project to implement Humane Interface ideals.
Read about it at: http://rchi.raskincenter.org/
Jono
We are not currently working on Archy, but that doesn’t mean it’s been abandoned. You might say that the Archy design represents our ultimate goal, while Enso is a first big step in that direction.
Karl Guertin
Despite Jono’s protests, Enso is very much Quicksilver for Windows. Both are transient command line interfaces on top of a graphical user interface. The differences between the two are:
1. How they’re invoked. QS is modal. You invoke with ctrl+space, type, confirm command with enter. Enso is quasi-modal. You hold down caps lock while typing the command and confirm by releasing after typing a matching command.
2. The command ordering. Enso uses the [action] [object] syntax common to traditional command line apps. If an appropriate object is selected (e.g. text) then it’s used as the subject and [object] is the direct object. Otherwise [object] is the subject. QS uses a [subject] [action] [direct object] syntax.
The two apps are at different levels of maturity, but they are not different in essence.
Joseph Huang
Why no pie menus?
Aza
They are not apropos. Yet.
Eddie
Does Quicksilver also have the same un-intrusive interface as Enso? One of the nice features of Enso is the feedback system. If it doesn’t recognize a command it “alerts” in the best way I’ve seen in a long time, it puts a message up on the screen that goes away as soon as you move your mouse or type.
The Quasimodal infterface is key to Enso, I realize that, but good grief is it difficult to get used to:
1)Getting “tab” to fill in the command requires some finger dancing
2)I’ll get over this one in time…but my hands just simply are *NOT* used to reaching for the trigger key!
Aza- is there a beta forum? I’ve found the bug reporting form and and the comment forum, but is that the only way to discuss?
Gagan Diesh
Hi there:
congrats on what looks like a great app.
I am wondering if you are respond to how/why anyone who is using the following should consider switching to this new app:
I am not looking to rain on your parade but I am so happy with the above that I would need a compelling reason to switch. Google desktop is seamless, invisible and pwerful as an app launcher AND search index.
Thanks
Gagan
Eddie
Gagan-
I would guess it comes down to what you’d consider “seemless” and what works best for you.
There really is something to be said for the integration and user experience when things are designed to work together. When there’s an overarching vision of the experience as opposed to patching together different apps that all do what you want… but that’s all subjective I suppose.
vorg
Ok, it is humane but what about ergonomy? Trying to hit Tab while pressing Caps Lock is really painful. Maybe Space would be better. Typing “open…, open, open, op tab, op tab” every time is waste of time for me. Transparent messages and quasi mode are very nice ideas but I find working with Quicksilver far more comfortable.
diyason
Such a behavior style, usually in the suppression of emotions like love that leads to great happiness, ” said Understanding The Tin Man (Tin Man of the Understanding), William July, author of the book, adding: “He was accustomed to show more emotion, mental and sexual tendencies. “
asigurari sanatate
This trailer explain everything. I think it must be followed by the people who need to see which are the real limits.
direk film izle
We hope to enable businesses to highlight the qualities that make their locations stand out through professional, high-quality imadsgery.”
Bart Swihart
Wow, dude, seems like the style.css experienced a quake since your site looks screwed. I think you wish to check that out