Details

• The program integrates well with Microsoft Windows and with other programs.
• The data can be exported in a variety of formats to files or the clipboard.
• The status bar actually has useful status information, rather than useless information such as "Ready."
• Setup and uninstallation are easy to perform.

When I am creating user interfaces, I try to take the above ideas and apply them whenever I can. When it comes to attributes like these, you simply can't have too much of a good thing.

Interestingly, none of the above characteristics is directly related to any specific technology, which is generally the aspect many programmers like to focus on. As a user, I don't care if a program was created using the Windows API, MFC, Active Template Library (ATL), or Microsoft Visual Basic, or if it uses standard controls, custom controls, or Microsoft ActiveX controls. I don't care if its graphics use device-independent bitmaps (DIBs), device-dependent bitmaps (DDBs), or Microsoft DirectX. The specific technology matters to me only as much as it contributes to these characteristics and helps me accomplish my goals, which are what led me to use the program in the first place.