After reading a few of the forum comments on the site, I decided to try to learn Silverlight 3 for the first time (No particular reason, I just like to torture myself learning new API's).
So I went to link text
And clicked the Big Green button called "Get the Microsoft Web Platform".
Big Mistake...At least in terms of what I expected to happen to what actually did.
At first I thought the download/installation had crashed my computer. I waited for about 20 mins to make sure and then rebooted (It sure "looked" locked up).
And foolishly, I tried to do it again...being a sucker for punishment. The thing was, I would look down and every once in a while the HD light would flash, so maybe something was happening. There was no indication on the staus screen, however, just a locked in place status indicator.
Wait, did it move? I swear I saw it move...
I wrote down the number of bars and came back 20 minutes later.. There! ...it moved again .. omg! .. its not going to take THAT long? ...is it?
IT DID ... It took HOURS!
This is one of those "barriers to entry" Joel Spolsky talks about. I almost gave up, and I would have gone back to Flash, bemoaning that I never got to try Silverlight and blaming Microsoft fot it.
Am I wrong to ask for a installation/progress indicator that gives me SOME idea of how long something takes to install on my computer?
It seems to be a common problem for a great many sofware products. Except Games ... how do they get it right?
Perhaps I can turn this into a question instead of a comment.
Is writing an installer with an accurate progress indicator that difficult? Why?
Thanks in advance for your comments