The Perception of Software Complexity

Last week NPR Science Friday interviewed Apple Co-Founder / Engineering Guru Steve Wozniak. Steve was asked by a caller why Apple, with it’s superior GUI lost the race with Microsoft Windows, which at the time was a command driven interface.

Woz commented that business executives felt the Apple was more of a toy with it’s mouse and pretty graphics whereas the command-line driven Windows was more for the professional. Even though Apple did everything Windows did, while making it easier to use, the perception was Windows was superior to Apple.

In recent years we have seen an increasing adoption of Linux in the business world. In the past, most Linux installations required some basic command-line knowledge to effectively navigate and use the OS. Limiting the Linux adoption to coders and IT professionals.

This is just my opinion, but on a usability scale Apple OSX is both friendly and powerful. Linux is the least friendly but most powerful OS on the market, and Windows falls somewhere in the middle. I realize that there are various Linux distributions which are indeed friendly and powerful, but I’m generalizing.

Given Woz’s comments, is there still a perception that complex looking UI’s  seem more powerful to the uneducated user, or has the pendulum swung back in Apple’s favor of simple, easy to use software = power.