<div class="gmail_quote">On Sat, Jun 19, 2010 at 12:33 PM, Todd Walton <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:tdwalton@gmail.com">tdwalton@gmail.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex;">
When I'm using Chrome and I click on a PDF link, it downloads it to my<br>
download directory (~todd) and then displays it. With Firefox, when I<br>
click on a PDF link it just displays it and keeps the file tucked away<br>
in a temp directory.<br>
<br>
Is this just a setting I missed? It seems like rather silly behavior<br>
to not differentiate between 'view' and 'download'.<font color="#888888"><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#000000"><font class="Apple-style-span" color="#888888"><br></font></font></font></blockquote>
</div><div><br></div><div>A lot of software suffers from "option-itis" where a user is presented with many options to chose from. In the effort to simplify programs many options are being hidden and instead the "mostly likely" choice is made. I suspect this is what's happening here. I've certainly seen many people confused by the option to download or open.</div>
<div><br></div><div>I'd say in most cases, fewer items to choose from is better for users in the long-run. I do think it's odd that in chrome it merely downloads the PDF instead of opening it. I guess the designers chose to train users by pointing the big arrow at the downloading file.</div>
<br>-- <br>Matthew Nuzum<br>newz2000 on freenode, skype, linkedin, <a href="http://identi.ca">identi.ca</a> and twitter<br><br>"Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Seek what they sought." –Matsuo Bashō<br>