Single-Click Only OS?

Question

Could we design an OS user interface that does not require double-clicking ever?I imagine we'd have to rethink some habits, like opening folders, or executing executables.But double-clicking strikes me as suboptimal, and I suspect that an OS which prioritised single-clicking would be superior.Or at the very least more elegant.

kosasbest · Accepted Answer

Don't mess with people's muscle memory. I double-click because that's all I've ever known. The double-click means you consent to open a file. The consent is baked into the UX.

ravenstine · Answer

Windows at some point (maybe still) had a mode where you could open things with one click instead of two. Not sure if that made it so that literally everything could be done with a single click, but it might have come close.

moltke · Answer

Aren't most mobile OSes like this already?
>Or at the very least more elegant.
More elegant IMO would be reserving pointing devices for very spacial tasks: rearranging windows, drawing, clicking in hypertext etc. With keyboard shortcuts for all of these of course.

neilsimp1 · Answer

KDE Plasma? Pretty sure you can change this setting in Windows, even.

mmphosis · Answer

My OS does not ever "require" double-clicking. An application with poor UI might require this, but I would quickly look for a better program.

muzani · Answer

Like Android/iOS?