I've been up to my eyeballs in Retrospect terminology this week, as we're making decisions on what specific terms will be used in the UI and user documentation. Retrospect uses...uncommon terminology for some things, in both the Mac and Windows versions. In fact, Retrospect uses so many unique terms, or different meanings for common terms, we jokingly refer to the use of such as "RetroSpeak".
We keep several goals in mind as we go through the terminology process:
- Choose explanatory/descriptive terminology whenever possible.
- If a new term is not significantly better than the current term, we probably shouldn't make the change.
- Avoid changing terms that will confuse/hinder existing Retrospect customers.
- Use generic terms that will work across Windows, Mac, etc.
- Call out Retrospect's technology, but don't overdo it.
These are good guidelines, and they definitely help us with most decisions, but some aren't as clear as others, and external input is just the thing we need right now.
Script/Job/Task
Today, in both the Mac and Windows versions of Retrospect, a saved backup/duplicate/restore/whatever operation is called a "script". A script includes one or more sources, destinations, options, and usually at least one schedule. While Retrospect is designed for use primarily at small and medium businesses, it is often used by individuals who aren't IT pros, and the term script can be intimidating (i.e., some people relate that to a scripting language like AppleScript or VB). Most other backup software calls these saved operations "jobs", but I personally have some sort of allergy to that term, and just try to come up with an icon for it.
The term that seems to make the most sense is "task", but I don't think it passes Rule #2 above. Your thoughts?
Proactive Backup/Backup Server/Policy Backup
One of Retrospect's cool technologies that has been around for a long time is its ability to go down a list of sources and back them up to available media based on priority, with the least-recently backed up sources having the highest priority. Version 6.1 on the Mac calls these "Backup Server" scripts, while they're called "Proactive Backup" scripts in version 7.6 on Windows.
We've put some time and effort into branding/marketing Proactive Backup, and it's certainly more descriptive than Backup Server, but "Policy Backup" or "Policy-based Backup" might be even more descriptive. Still, we're leaning towards using Proactive Backup. Your opinion?
Thanks for the feedback, and please keep it coming!
Happy Halloween, all.
-Eric