GitHub For Windows Makes Layout Changes, Abstracts Time Zones To Simplify Updates

GitHub for Windows has received some updates to make the user experience for the popular version of the code collaboration platform “lighter and brighter.” The changes to the layout are part of a number of other minor changes that GitHub has made.

As a starter, the company is adopting some basic themes that developers are accustomed to. For example, apps typically flow from left to right.  In the repository view, developers will now find the list of past commits on the left, and the selected commit to the right.

There are no more horizontal scrollbars in GitHub for Windows. I detest horizontal scrollbars and I’m not even a developer. In the new version of GitHub for Windows, long “diff” lines now wrap. Changes can be reviewed without having to scroll bi-directionally.

GitHub For Windows is now more reflective of activity streams that provide relative times instead of just a date. This means the developer will see if something happened “just now” or 15 minutes ago,” no matter in which time zone a developer is working on a project.

These are not major changes but do demonstrate the different types of user experiences developers require and how that relates to a global community working across one or multiple projects in different time zones.