I suggest having an Easy user interface, in addition to the current, Advanced user interface.
(and keeping the current user interface).

The Easy user interface would be without hexadecimal disk and partition information, without scripting buttons, would put backups each into its own folder with a user-selected file name, and it would store the xml, in addition to into documents/macrium, into that folder. It would read the xml from where the user told it to read.
I feel Easy ui needed if MR is intended for the broad public. It is unneeded if target is to the professional.

In addition I suggest a more easy file and folder selection box, allowing multiple selects in one tree view. This would be helpful.

Hello,

Thank you for your valued feedback,

Your suggestions i have been passed onto our developers for further deliberation.

Kind Regards,
Daniel

+ The easier user interface would have larger digits (font size) for the Size and Used information.

I agree with @peter09aug2016, there is a need for a BASIC edition of Macrium Reflect for those who want a simple but reliable Backup and Restore software without the frills.
There could be an option to upgrade to the PRO edition (the existing MR) when one has gained confidence.

The more advanced features would be excluded from the BASIC edition. The average client, who just uses his computer for email, word processing, spreadsheets and photographs will probably have never heard of viBoot or SQL.

It is not easy to find your way around the Macrium Reflect interface

I also agree with the comment that the font size should be larger.

Of course, the BASIC edition would require a basic user-manual, which would be a lot smaller than the existing one.

I have recently looked at EasyUS Todo Backup. This does not have all the features found in MR but does have a very clear, intuitive, and well laid out interface.
The user can easily create personalised plans (tasks) from  three backup plan types - Disk, System and File. For instance, you may create and name the following tasks.
'Hard disk'
'Partition D'
'System Backup'
'My Documents'
'My Pictures'
These tasks are listed in a column on the left with options to Backup, Restore or Edit on the right.
A Schedule Strategy (backup time and frequency) can be assigned to each task.
Also, a Reserve Strategy (how long the backup is retained before being overwritten) can be assigned to each task.
You can enable/disable a Pre-OS. so that it appears as an alternative to Windows 10 on the (blue) boot screen.

I see, from community forums such as Ten Forum, that many 'experts' think that MR is the best thing since sliced bread. So, a BASIC edition would allow Joe Blogs to get started without being confused by the advanced features.




Windows 11 Home v22H2, Microsoft Edge, Macrium Reflect 8, Windows Defender, Malwarebytes Premium.

I'm a new user and paid licensee!  I find MR to be so obtuse that I will probably look for another backup solution. I am not a complete computer idiot (I may admit to being a partial one), but the almost 500 page user guide is completely ridiculous. The software is sorely in need of a simplified user interface for people who just want a robust and trustworthy backup capability.  I licensed MR because it had good reviews, probably from people that have their haunches glued to a computer desk 24/7. I guess I should have paid more attention to the free version, but I jumped into the deep end of the pool. I hope the developers will realize that their market could probably be expanded exponentially if they paid more attention to the entire user market and not just technophiles.  

Thanks for listening to my rant!

+x

 

Tom Regnier - 24 November 2021 9:28 PM

I'm a new user and paid licensee!  I find MR to be so obtuse that I will probably look for another backup solution. I am not a complete computer idiot (I may admit to being a partial one), but the almost 500 page user guide is completely ridiculous. The software is sorely in need of a simplified user interface for people who just want a robust and trustworthy backup capability.  I licensed MR because it had good reviews, probably from people that have their haunches glued to a computer desk 24/7. I guess I should have paid more attention to the free version, but I jumped into the deep end of the pool. I hope the developers will realize that their market could probably be expanded exponentially if they paid more attention to the entire user market and not just technophiles.  

Thanks for listening to my rant!

@[email protected] Welcome to the forum, although fyi you posted this in the Reflect V6 section of the forum, and that version has been out of support for quite a while.  Everyone's opinions will of course vary, but the feedback I tend to see here from other users coming from solutions such as Acronis and AOMEI is that they find Reflect both more reliable and easier to use.  I personally think Reflect has quite an intuitive interface given how powerful and flexible it is.  Good design can certainly make powerful software easier to use, but I believe there is a limit beyond which simplification would require dumbing down the software itself.  On the far end of that side of the spectrum, Windows File History is dead simple to set up. You can do it with basically a single click, then forget all about it.  But it also can't do nearly as much as Reflect can.  Then again, if you don't need most of what Reflect can do, maybe that's a better fit for you.  But if some particular features drew you to Reflect, I would encourage you to invest a bit of time getting it set up.  There are some helpful users on this forum, so if you have questions, ask away (in the V8 section of the forum!)  And it's also very noteworthy that the Macrium Support is outstanding.  They are active on this forum, and by "they", I mean the actual developers of the software, not customer support reps with minimal technical training.  I've been using Reflect for years, and I have consistently seen bug reports and enhancement suggestions submitted by myself and others result in updates to Reflect arriving shortly thereafter.  That's not to say that everyone gets what they want, of course, and larger scale enhancement suggestions of course would not be quick to develop.  But for software being used for something as critical as backups, it helps to know that it is backed by developers who actually pay attention to their customers and incorporate their feedback, at least when feasible.

+x

 

jphughan - 24 November 2021 9:56 PM

+x

 

Tom Regnier - 24 November 2021 9:28 PM

I'm a new user and paid licensee!  I find MR to be so obtuse that I will probably look for another backup solution. I am not a complete computer idiot (I may admit to being a partial one), but the almost 500 page user guide is completely ridiculous. The software is sorely in need of a simplified user interface for people who just want a robust and trustworthy backup capability.  I licensed MR because it had good reviews, probably from people that have their haunches glued to a computer desk 24/7. I guess I should have paid more attention to the free version, but I jumped into the deep end of the pool. I hope the developers will realize that their market could probably be expanded exponentially if they paid more attention to the entire user market and not just technophiles.  

Thanks for listening to my rant!

@[email protected] Welcome to the forum, although fyi you posted this in the Reflect V6 section of the forum, and that version has been out of support for quite a while.  Everyone's opinions will of course vary, but the feedback I tend to see here from other users coming from solutions such as Acronis and AOMEI is that they find Reflect both more reliable and easier to use.  I personally think Reflect has quite an intuitive interface given how powerful and flexible it is.  Good design can certainly make powerful software easier to use, but I believe there is a limit beyond which simplification would require dumbing down the software itself.  On the far end of that side of the spectrum, Windows File History is dead simple to set up. You can do it with basically a single click, then forget all about it.  But it also can't do nearly as much as Reflect can.  Then again, if you don't need most of what Reflect can do, maybe that's a better fit for you.  But if some particular features drew you to Reflect, I would encourage you to invest a bit of time getting it set up.  There are some helpful users on this forum, so if you have questions, ask away (in the V8 section of the forum!)  And it's also very noteworthy that the Macrium Support is outstanding.  They are active on this forum, and by "they", I mean the actual developers of the software, not customer support reps with minimal technical training.  I've been using Reflect for years, and I have consistently seen bug reports and enhancement suggestions submitted by myself and others result in updates to Reflect arriving shortly thereafter.  That's not to say that everyone gets what they want, of course, and larger scale enhancement suggestions of course would not be quick to develop.  But for software being used for something as critical as backups, it helps to know that it is backed by developers who actually pay attention to their customers and incorporate their feedback, at least when feasible.

Thank you for your thoughtful response.

+x

 

jphughan - 24 November 2021 9:56 PM

@[email protected] Welcome to the forum, although fyi you posted this in the Reflect V6 section of the forum, and that version has been out of support for quite a while.  Everyone's opinions will of course vary, but the feedback I tend to see here from other users coming from solutions such as Acronis and AOMEI is that they find Reflect both more reliable and easier to use.  I personally think Reflect has quite an intuitive interface given how powerful and flexible it is.  Good design can certainly make powerful software easier to use, but I believe there is a limit beyond which simplification would require dumbing down the software itself.  On the far end of that side of the spectrum, Windows File History is dead simple to set up. You can do it with basically a single click, then forget all about it.  But it also can't do nearly as much as Reflect can.  Then again, if you don't need most of what Reflect can do, maybe that's a better fit for you.  But if some particular features drew you to Reflect, I would encourage you to invest a bit of time getting it set up.  There are some helpful users on this forum, so if you have questions, ask away (in the V8 section of the forum!)  And it's also very noteworthy that the Macrium Support is outstanding.  They are active on this forum, and by "they", I mean the actual developers of the software, not customer support reps with minimal technical training.  I've been using Reflect for years, and I have consistently seen bug reports and enhancement suggestions submitted by myself and others result in updates to Reflect arriving shortly thereafter.  That's not to say that everyone gets what they want, of course, and larger scale enhancement suggestions of course would not be quick to develop.  But for software being used for something as critical as backups, it helps to know that it is backed by developers who actually pay attention to their customers and incorporate their feedback, at least when feasible.

I completely agree on the plus sides of the partition backups. That is the hundred percent reliability and functionality. And I agree when it is not possible to make it simpler, it is preferable to keep as is. (in Reflect 8 even the hex backup id is now mandatory +as part of the filename+).  

But ... the permanent cries in the media to make backups and "install a good firewall", they would leave room to something simple, in such a way that after the crash a professional can restore from the backups s/he finds. Otherwise we risk getting backups that are incomplete, not everything valuable backed up (Program Files and Windows just copied over, configs and registry missing, Downloads folder missing, +AppData missing+), or INCs but with FULL deleted (reason: such an old file hardly needed, the disk is full!), or with missing INCs in the chain (reason: too many files, the older ones are for surely safely sure no longer needed), and the like, and I'm speaking here of experience about end-user thinking. Macrium has the technical expertise to make partition's backups that are complete and reliable, that's also my experience.

(+..+ marks the editing)