I want to start reading up on HCI (Human-Computer Interaction) principles.

Does anybody know of any good free online resources

I know bugger all about it, but found this:

http://www.hcibib.org/

Apple's are here.

I know they aren't free online resources, but here is the module page for the HCI module I took in second year clicky. Reading list is at the bottom of the page if it helps...

It's an interesting topic, though I've never been able to sit and learn it properly.

Microsoft and Apple have probably the most extensive HCI resources out there. The problem is, developers working on OS X seem to treat Apple's work as a Bible, the developers for Windows treat it as more of a guideline, if they are even aware of its existence.

It is a shame. When I first started programmin for Windows, their HCI guidelines are a lot more comprehensive than Apple's, but they were expensive! I think they are free on their Knowledgebase now.

The Windows stuff used to be very comprehensive, including helpful box-outs in the documents about why certain things were done a certain way or things to think about when implementing them into your own programs.

Looking at the stuff that is coming out these days, it is easy to think that Microsoft never published any standards...

Some would say that's an advantage.

That was my point! Devs for OS X use the guidelines as a Bible for producing a user interface experience (a few expceptions exist, but generally most apps follow the guidelines). The problem is the developers on Windows, many have learnt programming at home or on self study courses and are unaware of the extensive HCI guidelines for Windows, therefore a lot of apps look dreadful.

Even companies that should know better (Symantec, Adobe etc.) often ignore the HCI guidelines and make their own interfaces.