Erik Moeller wrote:
Users who like their links underlined can still turn on this option, but extrapolating from the above, I would guess that non-underlined links are more popular. Note that we are a very link-heavy page, so the high amount of underlining on a page can get quite distracting. Links are reasonably easy to distinguish from normal text when non-underlined.
I worry about accessibility to colourblind users (specifically, new anonymous readers that don't know about the preferences page). I don't know enough about the matter to know if this worry is reasonable; if not, then I'll agree with you.
This option needs to be distinguished from underlining, as it can also be accessed on the login screen, not just on the preferences screen, and is thus likely to be noticed by more people. However, I still think this should be the default. There are users at places where they do not want their password remembered, such as cafes and changing terminals at work. What is the standard case and what the exception, though? My guess is that most people log in to Wikipedia from one or two machines, and that the browser on that machine is reasonably secure from access by others. Other users should be security aware enough to tick off the "Remember" checkbox during login.
For purposes of security, I don't think that we should change the default. If we change the underlining of links, then presumably this would become the one preference not set by default to the majority preference. As such, we ought to give people extra opportunity to change it -- which we already do, having a checkbox for that on the login page. So I think that it's all OK now.
-- Toby