Microsoft Making Waves With Tile-Based Interface in Windows 8
- Thread starter Tom Goldman
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I really like this, I have to admit. I've noticed that with Windows 7 I never use the desktop at all. It's quicker and easier to click on the icons I've chosen on the start bar, and even to search programs on the start menu then fiddling about on my desktop and I was thinking that actually it's a bit of a hangover from an old design that could really be improved on. In a similar way, I want my multiple programs running to work like tabs and have the same usability and functionality of them nowadays.
And if all that touch stuff also gets turned into mouse gestures, that's awesome. Mouse gestures are another way forward. The only problem is that it will be harder for people to just pick up and use. Harder to see what does what, because touch/mouse gestures have no on screen pointer.
Finally, not now, but in the nearish future I can see tablets beginning to overtake PCs in certain areas. So I think it's good that Microsoft are designing for the touch part of the future. It allows the screen to be bigger compared to keyboard area and a lot of the interface commands come more naturally. Touch doesn't have to be learnt in the same way a mouse does (we probably have all forgotten how long it took to first use a mouse properly) and allow for greater fidelity and accuracy. That said keyboards allow for a lot more instant control and it will take some clever designs to really replace that
Why the EF should they have to continue to suffer with it, continue to be ignored by the largest software company in the world, because, what? You want to be superior? You like your interface better? You want them to exclusively served for your needs?
User friendly is NEVER a bad thing. If you don't like it, go get Linux, it's more efficient and you can do more with it. That's where you're meant to go if you want power at the expense of user friendliness. You're catered to, let other people have their share. There is no reason to fear the lowest level of users being able to utilise high tier functions unless you want the power of being one of the few people who can use those functions
And if all that touch stuff also gets turned into mouse gestures, that's awesome. Mouse gestures are another way forward. The only problem is that it will be harder for people to just pick up and use. Harder to see what does what, because touch/mouse gestures have no on screen pointer.
Finally, not now, but in the nearish future I can see tablets beginning to overtake PCs in certain areas. So I think it's good that Microsoft are designing for the touch part of the future. It allows the screen to be bigger compared to keyboard area and a lot of the interface commands come more naturally. Touch doesn't have to be learnt in the same way a mouse does (we probably have all forgotten how long it took to first use a mouse properly) and allow for greater fidelity and accuracy. That said keyboards allow for a lot more instant control and it will take some clever designs to really replace that
Why? Why on earth not? There are still a lot of people in this world who find it so difficult to operate computers, so many people who are afraid of operating them because of the interface.uppitycracker said:
Why the EF should they have to continue to suffer with it, continue to be ignored by the largest software company in the world, because, what? You want to be superior? You like your interface better? You want them to exclusively served for your needs?
User friendly is NEVER a bad thing. If you don't like it, go get Linux, it's more efficient and you can do more with it. That's where you're meant to go if you want power at the expense of user friendliness. You're catered to, let other people have their share. There is no reason to fear the lowest level of users being able to utilise high tier functions unless you want the power of being one of the few people who can use those functions
at first I was like "NO NO NO NO FUCK YOU I DONT WANT TO TOUCH IT!" and then I saw that there was still a desktop and went "oh okay, this doesn't seem that bad."
I don't really care for this and I really enjoy windows 7. This might sound odd but I love having icons. They really let me personify my computer, because I have changed all of my icons to either game/anime characters and feel a sense of hmm joy? I guess, like this is MY computer ^^. Also I get an odd cathartic joy of rearranging the tons of icons so as to fit with the background picture. (that's another thing, selecting a background feels very personal and having stupid tiles covering it would be annoying and make me feel like this is less my compie)
Not sure how hard it is to understand that they are aiming to make an OS that will work on a tablet pc just as well as a monitor/keyboard/mouse setup.
It does look like the standard win7 interface is still in there and clearly the tile setup would be more cumbersome with a mouse and keyboard.
This looks more like a tablet preview than a desktop/laptop preview.
It does look like the standard win7 interface is still in there and clearly the tile setup would be more cumbersome with a mouse and keyboard.
This looks more like a tablet preview than a desktop/laptop preview.
This OS looks like what a majority of people want, an operating system that further breaks down the wall between a person's computer and their online life. And having a quick and intuitive interface doesn't hurt either, I look forward to this, I'll have to postpone my order with Origin PC to wait for more information on this operating system.
My biggest problem here is not "I hope I can hide it and forget about it", more "I hope I can uninstall it". That has probably bumped the size of the OS up again since it's now more-or-less two completely separate devices in the same machine. I can't see how this is going to work without a whole new dedicated machine built for running it - which kills the point in using a Windows OS anyway. If Linux were as compatible with everything as Windows is, nobody would ever need use Windows again. Way to forget your only strength Microsoft, I sure hope I can uninstall all that crap and just run a slightly faster Windows 7.
I recently had to upgrade to Windows 7 and that was has been a complete pile of shit (improved over Vista which I joyously skipped over), and Microsoft is running business as usual it seems by making the system less approachable by dumbing it down to a convoluted state. They wonder why they keep losing people to Linux and Mac.
If Windows8 comes out in any similar state to what they show without an option to run "in XP Mode" at best, or "In Windows 7 mode" at worst, then I will finally jump ship and get Linux running on my kit at home.
The guy in the video need to be fired as his job is to manage the user experience, and he doesn't seem to have a complete understanding of the entire windows userbase.
If Windows8 comes out in any similar state to what they show without an option to run "in XP Mode" at best, or "In Windows 7 mode" at worst, then I will finally jump ship and get Linux running on my kit at home.
The guy in the video need to be fired as his job is to manage the user experience, and he doesn't seem to have a complete understanding of the entire windows userbase.
Putting up such an interface MIGHT be useful for newbies (although frankly where the hell are you gonna find a newbie these days), but its definitely gonna be annoying for ppl who've been using windows up until now.
It still annoys the hell out of me how it takes me minutes to find control options in Windows 7 that were easy to find on previous windows.
Another thing, simply having the old style windows 7 interface option available does NOT redeem this new version. Why would anyone upgrade if they didn't want to use the new features.
It still annoys the hell out of me how it takes me minutes to find control options in Windows 7 that were easy to find on previous windows.
Another thing, simply having the old style windows 7 interface option available does NOT redeem this new version. Why would anyone upgrade if they didn't want to use the new features.
That's how I'm looking at it. If we're talking about tablet/touchscreen PC's then it looks interesting. But for a desktop/laptop operating system? Oh hell no!Mikkel421427 said:
First thing that comes to mind, the rep talks about how these 'panels' are better than icons because yada yada yada. So how is it going to look if I like many people have icons taking up half my freakin desktop on a 22" screen? And it runs smooth on a small touch screen, but that is not going to be friendly to use on a standard desktop monitor with a mouse.
Then the biggest gaff, they call that increased user friendliness? Really? You're looking at having to learn how to operate with a PC all over again, that may be fine for us youngsters but as the tech guy in my family I can say with absolute certainty this would confuse the absolute hell out my parents and especially my ground parents. My grandma doesn't even know how to right click on stuff for more options, you think she's going to be able to learn how to slide her finger around the screen to access invisible options? For standard desktop use there is nothing unfriendly about the decades old standard user interface. I mean the only people who aren't going to find the standard windows scheme user friendly are old people, and like I said above there's no way in hell old people are going to be able to learn this entirely new setup.
This looks to be following the trend of every-other Windows OS being a giant pile of shit. I'll wait for Windows 9, thanks.
It also looks the same as the fuck-awful interface on the Windows phone (I tried it in a store and wanted to throw the phone across the room after 2 minutes... good thing it was tethered). I don't want this stupid trend of "apps" invading my PC. I'm not spending $1500+ on a machine just so I can post to Twitter, you bombaclots. I really hate how everything is apparently being designed towards people with ADHD. If I'm reading something I'm not going to watch a video at the same damn time. Let's remove vowels from words! More boxes all over! You can do 500 things at once (but none of them well)! Also everything is designed around a touch interface. Somehow people still haven't noticed that it's more efficient to use a mouse and keyboard with a few minute clicks and minor wrist movements than to move your arms around in the air in front of you and wipe your hand across a screen. It takes me like 0.01 second to switch browser windows with Alt+Tab on my desktop, as opposed to the several seconds it takes to do the same thing with touch interface on my Andoird. Too bad touch is terrible for data-entry and visual design, two things that computers are used for on a massive scale. Not to mention all the smudges and crap blurring up your screen from touching it all the time.
Also ironic that the new interface kind of mirrors the giant jumble-fuck of a bulletin board behind that TV screen in the beginning (no idea how they get work done when that is what their workflow looks like). No, I don't want my computer to look like that.
It also looks the same as the fuck-awful interface on the Windows phone (I tried it in a store and wanted to throw the phone across the room after 2 minutes... good thing it was tethered). I don't want this stupid trend of "apps" invading my PC. I'm not spending $1500+ on a machine just so I can post to Twitter, you bombaclots. I really hate how everything is apparently being designed towards people with ADHD. If I'm reading something I'm not going to watch a video at the same damn time. Let's remove vowels from words! More boxes all over! You can do 500 things at once (but none of them well)! Also everything is designed around a touch interface. Somehow people still haven't noticed that it's more efficient to use a mouse and keyboard with a few minute clicks and minor wrist movements than to move your arms around in the air in front of you and wipe your hand across a screen. It takes me like 0.01 second to switch browser windows with Alt+Tab on my desktop, as opposed to the several seconds it takes to do the same thing with touch interface on my Andoird. Too bad touch is terrible for data-entry and visual design, two things that computers are used for on a massive scale. Not to mention all the smudges and crap blurring up your screen from touching it all the time.
Also ironic that the new interface kind of mirrors the giant jumble-fuck of a bulletin board behind that TV screen in the beginning (no idea how they get work done when that is what their workflow looks like). No, I don't want my computer to look like that.
This is the biggest issue I have had with Microsoft for since XP.8bitlove2a03 said:
Windows XP was solid. It had it's back end issues just like any windows, but you could efficently do just about anything you wanted and keep things set the way you like. Every release sense then, MS has stuck to a more "It looks cool, who cares about effeciency anyway?" Approach. They bury useful system features and surface flashy, useless, and sometimes process intensive features that are a pain in the ass to turn off.
If they want to add these new features, awesome, but then upon install they need an "Expert User" and "Casual User" option that allows you to basically run the new features via business as usual with a new Windows release, or run through a list of options to turn on and off so it will run as you prefer (No alpha masks on screen, show full folder paths instead of buttons, do not group start bar icons, classic menu layouts, ect).
Some say "Oh, you just hate change", but I prefer having as much control as possible over what my system is doing, and don't like all the flashy bits taking resources and consuming cycles that are unneeded.
I see the "Tile" thing being quite difficult to use with a keyboard and mouse. When I first saw it I thought it was exclusivly for a tablet PC, thinking that Microsoft had decided to try to rival the iPad, in which case yeah it looked pretty nice for a tablet. But for a PC, it seems gimmicky and attempting to be something that it's not.
Also, "Apps"? Really? Microsoft seem to be following Apples trend now, instead of trying out something original.
Sticking with XP until it dies on me.
Also, "Apps"? Really? Microsoft seem to be following Apples trend now, instead of trying out something original.
Sticking with XP until it dies on me.
Initial reaction to the idea: keep mobile OS the hell away from my desktop!
Response having watched: KEEP MOBILE OS THE HELL AWAY FROM MY PC!
"Hur, snaps allow you to position apps next to each other!" you mean like how you can position windows any where you want, only more restrictive and limiting?
"Computers can do more than one thing at once!" well, unless your tiles take up 100% of your screen real estate to tell you the weather. Christ, Win7 has a gadget that does that that's like an inch square.
I like how to actually do anything with it - work, manage files, do ANYTHING that's not running in isolation - you have to switch to Windows 7. That should tell you something about the nature of the OS.
Now, disgusted reaction aside, it's doubly disappointing that the best thing they could come up with to redesign the Windows interface was to turn it into 9 quick-dial buttons.
The strengths of Windows 7 are many - I love this OS sooo much, even though there were some things that initially felt odd after XP (libraries didn't initially make much sense, for instance), but the search bar is ridiculously powerful. Why not capitalise on this? The taskbar is great, the preview windows work excellently for the stacking of similar windows - great idea, that - so why throw all this multi-tasking support away with big, brightly coloured buttons?
At the end of the day all they've done is put a UI for dummies over the Windows 7 UI. Colour me unimpressed - I doubt that aspect's going to actually improve anything about desktop computer use.
Response having watched: KEEP MOBILE OS THE HELL AWAY FROM MY PC!
"Hur, snaps allow you to position apps next to each other!" you mean like how you can position windows any where you want, only more restrictive and limiting?
"Computers can do more than one thing at once!" well, unless your tiles take up 100% of your screen real estate to tell you the weather. Christ, Win7 has a gadget that does that that's like an inch square.
I like how to actually do anything with it - work, manage files, do ANYTHING that's not running in isolation - you have to switch to Windows 7. That should tell you something about the nature of the OS.
Now, disgusted reaction aside, it's doubly disappointing that the best thing they could come up with to redesign the Windows interface was to turn it into 9 quick-dial buttons.
The strengths of Windows 7 are many - I love this OS sooo much, even though there were some things that initially felt odd after XP (libraries didn't initially make much sense, for instance), but the search bar is ridiculously powerful. Why not capitalise on this? The taskbar is great, the preview windows work excellently for the stacking of similar windows - great idea, that - so why throw all this multi-tasking support away with big, brightly coloured buttons?
At the end of the day all they've done is put a UI for dummies over the Windows 7 UI. Colour me unimpressed - I doubt that aspect's going to actually improve anything about desktop computer use.
As an owner of a Windows Phone 7, I can honestly say that this is exciting but only if it is to be used for Tablets (which I hear they are developing)... I would NEVER put this on my desktop PC.
For those who can't really tell this looks like a push to a Kinect/touch friendly interface. Tiles are how the Kinect is used on the Xbox interface and touch based controls are very compatible with Kinect. This makes touch, motion and mouse controls all interchangeable. It's how they'll integrate Windows Phone, Xbox and PC applications to using a single unified interface that makes everything more accessible for the user.
Just one more step towards complete media integration by Microsoft products.
Just one more step towards complete media integration by Microsoft products.