Windows 8 - Looks really awsome

Delivering reliable and trustworthy Metro style apps

 

In other words they're going to try and make Metro apps work the way all other apps are already supposed to work

 

Windows 8 to get new desktop UI changes

Windows 8 to get new desktop UI changes

Source.

Source.

 

AT&T: Windows 8 launch coming in Q4 2012

 

Re: Windows 8 to get new desktop UI changes

Cheers for that.
Long blog post there, not had chance to read much of it - is there any talk of improving the jarring experience switching between Metro and desktop, can I run metro on one monitor and desktop on the other (its going to be a pain developing metro apps in visual studio otherwise, imagine debugging a running metro app..) ?

Cheers, Nick

 

here:

so hopefully the On/Off button for Metro will be added on later on.

 

I was hoping for the other way around, as I dislike the flat look of Metro.

 

Yeah.... Dream on...

 

I'm trying Winstep Nexus Extreme in the Windows 8 Customer Preview. It replicates the Start Menu and Taskbar quite nicely and makes the desktop usable. Depending on the features of the final UI this may be the solution for me.

 

That looks like a good solution. It still amazes me that anybody would have to go to this kind of measure just to use Win 8 easily. I really don't know what Microsoft are thinking these days.

 

A new (and long) post in their Building Windows 8 blog may help understanding some decisions: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/archive/2012/05/18/creating-the-windows-8-user-experience.aspx

 

From that article:

They are calling it dated already? With the number of people that have never moved on from XP?

 

Yeah, I think MS have finally lost it!

 

Thanks, but it still hasn't convinced me to run out & buy Win 8 when it is released.

 

I won't buy it either. I will probably buy a new laptop with Windows 8 next year and *maybe* upgrade it to the enterprise version or something.

 

...Any resemblance is purely coincidental...

Source.

 

From their 'Trends that influenced the design of Windows 8', the rapid change in sales from desktops towards laptops is mentioned as being very significant.
As most of these laptops won't have a touch screen, it's a non-argument imao for offering a 'tablet&smartphone&PC-all-in-one' based GUI eventhough the writer has become a tablet-laptop afficionado;
'Having used a touch-enabled laptop every day for the last year (a Lenovo x220 tablet), I have a hard time imagining not being able to touch the screen for scrolling, or to tap the OK or Cancel buttons in a dialog box. Whenever I use a non-touch laptop, it is as if I’ve forgotten how to use the PC.'

More important seems the following sentence;

'At the same time, apps have continued to get richer on mobile devices, as developers have had more time and experience developing apps. Along the way, mobile platforms continue to add APIs and functionalities that already exist in Windows.
We realized that to enable Windows to lead with these trends emerging, we needed to reimagine the Windows experience.'

Microsoft is simply missing out on the tablet/smartphone market and it seems to me they're trying to get a definitive foothold by forcing all current desktop/laptop users to get acquainted with the new Windows-for-everything-OS GUI where evidence shows, companies like Apple have done quite well in offering a separate OS for their tablet/smartphone goldmine while continuing catering their desktop/laptop users with a separate non-touch/swipe GUI based OS.

Regarding their Goals of the Windows 8 user experience; 1. Fast and fluid.
'Fast and fluid represents a few core things to us. It means that the UI is responsive, performant, beautiful, and animated.'.
It seems strange that you'd need it to be beautiful and animated in Metro and less beautiful/animated on the desktop compared to Win7.

 

I think you missed the part where they talk about upcoming changes to the desktop of Windows 8. Mostly of these changes won't be available until W8 RTM - again, according to them.

 

It's a fair point, people fear change.

I can't remember much IT before Win 98 because I had a life then, but I thought Win 98/2000 were pretty good. XP was a huge improvement & I really liked it. I thought Vista was great when it was released, I still rate Vista & still think it is probably aesthetically the best Windows version ever. I think Win 7 looks great as well & liked it from the first time I used it.

This is the first Windows version that I am not particularly enthusiastic about. I really am going to try & wait for Win 9.

 

I think MS is banking heavily on tablets and phones taking over soon, but they're also ignoring the laptop market by forcing Metro on everyone, and I think laptops will be around for quite some time to come, even if the desktop is dying.... I really wish they'd put the Metro on/off switch in 8, but I know they won't.

 

By soon, if they are thinking mid to late 23rd century, maybe they're right.

I think that everyone believes laptops (or even netbooks) are going to be around for quite a while yet, everyone that is ... but Microsoft.

Interestingly, the friend of mine who custom built my desktop reckons he is selling a fair few 'budget boxes' over laptop sales from his shop (store). Probably a cheaper way to get online than an expensive laptop or tablet.

We can live in hope (or learn Ubuntu).

 

I recommend Ubuntu lol but I think that staying on Windows 7 isn't the worst thing.

Windows 8 brings a lot of security features and I think whatever comes after will likely address UI.

MS is going to see Vista-type sales with Windows 8 I think and they'll react accordingly.

 

Right now I am giving some pretty serious consideration to going with Ubuntu permanently, but 7 is hard to part with, I really love it too. I've been using 7 since the first day it hit the shelves in stores

 

I plan to stay with it for a long time (if I can).

We can hope.

Do you think that they can see this coming, but just don't care? What's the reckoning that they are working on a back-up Win 8 with a decent UI & the ability to kill-switch Metro at this very moment?