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| Windows 8's desktop mode: Microsoft's 'Classic' |
| By Thom Holwerda on 2012-03-06 23:27:08 |
| As you may have seen, David's been taking care of OSNews for a few days because I'm quite busy with work. Still, there's one thing I'd like to talk about: the desktop mode in Windows 8. I wish I could've added this to the first impressions article, but I only arrived at this conclusion yesterday: desktop mode in Windows 8 is Microsoft's equivalent of Mac OS X's Classic mode. |
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| RE[3]: Bleh |
| By phoenix on 2012-03-08 22:08:33 |
|
My biggest issue with Windows Vista, then 7, and now 8 is the move toward text everywhere. For instance, on XP, the Control Panel is a nice window full of icons that represent the area to be configured. Then in Vista (and even moreso in 7) they removed the icons by default, and just splattered a bunch of text links on the screen. Even is you switch it to Large Icons, you still have to click on these tiny little text links. More and more of the interface is going to text only, which works okay on tiny screens where you don't have enough pixels or dpi to show nice graphical icons everywhere (although Android and iOS do just fine with 45 pixel high icons). But on a 10", 15", 20"+ monitor? Clicking on 12pt text is hard, especially compared to a 32x32 icon. And Metro makes it even worse by putting little text strings into giant empty squares everywhere. The point of a GUI is that it's GRAPHICAL. Why the big push for text? |
 - Score: 2 |
| RE[2]: A bit torn on this one |
| By phoenix on 2012-03-08 22:10:45 |
| Hrm, so, since MS can't come up with a good window manager, we should remove all window management features from the OS? How's about if, instead, we improve the window management in Windows, such that these "issues" become non-issues? |
| - Score: 2 |
| RE[3]: Bleh |
| By bassbeast on 2012-03-09 02:17:29 |
|
I would add I've shown it to nearly 200 customers now and NOT A SINGLE ONE liked the metro UI, not even when i let them play with the test unit. they ALL hated it. in fact the closest i got to a "compliment" for the "Metro way" was this exchange with a little old lady named Ms Pipkin: "Why that's a nice looking cell phone screen, is that Android? i heard that it was quite nice....what do you mean its Windows? Windows what? why that's just stupid! why would I want a cell phone for my computer?" And from the mouths of the average consumer, wisdom. lets be honest folks, and cut the BS...Metro is a Cell phone UI made to compete with iOS and Android, you know this, i know this, does anyone truly believe that if iPhone and Android hadn't pimp slapped Microsoft around we'd be looking at this on a desktop? Of course not. So lets call a spade a spade. Ballmer is scared to death because everything they've tried in mobile has been a giant flop, winMo, kin, winPhone, so he is throwing a Hail Mary in the hopes he can prove developers are stupid and he can trick them into developing for WinARM. There is a REASON why he's pushing metro folks, the same tech you use to make metro apps will let them run on WinARM and that is ALL he cares about because PC sales are dropping (I'd argue they aren't dropping because people are switching but because PCs have been "good enough" for years now but that's another story) and he figures he has enough of a lock on the desktop he can just throw it under a bus and people will take it. But obviously the man has forgotten about Vista and what a debacle that was. my prediction is that users will NOT take Metro on non touch UI devices, which of course is the vast majority of desktops and laptops and this in turn will cause the OEMs to demand downgrade rights like with Vista. Win 8 might sell a few tablets but will otherwise be pretty much a flop, and if we are lucky Ballmer will be canned and one of the office guys brought in to right the ship. I can see what they are trying to do but its the wrong way and just the flip side of making winMo look like a tinyXP and just as full of fail. they should spin off their mobile so they can truly innovate without the "legacy" of Windows and lock in on their backs but going about it this way will just make Win 8 another Vista. I'm just glad I've switched the last of my users onto Win 7 so we can just ride this one out like we did vista. Good luck Microsoft, you're gonna need it. |
| - Score: 2 |
| RE[6]: Start menu |
| By orestes on 2012-03-09 09:12:34 |
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The prices, contrary to what the whining fanboys will say, aren't the problem. The "problem" is that Apple unapologetically caters only to specific market niches. If you're not in the niches they cater to, you're not going to find an Apple computer to be worth your time at *any* price and Apple quite frankly doesn't give a damn. They're quite happy mostly dominating the niches they do serve. There's a fairly huge amount of people who'd be nominally interested in OS X if Apple decided to go against their own best interests and transition into being a software company. The amount of interest in the Hackintosh projects should clue you in to that. Apple just doesn't find that worth throwing their highly lucrative core business (hardware sales) under the bus for. |
| - Score: 3 |
| RE[3]: weather app? |
| By lucas_maximus on 2012-03-09 11:14:16 |
|
Familiarity != Competence. You are like the 5th monkey http://www.27bslash6.com/timeshe... |
| - Score: 2 |
| RE[2]: Metro |
| By alibadrelsayed on 2012-03-09 12:15:46 |
| You gave a faulty assumption, so your syllogism fell apart. Classic fallacy |
| - Score: 1 |
| RE[2]: Windows 8 |
| By adinas on 2012-03-09 12:18:14 |
| This from a leftist who is so open minded his brains fell out. |
| - Score: 2 |
| RE[3]: Windows 8 |
| By lucas_maximus on 2012-03-09 13:11:06 |
| I see that you watched the same thing :D |
| - Score: 2 |
| RE[4]: Windows 8 |
| By adinas on 2012-03-09 13:35:14 |
| Whoever is reading this has got to be wondering what your political opinions (half witted as they may be) have to do with Windows 8. |
| - Score: 2 |
| RE[5]: Windows 8 |
| By lucas_maximus on 2012-03-09 16:11:52 |
| George Bush Jokes weren't ever that funny, pretty the same with really "witty" Microsoft Jokes ... it just isn't funny unless you are an utter saddo. |
| - Score: 2 |
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