Thread: Windows 8 UI

it is a good concept but so was the vista aero. in reality it turned out to be a nightmare. I am not happy that with every upcoming version they put more and more restrictions on the os and make things harder to get to. yes i REALLY want to turn off notifications about not having auto updates on and i really want to get to the windows folder and i most certainly would like to be able to find the control panel.

You know what i mean.. Hence why im still running a stripped version of xp almost across the board. So far the only reason i even have 7 is because it plays nice with SSD. But i can put up with it on one system...

We run motion tablets at work and i love the digitizer and loathe the touchscreen. I find it awesome to be able to grab it by the screen so to speak and not press things (then there is the gorilla glass etc etc). Even with palm rejection, it is not accurate in "rejecting" presses and makes handwriting a chore.

For a conventional monitor, i can't imagine having to hold my hand out every few seconds. Might be great way to build muscle (or achieve joint pain) but ill take the proven approach of resting my hand on the mouse.

Multi touch is the devil and it is counter intuitive. Once you use something for a while and novelty wears off, you realize how much it sucks when you just want to get work done!

Well, it looks like people like you are the reason windows is so bloated with legacy code over the years.

How is finding the control panel an everyday productivity feature? It isn't. The ability to find and run an app, that's what matters.

Your point about the input method makes absolutely no sense. How is a computer having a capacitive multi touch screen, or a pressure sensitive wacom digitizer or an n-trig touch interface or resistive or whatever, how does that have anything to do with the OS? I had a Motion LE1700, great for some stuff, but very limited. I have a multi touch x201t, works better for me, but neither one nor the other capabilities say anything about windows 7 as an OS, since it runs on both machines.

At the Build keynote, Microsoft stated that developers need to clearly think about how they plan to use touch and that it obviously doesn't make sense for continuous desktop use. Microsoft tends to give users and developers choices in how they use the Windows platform. That's why you see multiple development models (Metro, desktop, web), languages (C++, C#/VB, or JS), hardware platform (desktop, laptop, tablet, Intel/AMD, ARM), etc., etc. It's up to the developer to make the right choice for the system and customer.

It’s interesting that the word “productive” was mentioned. Metro, like most touch interfaces, is very good at non-productive endeavors. Put another way, Metro is well suited for consuming content, but all touch interfaces are horrible at producing content.

Think about all the things you see people doing with smartphones and tablets: Watching. Listening. Reading. Socializing. All perfectly normal activities and these devices make doing that on the go easier than it has ever been. It has changed the way we receive information, entertainment and stay connected.

What you DON’T see is anybody producing that content on a smartphone or tablet. Sure, you can record video (in some cases even HD), audio or snap a picture. But you won’t edit that media using a touch screen unless it’s the only thing you have. As an amateur, this may be adequate, but no professional would ever consider these tools as replacements for traditional desktop devices and software.

As someone who spends 12-14 hours a day in front of a computer and makes their living from the result, I’m pretty confident Metro won’t have much impact in my day-to-day activities. And anyone that makes a living with a spreadsheet, work processor or most other pieces of “productivity” software will agree.

And yes, I have Win8 running on a dual-boot Azpen X1 tablet and it’s pretty darn slick, as I’ve said before.



VegasGuy

When *I* mentioned productivity was to emphasize that a control panel is not a productivity tool, unless you tweak machines for a living. And software houses don't care, at least they shouldn't, for people who tweak computers. It's hard work, it's supposed to be hard. That's like saying in the 1800 that we should not cover the car engine with a hood to help them sell more, because it would be more difficult to service. Oh the poor mechanics would suffer. But who cares about the guys who do the dirty work at the expense of all consumers? Where's the money?

As for the MetroUI interface for Windows 8, the only valid comparison would be with the desktop filled with a bunch of icons. Which is best a bunch of tiny icons or a bunch of tiles? You can click both, icons and tiles, with the mouse. However, since tiles can be used with touchscreens, and they can be "live", that is, display information at a glance, I think it's more useful. Then you add the fact that each tile can also be a special kind of application, that can be easily ported/transported to your tablet/phone/carpc, or whatever, I think I know clearly who's the winner.


As for standing your arm in a desk, most current multi touch monitors on the market today allow you to completely lay it down horizontally. That's exactly the Dell 22" that I'm thinking of purchasing (too bad it's optical touch though). They behave like HP all in ones, and they're great as a kitchen/family room computer, and as a secondary screen in a desk, if you care about the applications you can use with it.


If you have one main computer where you download all your pictures and HD videos to, I bet you'd love to have it to be touch friendly, right in your coffee/kitchen table so that the kids could play with it and enjoy. You won't need to find room for a mouse - that's flexibility. And that's a great thing. And it's not about passively consuming a netflix movie. I'm talking about skype, facebook, twitter, stocks, and the consumer's own content.

For instance, now the whole family can see the pictures in friendlier environment than the family's office, they can share and delete the bad pics/videos, rotate, enjoy, send for printing, share with family and friends - how's that not productive? A multi touch screen will help the experience a lot, if not essential, it will soon be.


I think Windows 8 will be much more productive for kids and the elderly - without affecting the corporate world one bit. Well, maybe some hard core folks reluctant to change will think it's crap, but I bet this won't matter much.

What kind of tablet is that, Vegas? VERY cool!

I already run 1024 * 640 (WS) on my 8” and have run way higher resolutions on that screen, My FE scales correctly and looks the same at any resolution.

The only problem I have with higher resolutions is trying to read anything if I need to drop to Windows systems when changing or configuring the system. (No I’m not going to increase DPI in windows, or carry around a second large screen) So 1024*640 is about my limit for that (I’m getting old).

I’m hoping that W8 will allow the tiny window message boxes and navigate buttons when running at a higher resolution on a small screen to be made larger?

Not a deal breaker if it doesn’t. I have a second SSD coming, so I will have a chance to play with Dev ver W8.

That's an Azpen X1. Dual boot Windows 7 (now 8)/Android 2.2 (for now)
Atom 1.6 single core (not as bad as you'd think, especially with Win8)
2gb RAM
32gb internal SSD, 32gb external microSD
WiFi B/G/N
BT
2 USB ports, audio, mini-VGA out. It does NOT support HDMI out. audio out
multi-touch capacitive screen
1024x600 native resolution, but I did a registry hack which gives you 1024x768 (required for Win 8) and 1280x1024 (or something like that) most of the Atom boards with the Intel GMA chipset will support this hack. The fan's a little loud under stress, but overall, I'm pretty darn impressed. Build quality is excellent, has 1.3 mp camera on the front (screen side) that takes some pretty mediocre videos and snapshots (cheap webcam quality at best).
$549 at Fry's

Taking into consideration the limitations of the video card, I can say that Centrafuse runs pretty well and I could see how you might do some kind of carPC substitute with this.

VegasGuy

Originally Posted by Mickz

I already run 1024 * 640 (WS) on my 8” and have run way higher resolutions on that screen, My FE scales correctly and looks the same at any resolution.

The only problem I have with higher resolutions is trying to read anything if I need to drop to Windows systems when changing or configuring the system. (No I’m not going to increase DPI in windows, or carry around a second large screen) So 1024*640 is about my limit for that (I’m getting old).

I’m hoping that W8 will allow the tiny window message boxes and navigate buttons when running at a higher resolution on a small screen to be made larger?

Not a deal breaker if it doesn’t. I have a second SSD coming, so I will have a chance to play with Dev ver W8.

Win8, at least in the developer preview, will load, but the apps WILL NOT open in any resolution below 1024x768. I spent MANY hours this weekend before I discovered that little tidbit. They are VERY focused on maintaining a consistent experience between the interface and the apps, so a minimum acceptable screen resolution is one of the mandates. Whether or not that will carry over into the retail product is another question, but I strongly expect that if you plan to use Metro, you'll need 1024x768 minimum.

VegasGuy