Using Windows 8 and the Metro Interface

[Guest]

Hands on with Windows 8! What does the new interface really mean for day-to-day use?

Using Windows 8 and the Metro Interface : Read more

 

[soo-nah-mee]

The longer I have my WP7 with Mango, the more I'm liking how Windows 8 looks.

...Just as long as it's not intrusive when you want (or need) to use the "standard" Windows GUI"

 

[theconsolegamer]

W8, the Windows that went Xbox.

 

[mcd023]

I'm looking forward to having this on a tablet. I'm using an iPad 1 (mainly for aviation charts), and I'm really liking the idea of being able to snap windows or apps into panes. That's gonna be really nice for productivity, especially for guys like me who may have a hard time remember what numbers to plug into the calculator

 

[danielravennest]

Touch interface is useless for desktop monitors, since the optimal view distance to avoid eyestrain requires holding your arms out horizontal, which induces arm strain if you do it all day long. On the other hand, I have room on my physical desk between the keyboard and the two large monitors for a tablet-shaped screen where taskbar, weather gadgets, and application launcher could live comfortably, and touch interface could work.

So what would be needed there is an option to use *both* Metro and standard desktop UI, selectable by monitor, at the same time.

 

[nikorr]

Still don't like it. Looks boring. Unattractive yet...

 

[amk-aka-Phantom]

You can’t miss the low power notification and you can’t do anything until you click Close.

That sucks.

[strike]The Start screen is lively and up-to-date, appealing and modern-looking.[/strike]

The Start screen is childish, disgusting green and different from what we're used to for no particular reason. Fixed.

Unless there will be an option to turn Win8 into something power user-friendly (no Metro AT ALL, no intrusive alerts, no impression that I'm using an OS designed for retards who need to Search all the time because they keep forgetting where they keep their files), I won't get it. It's just disgusting and doesn't deserve to be on my PCs. If you want to work with a retarded OS, there's Mac OS X with its stupid dock; I want Windows to be something that is actually useful and not enraging.

 

[shanky887614]

im suprised they dont have a choise which gui you want and could just uninstall metro

for example on linux you can use gnow or kde as desktop enviroment

 

[TEAMSWITCHER]

I shutter to think how awful the Windows experience will be on a large multiple screen desktop workstation, having to run almost every application full screen because developers can target all Windows devices with only the Metro GUI. That's right - 30 years of perfecting the desktop metaphor down the drain. Thanks Microsoft.

 

[HolyCrusader]

For tablets, the Metro GUI has potential, although I find their current choice of colors unattractive. For desktops - not so much. Like others, I have multiple monitors attached to my system, and nothing I've seen with Metro hints on how it'll work in 2+ monitor environments. Furthermore, it looks as if it'll be a *slower* interface than the current tried-and-true GUI that's current employed by Windows7 I keep wondering if they have Kinetic in mind for Desktop usage of Metro?

 

[lordstormdragon]

I don't care about tablets. I'm in the 3D rendering industry, and tablets are not only not an option, they're silly toys for mediocre people doing little to no actual work. Entertainment devices at best. I can see their usefulness in medical and scientific fields, but these fields already have tablets that work great and have for years. Not that there isn't room for improvement, obviously!

Thus far, the media (be it Tom's or any other site, but most importantly Microsoft themselves) have done no justice to the actual infrastructure of the world in their marketing. Tablet UIs mean nothing to people with real jobs.

There is no reason to sidegrade to Windows 8 if you have a Windows 7 computer.

 

[lordstormdragon]

"Swiping through the Start screen is a lot better than trying to maneuver your mouse through flyouts on a Start menu that disappears if you move the mouse just a little the wrong way. "

What's wrong with your Winkey, son? Push it. Type two or four letters, and press Enter. This takes fractions of a second. Why you're even mentioning using your mouse to activate applications at all is absurd; if you have a desktop and a keyboard, you should act literate and use them. Especially since doing so saves far more time and energy than the laziness of doing otherwise.

It's a Start Menu. It starts stuff.

 

[marybranscombe]

@amk and others - we do know the green background will change and it will be customisable

@lordstormdragon - the mouse and the flyouts on the Start menu are how you browse for programs whose name you don't remember. Quick, what's that utility you used last year to undelete images from an SD card?

@taemswitcher, holycrusader - with two screens you have the start screen on one and the desktop and the other; it looks quite productive, actually...

@shanky - there will be third party UIs from people like Stardock that you can use, but the desktop isn't technically a UI, it's implemented as an app/service.

 

[Guest]

For a phone, or a Tablet, Metro *might* work. For desktop usage, it's gone very not well for me. It makes the other highly controversial UI - Ubuntu's Unity interface look great on a desktop, but that is just tuned and well suited for Netbooks, and ends up flopping on the desktop.

 

[Guest]

How do you make a moved tile stick to where you put it without some of the other tiles moving out of position? It must be possible to do, but I can't find out how to do it.