Metro breakdown! Windows 8 UI is little gain for lots of pain
The public preview of Windows 8 has won "rave reviews" according to the Daily Mail, the newspaper that claims to reflect Middle England and is proudly conservative in every sense of the word. The Mail, it'll have you know, is a feisty opponent of "change for the sake of it". So not only do I fear that somebody has spiked the …
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Minimum width of 1366 pixels? So how come after installation (before driver installs) it runs at 1024x768?
Probably because there's a difference between "minimum width to actually see all the text that the UI designer put there" and "minimum width supported by the display driver". Setup programs don't usually push the envelope on hardware requirements, so you might well get through the installation process before hitting a problem.
"Classic Shell" may save the day
Looks like most people will be loading Classic Shell (Free, Open Source) to run Win 8 properly...
http://classicshell.sourceforge.net/features.html
"Does Classic Shell support Windows 8?
Classic Shell doesn't officially support Windows 8, because Windows 8 is not yet released (as of January 2012). That said, version 3.3.0 of Classic Shell makes an effort to play nice with the developer preview of Windows 8 and IE10. Some features have been updated to work well, while others that are no longer necessary or possible have been disabled. Once a more finalized version of Windows 8 is available (like the upcoming beta in February), Classic Shell will be updated to better support it."
Marketing Defeats Usability
There's no technical reason why the start button can't be optional - in fact it would probably be easier to retain the start button functionality in parallel to the start screen. It's all just marketing.
The compulsory Metro interface, especially its substitution of the Start menu, is just to get us all familiar with Metro. It's irritating and far less convenient than the Start button, but it means most computer users will become used to the Metro "look and feel", as well as its branding.
So then we'll find WinPhones and WinTabs quite familiar looking. The Metro interface itself is great, but largely unknown. So this exercise is to advertise it to the millions of new Windows 8 users coming up, so that the phones and tabs will sell.
They reason that it's worth pissing off power users if they can expand Windows sales at the lower end.
Mantras
If forcing Metro on the desktop is like Mao’s Cultural Revolution, does that make Window's 8 on ARM like Pol Pot's Year Zero?
After trying this out over the weekend I fear that MS has pushed asside all of its power users in favor of the Ipad rush thats been going on the last couple of years. So I gave Linux Mint 11 a try on a usb live drive, i must say its a lot easier on the eyes then windows 8 to an old power user like me.
Win 8 looks really bad but ...
Win 7 is a real pain compared with Win XP. Win 7 stutters, sleeps at the drop of a pin, and is always "delayed" in terms of response. XP is my favourite!
Re: Win 8 looks really bad but ...
What are you running W7 on? A ZX81?
Count me out on Metro
I don't like Metro.
I really don't like MSFT's 'We know what is best for you' attitude.
Good thing my company has an option to run Mac as my standard PC. I will be switching the next time I am due for a hardware refresh.
Re: Count me out on Metro
You don't like Microsoft's "We know best" attitide, but you are switching to Apple, the company that epitomises that attitude? I could understand switching because Metro is crap and OSX is a far better UI than Metro, but switching to the kings of control freakery because Microsoft are getting too controlling? Are you off your meds?
Re: Count me out on Metro
Wait... what?
You prefer Apple and you think Microsoft has a 'We know what's best for you' attitude?
I can't think of anything that's locked down more than Apple software. MS has more than one way to skin its cats. Don't like Metro UI? Click the desktop button!
Re: Count me out on Metro
You two are both right, both the major players think "we know what is best".
Even Canonical think they "know what is best".
At least there's Debian, Gentoo, Slackware, among others... and if you're really keen, Linux From Scratch. Or perhaps one of the BSDs? Your computer, your choice.
Create IT's 'Nobel' Prize! -- A Message to the Mega-Rich who want fame and a true place in history.
Some smart Mega-Rich could buy instant fame and a true place in history by offering an excellent prize ($100k-1M or more) to anyone--individual, group, whoever--for a well-engineered, free-to-all "Fix-Windows" patch that would change the Windows-8 UI and 'fix' Windows to whatever version the user desired.
Also, it'd offer options to upgrade older UIs with modern enhancements w/o affecting their style. Thus, Windows 2000, XP UI etc. would run on a Win-8 core. Voilà, a Windows upgrade without being the slave of MS's marketing whims.
Go 'viral' would be an understatement, it'd force Microsoft to move from marketing "innovations" to real engineering innovation. A service to the world!
Might start a trend too. Want a fix or a feature MS omitted/dropped--Win-FS for instance? Each year IT's 'Nobel' could be awarded for the best non-MS Windows innovation.
Conditions: All MS employees, former and current, excluded!
>;-)
I'll go you one better.
Offer $1M or more to do the same thing, only on a Linux distro while at the same time offering the ability to run most windows programs out of the box (cutting out the most common excuse not to switch--my program doesn't run on Linux). Offer a bonus (say another $1M) if that list of workables includes the latest games at their highest settings (this is one of the holdouts right now--DX11 games). This would REALLY hit Microsoft hard since with this there would be no practical reason to pay for their OS--ANY of their OS's--again.
@ Charles9 -- Re: I'll go you one better.
Exactly, then users would have full control.
All we have to is publicize the idea and hope for a philanthropist!
:-)
The Circle of Strife
The Metro UI will drive Windows users to Ubuntu.
The Unity UI will drive Ubuntu users to Windows.
Re: The Circle of Strife
Until the defectors find Xubuntu, Mint, or some other more-traditional distro and settle back down...
For once I fully agree with...
...you, Mr Orlowski.
Metro UI is a joke at best and should be OPTIONAL, regardless of what the clueless fat bald fart and his ilks in the bubble like Sinofsky et al think.
I'm saying this since the first preview (last Fall): it's another Vista-sized royal disaster in the making.
TL,DR: any disappearance of our Start Menu will result in total rejection, nobody will adopt it in enterprise circles (which means the loss of the majority of Windows sales.)
FTW!
how about using windows 8 on a 3d hdtv with kinect!
i posted this comment a few days back but couldn't see it here even today. is this some sort of campaign?
God I hate you Andy...
But the articles you allow us to comment on... well, they almost redeem you!
Re: God I hate you Andy...
If people start agreeing with Mr. O wholesale then MS are *really* in deep shit
WTF?
i wonder if you people like any OS that has ever been made.
Re: WTF?
Yes I loved GEM on the Atari ST, Workbench 3 on the Amiga, Windows 95, XP and 7.
Hated, Win 3.11, OS/2, Vista, and now Windows 8 (maybe -Metro it will be OK).
There are others, but these are ones I can rattle off in a minute.
Windows releases are a bit like Star Trek movies
Every other one is okay.
Re: Windows releases are a bit like Star Trek movies
What a startling and original statement.
BUT UGLEE SHARP CORNERS
Worst looking design in the history of MS. Too bad rounding those corners would add so much to the cost that they have to leave the sharp, putrid looking edges.
Re: BUT UGLEE SHARP CORNERS
But rounded corners have been patented by Apple :-)
I thought you could turn Metro off?
I've seen a couple of youtubers posting about how a registry hack turns it back into Windows 7, if you're that bothered and love to dig around (the KDE thread weaving through this forum is an example) then just hack Win8 and stop using Metro... presuming that hack will still work, that is.
There seems to be a general slash and burn attitude from MS regarding legacy support - I applaud their attempts to make their company forward-facing, without having the frankly ludicrous s burden of supporting everything windows flavoured since the year dot, but they may be going a little too fast, if what I read on Reg is anythnig to go by.
On the plus side, that means loads of people might abandon windows altogether, which would be excellent. I still regard it as the biggest patched, hacked-together shitbag of an OS, largely thanks to the piecemeal approach Microsoft have had over the years to its design. IMHO, mind.
I installed it on my netbook, I did require to install a separate intel graphics driver so that I could up my resolution so that the metro apps work, but now all is ok.
1280x960 is the recommended minimum resolution, but the metro apps will run at lower, just not netbook low :-)
I have found the new start menu great. Very quick to get new emails, as Gmail account is linked and Gcalendar and contacts are linked too so all running well.
I would think over the next month or two that we will see alot of new "Metro" compatible programs appearing so that integration with the Live tiles works better than the "what you actually see" view from the article.
I love the speed of startup, hibernate, and everything is nice and fluid, closing metro apps is cool, just drag from the top down. The wide interface is actually quicker to use than scrolling through the old start menu list and you can customise the tiles so that your favourites are listed first which I have found speeds up me using the PC, rather than what is suggested by this article. Big metro app integration over the next few months is going to transform the start menu into something that is really "teeming with life" much like the advantages of the widgets and homescreen design of Android.
Big thumbs up from me.
"closing metro apps is cool, just drag from the top down. "
Wow, like clicking on a red button marked 'X' in the top right corner was really quiet unintuitive, harder to do, and oh such a waste of time...
not really fair...
To whoever wrote the article: it's not really fair to quote that "You see your iSCSI Initiator, your ODBC Data Sources and all your uninstallers" etc, as the only reason you can see them on your machine is that you have turned on the "show admin" tools in the "metro start settings" - this is obviously purely so you can write drivel like this! Which poweruser is going to want to run admin tools from Metro?! Certainly no 'consumers' will either...
if you want admin tools you can run them from the desktop, win+r, or right click the start icon and control panel... a much better way and of course doesn't put them in the metro interface.
Sort it out!
Still a Beta
I don't know if the author realises that this is still in Beta phase. He also completely glossed over the fact that there's a "Desktop" button which takes the user to the classic desktop.
Open My Computer in the classic desktop and in the ribbon is the button for Control Panel. Everything is the same as it used to be. All you grandpa's can stop shaking your canes and telling the kids to get off the lawn because they really havent changed it that much.
full-screen Metro: No real change for many
The big change most users will see will be the start screen and the removal of the task bar. Many people will only notice that their new apps look nice and big and bold. Why? because very many users only run full-screen windows.
Have they even confirmed that the metro interface wont be an opt out service yet? The writer of this article just seems like he's trying to take a dig at microsoft
Come on...
Is the author really complaining about an added optional feature which is not even finished and fully polished yet. Pretty much every point the author makes is close being ignorant. Like that you can actually minimize the Metro UI with a single mouse click...
This is an early preview release, and I think it should be quite obvious you shouldn't expect it to work like an RTM version. The author should know that, but chooses to completely ignore that too.
You can't trun Metro off...
The author's only mistake appears to be not explicitly stating that in the previous build one could turn off Metro, and use the Start button again, that has now been removed.
Logical that the removal was deliberate to force people to use Metro (I won't, it's obtrusive), and is meant to stay.
Unless it's a clever ploy, i.e. "remove start button, and force the use of Metro, let's see how the lab rats behave, oh most of them hate Metro, we'll put the option of having the start button back, phew"
Feedback from folks I've shown it to so far....
These are normal XP/Windows 7 users -
"Thats stupid!"
"How do I..?"
"Where is..?
"Oh Christ!"
"Why is that....?"
"I give up!"
"Okay okay I'll buy that Windows 7 PC!"
"I'm buying a Mac next time if this is what it's like!"
Glowing I'm sure you'll agree.
ME
If they can only break the underlying OS, they can call it the PostME. Does Metro have talking paperclips?
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