Reviews - Windows 8 - Part Two: Modern UI

[HEXUS]

It's all change for the new face of Windows.

Read more.

[c12038]

Windows 8 is fine if your into new tech but why bother with a new OP system when windows 7 does all this anyway, Apart from the UI and touchscreen technology what benefits are given to the general end user that plays games and use it for the web.....

I say stick with Windows 7 for awhile see how this fairs against bench testing and such like and see what bugs pop up do you all remember Vistas problems and oh what a laugh that was .....

Uncomprimising MS again did not listen to the Community as a whole and we end up with this rubbish or are they trying to look like Apple and have an exclusives op system that can run diddly squat programs effectively......



Unlike Apple MS has made it so you can run software by major software houses and games......


If MS is trying to make windows appear similar to the Android way of working Erhhhhh nope

[crossy]

Excellent article again - just wish it'd be available for my relative last weekend!

To be honest the information about the "getting an app via search" is invaluable - especially since that's a feature that I use heavily on both Windows7 boxes and my various Linux ones (the latter running Unity UI). I've more or less given up on the "conventional" start menu apart from a couple of often-used apps that are pinned to the initial menu. Presumably there's some way to do that "pinned app" idea with MUI by locking/sending some icon to the desktop.

XBox music I wasn't that impressed with when I tried it last week - I've not paid for a subscription and all it would offer me was "browse" access where I could get a couple of seconds of a track, and the quality as sub-FM radio level. Although that was on an XBox, so maybe a Windows8 PC would do it better?

[jim]

I'm really tempted to give it a try, but I'm not sure I can be bothered to get rid of Windows 7... I'm more interested from an academic point of view, i.e. "is it going to be any good", rather than "I really need this".

I don't feel particularly irritated with Metro, and I can see myself enjoying it, but I can't believe they didn't come up with a better blend between Metro and the traditional desktop.

[hatsumi]

Not quite liking the look of Win 8 modernUI, in fact the screenshots are giving me a headache.

Also not sure why you'd be looking for an app for facebook, iplayer etc on desktop, surely you'll go to the websites? Or do you mean on a tablet? I'm a wee bit confused!

[shaithis]

Uncomprimising MS again did not listen to the Community as a whole and we end up with this rubbish or are they trying to look like Apple and have an exclusives op system that can run diddly squat programs effectively......

It's the same reason why we are seeing AMD announcing ARM cpus.

The industry is seeing a large shift in the future towards mobile computing......and Microsoft are behind the curve (especially considering their dominance for so many years) and need to try and get a system adopted "en mass".

It's a shame really as there are some very nice feature in Windows 8....just completely marred by the new UI.

[Hicks12]

@Crossy, its simple to set things like the old startmenu with the pinned applications, simply right click any shortcut or actual exe and click pin to start, it defaults to the end of the start menu (modern UI) so just drag it to wherever you want it after, really simply and very useful IMO, the start menu was pretty half arsed and now i have a large version with live tiles/Widgets like mail and weather with the added benefit of more shortcuts and a very strong search function that improves upon windows 7.

I really cant fault windows 8 apart from the shutdown bit, another way is to ctrl alt del then press the power bit but I just simply made a shortcut and pinned it to the start bar that runs the shutdown command, simple but im not sure why MS didnt put it in! I suppose we are getting to the day where its almost unnecessary, if your system needs a reboot you will be prompted and when I use windows 8 on my laptop I simply close the lid as its stupidly fast to get out of standby, my desktop I could just press the power button on the case so really the more I think about it the more its unnecessary .

The snap function is extremely useful however I agree that they could improve it by making it resizeable, would greatly improve that feature but I like the concept . Desktop works just as well as windows 7 but even better in multi monitor setups which I am enjoying , boot is much faster and as a whole the system runs smoother and its the little things like task manager being improved and now is nice to look at and even more useful, simple things like accessing startup applications and services from the task manager is a lovely idea and saves me going elsewhere, the App history is great and seeing whats using what in terms of the hardware resources and data.

I also think its a bit off that people think MS has killed the desktop, it really hasnt it has thought about the desktop and has improved it in everyway to people who are willing to adapt to change just look at Office 2007, the ribbon menu was slated even I hated it but after using it for a bit I understood it and it really made it stupidly easy to get on with the tasks at hand and it was the best change to office ever and it provides a level of customisation that should be a standard, its much like what Android is now as you can change pretty much every aspect of the OS to support your personal requirements.

If you're a power user then you really need to get on using keyboard shortcuts as that has always been the most efficient way of accessing things, windows key + X provides a nice little menu that gives you access to most power features that youll use, its a simple addition but shows they looked at desktop usage, hit windows key + D and you dont need to use Metro, simply hit windows key and type then hit enter and you will get what you wanted just like in windows 7, just close your eyes while you do it if a pretty GUI is really going to gouge your eyes out. The one thing id like them to change on the windows + X menu is that they should make it pop up where your mouse is currently instead of just the bottom left (also it goes to the primary monitor just like metro does, that needs to be changed so it works on whatever the active display is).

Windows 8 to me is a solid improvement over the amazing OS that is Windows 7 but it also suffers from version 1.0 issues but overall it is better, give it SP1 and I think MS will truely have an OS that can decimate the Tablet/Smartphone/Laptop/Desktop markets. Its funny how MS gets slated for not being innovative and Apple apparently is yet MS has just proven they can be a very creative company and shows the Apple has lost its flare and is stuck in a loop. MS pretty much invented the tablet and smartphone markets, now the rightful owner is coming back to take it .

[scaryjim]

... are they trying to look like Apple and have an exclusives op system that can run diddly squat programs effectively......

Not entirely sure what you mean by that? Windows has always and will always be closed source, so it's pretty damn exclusive: you want Windows you get it from Microsoft. They're not going to stop anyone installing it on compatible hardware, and nothing in this release limits what hardware it'll install on, so it's no more exclusive than it was. They're also still releasing free (as in beer) development tools for both RT development and x86 development, so they're supporting third party developers as much as they ever were, and giving them the option of developing traditional desktop apps or Modern UI apps as they see fit. Companies gain benefit by going for Modern UI apps as they will run on Win 8 and Win RT equally well, giving them a wider audience at a greater range of price points.


As to Windows 8, it's another one of those "the more I use it the more I think I'll like it" things. The real problem is that Windows 7 was such a big improvement over Vista/XP, without doing anything revolutionary, so everyone had very high expectations. Now MS have decided to revolutionise instead of tweak, and everyone's suddenly very disappointed. My only big issue with the start screen is having to use hot corners to bring it up when on the desktop. If I could pin the start screen to the desktop, so I just had to click a button to bring it up, I'd be a very happy man. Sadly, despite hours of searching, I've yet to find a way to do this that I'm completely happy with...

[dangel]

If MS hadn't done anything dramatic the internet would be full of posts complaining about that instead. Damned either way, especially if it's not absolutely perfect (for each and everyone of us) on release (because all products are). I think we're a couple of versions away from seeing how this will pan out - and personally I'd like to see them innovate and try something new.

scaryjim - you can't just hit the keyboard start button?

[holy god of nil]

I personally think windows 8 looks very nice, when I'm not working or gaming on my pc I'm using all the stuff that the start page gives me, email, favourite windows, social media etc

A friend of mine who's a long-term mac user built himself a pc recently and is absolutely loving windows 8 he says.

I appreciated it's not exactly an upgrade for those using machines for purely office functions, but really that's not who it's an upgrade for.

[scaryjim]

scaryjim - you can't just hit the keyboard start button?

Yes, I can - the thought process goes like this:

"Right, I'll just pop up the start menu
*moves mouse to bottom right corner*
*manages to bring up start screen icon then loses it by moving mouse 2px*
Oh, wait, I can press the Windows key, can't I....
*presses Windows key, desperately hopes he remembers next time*"

I never got used to using the Win key or any of the related shortcuts, having spent so many years using the start button, and when I'm browsing the interwebs, reading web comics or playing games I very rarely touch the keyboard (if I can avoid it ). I also quite often use my laptop in bed, at which point my arms tend to be under the duvet keeping warm unless I need to type. I can pin absolutely everything else in Win 8 to the taskbar if I so desire: why not the start screen? It'd make both that and the rather nifty context menu that hides in the same smart corner that little bit easier to interact with with a mouse. It's a tiny bit of programming for a reasonable increase in both usability and intuitiveness in my use case, so I just don't get why it's not an option (after all, the functionality and icon already exist in the charms menu....).

[ladcrooks]

Think, with the old desktop and a blank canvas, people made their own desktop, IE family pic, their fav car, or anything! Now we will see the same bloody tiles on every computer, boring!

Modern UI - guess next thing we will act like bloody robots!

I have not gone into the new Modern UI thingy as win 8 does not interest me at the mo, but am i wrong about the above?

[dangel]

Yes, I can - the thought process goes like this:

"Right, I'll just pop up the start menu
*moves mouse to bottom right corner*
*manages to bring up start screen icon then loses it by moving mouse 2px*
Oh, wait, I can press the Windows key, can't I....
*presses Windows key, desperately hopes he remembers next time*"

I never got used to using the Win key or any of the related shortcuts, having spent so many years using the start button, and when I'm browsing the interwebs, reading web comics or playing games I very rarely touch the keyboard (if I can avoid it ). I also quite often use my laptop in bed, at which point my arms tend to be under the duvet keeping warm unless I need to type. I can pin absolutely everything else in Win 8 to the taskbar if I so desire: why not the start screen? It'd make both that and the rather nifty context menu that hides in the same smart corner that little bit easier to interact with with a mouse. It's a tiny bit of programming for a reasonable increase in both usability and intuitiveness in my use case, so I just don't get why it's not an option (after all, the functionality and icon already exist in the charms menu....).

Well you can pin a shortcut that launches it - there's a whole heap of ways to do it in fact. I quite liked this one http://www.howtogeek.com/108838/make...-memory-usage/
I did feel that removing it for the desktop was daft - but I haven't bothered to add one again since my last 8 reinstall (when I went to the RTM) because i'm normally on the keyboard and outside that very infrequently needing the start screen (versus pinning to the taskbar).

[ladcrooks]

' Well you can pin a shortcut that launches it ' ha! yes i looked at the link. Say your in an environment like an office with 30 odd computers and you go round and chat to other staff, the difference in everybody's desktop, gave you a reason to talk about anything, cos maybe you saw madams dogs, or her new born baby, a holiday snap and so on, get what i mean?

I think the individual desktop will be missed, how many people are going to remember to activate that shortcut that launches it?

[cjs150]

I will be installing it tonight but with mixed feelings. As it will be on an HTPC the tile screen is probably more sensible than the old W7 start menu, but on a desktop without touch screen I suspect I will be wanting the old W7 start menu very quickly.

Can we please stop calling them "Apps", they are programmes.

I have limited interest in MS "App store". If I want a program I will buy it from the maker rather than give MS a big cut.

I think the whole W8 is a dogs breakfast. The idea that there should be the same UI whether on a monile, tablet, desktop pc with touch screen or desktop without touch is daft. What makes sense on a hand held device (for example swipe to bring on another screen) is ludicrous on a desktop without touch.

[dangel]

' Well you can pin a shortcut that launches it ' ha! yes i looked at the link. Say your in an environment like an office with 30 odd computers and you go round and chat to other staff, the difference in everybody's desktop, gave you a reason to talk about anything, cos maybe you saw madams dogs, or her new born baby, a holiday snap and so on, get what i mean?

Er... not sure but I'd take a wild guess and tell you that the start screen (and MUI apps) can display lots of personalised info that's self updating (that's the point of live tiles).