[AccessD] Ramblings of a nutcase

Hans-Christian Andersen hans.andersen at phulse.com
Wed Feb 26 16:33:59 CST 2014


> The brilliant thing is, that the Metro/Modern interface potentially can scale from a wristwatch or a lightswitch to a laserbeam operated cinemascreen.

You mean, something like the Truman Show poster?
http://www.impawards.com/1998/truman_show_ver1_xlg.html

Mother of god. An icon… within a box. And repeated in a tiled fashion. That’s brilliant. Why hasn’t anyone else done this??? :)

To be honest, I never had a problem with Metro’s tiled interface in theory. The implementation of how apps behave when you click on them and the whole magic corners really breaks the whole thing for me. Also, having many of your tiles constantly change information makes for a very obnoxious interface for anything other than a news ticker display.

Microsoft could totally fix Metro and make it something people actually are interested in, but, as it currently stands, an excess of minimalism and rejection of decades of user interface design + the awesome magic corners makes it very difficult to love.

- Hans



On Feb 26, 2014, at 1:40 PM, Gustav Brock <gustav at cactus.dk> wrote:

> Hi Hans
> 
> Thanks. You really make me feel ahead of the crowd. Perhaps I just am better than most to find and appreciate the new opportunities rather than sticking to the past. It is claimed that positive people will live longer than those spending a lot of energy being negative. Fingers crossed.
> 
> As of today, no one has argued that the old desktop is preferable for a touch screen. It was a dead end. Something had to be done. The brilliant thing is, that the Metro/Modern interface potentially can scale from a wristwatch or a lightswitch to a laserbeam operated cinemascreen.
> 
> /gustav
> 
> ________________________________________
> Fra: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com <accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com> på vegne af Hans-Christian Andersen <hans.andersen at phulse.com>
> Sendt: 26. februar 2014 21:42
> Til: Access Developers discussion and problem solving
> Emne: Re: [AccessD] Ramblings of a nutcase
> 
> Gustav.
> 
> I think Microsoft designed Windows 8 just for you. :)
> 
> 
>> It's an outdated left-over from Windows 95 (seems like everyone have forgotten how MS was ridiculed when it introduced).
> 
> What? When? I don’t ever recall the Start Menu being ridiculed when it was introduced. And, personally, I was happy it came along, because I was using something similar in function as the start menu in Windows 3.11, only that you could access it via a right click of the desktop. It made Win3.11 so much more usable.
> 
> 
>> As I have mentioned before, the Metro/Modern UI is a masterpiece in design, and if you can't "see" this, it is because of exactly this, that excellent design doesn't stand forward, it only supports the function
> 
> So your logic is: Metro/Modern UI is a masterpiece in design. It is not possible to disagree. If you try to disagree, it is only evidence that it is a masterpiece in design.
> 
> http://i.imgur.com/2St5C4B.jpg
> 
> 
>> and if you don't realize this, just borrow a Mac for a moment and study what old-fashioned is about, indeed the ugly animation that sucks windows when they are minimized and the sloshing icons at the bottom. I guess you get used to it, but it makes me feel sick.
> 
> I find it amusing that before Windows 8, people would criticize OS X for being flashy and all about aesthetics. Form over function etc. Windows is for the power user, who values performance and a consistent UI that improves incrementally.
> 
> Now OS X is apparently old fashioned and has ugly animations, while Windows 8 is a masterpiece in modern UX/UI design.
> 
> It’s an upside down world, I tell’s ya. Although, to be honest, I’m not sure most people agree with you, Gustav.
> 
> 
> - Hans
> 
> 
> 
> 
> On Feb 26, 2014, at 12:55 AM, Gustav Brock <gustav at cactus.dk> wrote:
> 
>> Hi Arthur
>> 
>> You nailed it as usual. I was playing with words like stubborn old farts, but pussies is much nicer!
>> 
>> I've used Windows 8 (now 8.1 of course) on my home workstation since the very first developer edition (with the wonderful fish on the desktop) and with zero add-ons as I've never been a fan of the small and miserable and messy Start menu. It's an outdated left-over from Windows 95 (seems like everyone have forgotten how MS was ridiculed when it introduced).
>> We still run Win7 and a little WinXP at the office but we seriously consider moving to Win8 after the next update.
>> 
>> As I have mentioned before, the Metro/Modern UI is a masterpiece in design, and if you can't "see" this, it is because of exactly this, that excellent design doesn't stand forward, it only supports the function - and if you don't realize this, just borrow a Mac for a moment and study what old-fashioned is about, indeed the ugly animation that sucks windows when they are minimized and the sloshing icons at the bottom. I guess you get used to it, but it makes me feel sick.
>> 
>> Of course, as a developer I mostly use the desktop of Win8. Also, my 27" monitor has no touch, so the Metro interface is mouse only for me. But the organization of icons in groups on the Start screen is a big progress compared to the multilevel Start menu of Win7-.
>> 
>> Further, it is like most look at Win8 as Win7 with another interface. That is not so. It is faster, and with an SSD drive you have finally reached what a computer should be: Instantly on and off with sleep mode, and only few seconds to the login screen from a cold boot.
>> 
>> Finally, as Martin mentions, where Windows 8 really shines is on a tablet. We have a Surface Pro 2, a wonderful machine, and I have used the old desktop on that. It is doable, but don't forget your glasses or the pen-pointer. It is not productive, and if that would have been the only option, people would have bashed MS, much like what happened with the old Windows Mobile. Something had to be done, and the Metro/Modern touch interface is the answer. Apps can be snipped/snapped in and out and you quickly feel at home.
>> 
>> /gustav
>> 
>> 
>> -----Oprindelig meddelelse-----
>> Fra: accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com [mailto:accessd-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] På vegne af Arthur Fuller
>> Sendt: 25. februar 2014 21:05
>> Til: Access Developers discussion and problem solving
>> Emne: Re: [AccessD] Ramblings of a nutcase
>> 
>> IMHO, you folks are all pussies and refuse to see what's great about Windows 8. With the proviso that you download and install ClassicShell (google it). This free tool goes a long way toward making Windows 8 palatable for old-timers. In fact it goes further than that; it's smarter and better than the old classic start menu.
>> 
>> Even without this wonderful tool, there are a few key things you can do to smarten up your startup tile UI: most notably, you can drag the tiles into an arrangement of your choice, and also create groups of tiles containing associated programs (i.e. a Media group, a SQL group, etc. And most significantly, you can drag your most frequently-visited programs to the top left of the tile groups. In my tile setup, the first tile is Desktop. I have two monitors and the desktop opens on the large monitor. I also make extensive use of the QuickLaunch bar, and the programs soon learn which monitor they should load on.
>> 
>> That custom setup accomplished, you are now in a position to see some of the startup, performance and memory management advantages of Windows 8.1. I can only say that I'd never consider going back to Windows 7. I still have a copy of it, but it's on a separate box entirely, and I find myself using that box less and less -- just for large downloads and for running Ubuntu Linux.
>> 
>> I have one more customization of the Win 8.1 laptop planned. I recently read a net piece on how to hook up two external monitors to a laptop.
>> That's next. I'll have three monitors, two external and the laptop monitor.
>> That will be very cool.
>> 
>> My $0.02.
>> 
>> Arthur
>> 
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