[AccessD] Ramblings of a nutcase

John W Colby jwcolby at gmail.com
Wed Feb 26 06:43:47 CST 2014


Gustav,

I would remind you that Windows has had a desktop FOREVER.  You are free to place pretty icons on it 
to represent your programs, and go there to click on things to start them.  You can even buy third 
party programs to lasso them into groups.  Microsoft could easily have applied their magic to the 
existing desktop.  And I would also remind you that if you don't like all of the Windows 7 "pretty", 
you can go in and click the "optimize for performance" which gets rid of the aero glass, the 
animations etc.  Voila, you are back to Windows XP look, though not quite the bland sucky look of 
Windows 8.  I am quite sure they could have added an "optimize for Windows 8 bland sucky look" 
button that you could check to get rid of the last vestiges of "pretty".

I don't know how many people read this, from a member of the design team:

http://www.neowin.net/news/windows-8-ux-designer-on-metro-it-is-the-antithesis-of-a-power-user

But a couple of things stand out.

 >>>

Miller continued on to explain that the design team split users into two groups:/content 
creators/and/content consumers/:

  * *Content creators*were explained to be power users: they have multiple windows open across
    multiple monitors, they sometimes even have virtual machines that also have their own nested
    levels of complexity.
  * *Content consumers*were explained to be casual users who just use basic social media platforms,
    view photos, and so on. They were described as the computer illiterate younger siblings, the
    older grandparents, or the mother "who just wants to look up apple pie recipes."

*Windows 8 was designed for the latter group: the content consumers.* This is also where Metro stems 
from: it is a platform that is "simple, clear, *and does one thing (and only one thing) relatively 
easily.*" Miller described Metro as***/the antithesis of a power user/*.

 >>>
/"Our hands were bound, and our users were annoyed with their rented jackets. So what did we do? We 
separated the users into two groups. Casual and Power. We made two separate playgrounds for them. 
All the casual users would have their own new and shiny place to look at pictures of cats - Metro. 
The power users would then have free reign over their native domain - the desktop."/- Miller
 >>>

Except that they intentionally crippled the desktop for the power user.  How can you claim that the 
power user has free reign over his playground when the start menu and task bar are gone and they 
refuse to give it back?  And that metro apps (and all future apps) refuse to minimize or size?  That 
windowing is intentionally crippled.

Does that sound like "free reign" to you?


The fact that some people like a desktop as the primary OS interface doesn't make it better, it just 
makes it better for those who like it.  Those of us who don't like it?

"Fuck you, get used to it" appears to be the attitude.

Free reign?

Humans seem to have a "I like things this way so it must be better" attitude built in.  The fact 
that you like the new interface doesn't make it better, it just means you like it.  I am happy for 
you.  It is just annoying that my preferences ( and a LOT of other people's ) are being not only 
ignored, but denigrated.  Windows has always been about "a dozen ways to do anything".  They are 
trying to make it "one way to do anything" - and only one thing at a time by the way.

Personally I don't see that as a win.

John W. Colby

Reality is what refuses to go away
when you do not believe in it

On 2/26/2014 3:55 AM, Gustav Brock 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
>
>
>



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