Windows designer explains why Windows 8 is such a mess

[PaulGo]

Windows designer explains why Windows 8 is such a mess



...Jacob Miller, who recently took to Reddit to explain why Microsoft made a lot of the design choices it did with Windows 8, including the original decision to make the Metro UI the default boot-up screen. What emerges is a portrait of a company trying its best to please two different audiences by trying to make two completely different operating systems and stapling them together.

Windows 8 design criticism from Microsoft UX designer | BGR

 

[Britton30]

Metro is a content consumption space,” he explains. “It is designed for casual users who only want to check facebook, view some photos, and maybe post a selfie to instagram. It’s designed for your computer illiterate little sister, for grandpas who don’t know how to use that computer dofangle thingy, and for mom who just wants to look up apple pie recipes. It’s simple, clear, and does one thing (and only one thing) relatively easily. That is what Metro is. It is the antithesis of a power user

Such a big misstatement, especially the "simple, clear" part.

UPDATE: Microsoft checks in to say that while it welcomes Miller expressing his opinion, it doesn’t at all represent Microsoft’s own views on Windows 8.

And yet their eyes are blinded. :huh:

 

[King Arthur]

Miller goes on to explain that the Metro UI is actually a good thing for power users, however, because it will let Microsoft add a lot more features for them in the desktop mode while keeping the Metro screen separate for all of the computer illiterates out there.

On the contrary, with it being no secret that Microsoft wants to kill off Win32 and start anew (WinRT), the only impression I've been getting is that they want to kill off Desktop, not improve it.

 

[Layback Bear]

I don't believe Microsoft wants to kill off Desktops.
Why would they when they have over a BILLION of them using their operating systems.
They are just trying to satisfy the growing crowd of Ding Dong and Dippy Do's to make it work like a damn cell phone. Microsoft seem to think a Billion plus desktop users won't notice or care. WRONG

I do think the new management will sooner or later figure out that a choice for consumers is what is needed.
Throwing away a billion customers they already have away to gather another billion customers doesn't add up.

Why not have a choice so Microsoft can keep the billion customers they have plus add the new up coming customers.
I surly don't understand why Microsoft can't understand that method.

It's kind of like mobile device compared to Desktops.
The consumer can choose which device they desire or need. Or they can choose both. Their is probably some that will choose neither; but their is a choice.

 

[King Arthur]

I don't believe Microsoft wants to kill off Desktops.

I apologize if I came off as confusing, when I said "Desktop" I meant as in the Windows Desktop (aka Explorer) interface and the underlying Win32 API.

 

[Britton30]

IT does seem to me they are very much trying to push people to the "poke and punch" devices, effectively trying to kill the desktop computer.

w7 does support touch screens if it's enabled. Let those who want it have to opt-in to it instead of real computer users having to opt-in to a normal desktop.

 

[OvenMaster]

Metro is a content consumption space,” he explains. “It is designed for casual users who only want to check facebook, view some photos, and maybe post a selfie to instagram. It’s designed for your computer illiterate little sister, for grandpas who don’t know how to use that computer dofangle thingy, and for mom who just wants to look up apple pie recipes. It’s simple, clear, and does one thing (and only one thing) relatively easily. That is what Metro is. It is the antithesis of a power user

Yes, it does one thing relatively easily: pi$$ off users.
Sounds rather condescending to me, almost as if M$ considered the average user unable or unwilling to learn to use a computer properly, so they decided to dumb it down.

 

[King Arthur]

Sounds rather condescending to me, almost as if M$ considered the average user unable or unwilling to learn to use a computer properly, so they decided to dumb it down.

While I don't know about being unable, there certainly are users out there that are unwilling to use a computer "properly".

My father is relatively comfortable with using computers, he even makes heads and tails of Windows 8, but he's still sharply in the camp of "100% Plug & Play or I'm going elsewhere". A lot of things come naturally to us power users, but the reality of the world is that even something as small as configuring just one data field is one hassle too many for many users.

 

[Layback Bear]

No one has to be a computer wiz to use Windows 7.
Most user don't get as involved as many on this forum but will be able to do all the normal things with just a little effort.
Email, watching movies, listening to music, search the internet ect.
They will never get into things like changing permission on a program or using Disk Management and other things like that.
You don't have to be a Brink to use Windows 7. I'm living proof of that.

 

[whs]

"Metro is a content consumption space," he explains. It’s designed for your computer illiterate little sister, for grandpas who don’t know how to use that computer dofangle thingy, and for mom who just wants to look up apple pie recipes.

That is exactly what the tablets are made for - consumption and not for serious work. It is interesting to hear that Metro was designed for the same purpose. Unfortunately it blew up in their face - they should have known better.

UPDATE: Microsoft checks in to say that while it welcomes Miller expressing his opinion, it doesn’t at all represent Microsoft’s own views on Windows 8.

And MS still does not want to listen. The would have done better to shut up.

 

[andrew129260]

I agree with this guy who left a comment on that site 100%:

wtphuckdisisstupid • 12 hours ago
I call Total and utter B.S.
If what Jacob Miller is saying were true, Microsoft never would have told their engineers to go in an remove the registry hack that allowed power-users to circumvent the Metro-Sexual interface and go straight to the Windows 7 desktop.
Microsoft pulled the Metro-only stunt for one simple reason, and that was to create vendor-lock-in by herding casual users, power-uses, and software developers to a proprietary API that was 100% controlled by Microsoft, where any software written for it would not be portable, and would have to be sold (to masses) on the Microsoft Store, and where Microsoft would collect 20% or 30%, depending, of the gross sales of all software sold on the Store.
Period.
Quit listening to Microsoft.
You can go to anyone in the world, explain to them how the software industry works, and ask them, "What is Microsoft's angle in all of this", and that person, utterly oblivious to what a kernel, or GPU, or whatever is...will tell you what I wrote above, because it is so obvious, it's embarrassing.

 

[GEWB]

I agree with this guy who left a comment on that site 100%:

wtphuckdisisstupid • 12 hours ago
...and would have to be sold (to masses) on the Microsoft Store, and where Microsoft would collect 20% or 30%, depending, of the gross sales of all software sold on the Store.

Follow the money.

Regards,
GEWB

 

[Lady Fitzgerald]

This statement really bothered me:

Miller explicitly says that Windows 9 will be to Windows 8 what Windows 7 was to Vista.

Win 7 essentially was a cleaned up version of Vista with some significant improvements. Miller's statement suggests to me Win 9 will be just a cleaned up version of Win 8, mayhap with some significant improvements (I'm not holding my breath on that part though). Making a cleaned up version of win 8 with significant improvements would the same as giving a pig a bath and putting lipstick on it. That may have worked with Miss Piggy but it will not for an OS.

 

[PaulGo]

CNET's take on Miller's comments:

Windows 8 designer: Why Microsoft forced Metro on us all | Microsoft - CNET News

 

[whs]

It does not matter what they comment. Fact is that the Metro is fine for touchscreens and tablets but a pain for traditional desktops. And even on tablets, I like Android better. I have both and can compare.

 

[King Arthur]

This statement really bothered me:

Miller explicitly says that Windows 9 will be to Windows 8 what Windows 7 was to Vista.

Win 7 essentially was a cleaned up version of Vista with some significant improvements. Miller's statement suggests to me Win 9 will be just a cleaned up version of Win 8, mayhap with some significant improvements (I'm not holding my breath on that part though). Making a cleaned up version of win 8 with significant improvements would the same as giving a pig a bath and putting lipstick on it. That may have worked with Miss Piggy but it will not for an OS.

To be honest though, a properly finished and refined Metro ecosystem where it doesn't rely on Desktop/Explorer for anything (hello Control Panel!) would actually be a step in the right direction for Metro.

Granted, it will come at the cost of killing off Desktop/Explorer even further, but that's what MS ultimately wants right?

Note: This assumes MS isn't smart enough to realize they could just duplicate configuration options (among other things) in both environments, rather than just moving stuff from one to the other.

 

[TanyaC]

Sounds rather condescending to me, almost as if M$ considered the average user unable or unwilling to learn to use a computer properly, so they decided to dumb it down.

And in the process confused the hell out out of everyone.. particularly those they dumbed it down for..

Microsoft has a history of not listening and taking things in a direction they want. To hell with the millions of people who pay billions for their flawed products.

Reading this drivel about "Microsoft if listening very hard" literally makes me ill.

Although, I must admit, the education standards these days are so low almost globally, that M$ may have figured if they want anyone to be using their products in 10 years, they have to dumb it down because the next generation won't be capable of independent thought anyway, and certainly won't have the depth of thinking to be able to use anything more complex.

 

[Dallas 7]

And MS still does not want to listen. They would have done better to shut up.

And there you have it. Microsoft doesn't care, and they don't even want to hear about it.
Funny, I feel the same way about their touchscreen/metro tablet interface.

 

[jimbo45]

Hi there
actually the whole mobile phone type of OS is showing its limitations with the tile scrolling selection method on the latest set of smart phones / tablets -- if you load several dozen applications it becomes harder and harder to find these without an incessant amount of scrolling --remember also a lot of phones also come "equipped(?)" with a lot of bloatware too adding to the number of apps. Even scrolling 4 or 5 times irritates me beyond measure.

To suggest that this type of interface was in any way shape or form suited to a decent working DESKTOP OS was just PLAIN BONKERS. The people who designed it must have been smoking that funny smelling tobacco that you find in Amsterdam's famous coffee shops.

Windows 8.1 improves the mix a bit but for most people who want more than just simple consumption stuff on their devices then a proper OS like W7 is what's needed. W8.1 redresses the balance a bit especially with custom toolbars where you can design quite a convenient cascading menuing system without adding any 3rd party stuff.

However very few enterprises are bothering with W8/8.1 -- most I know who are upgrading their XP / W2003 systems are basing it on W7 type OS'es.

Maybe Ms will have learned by W9 -- give users the choice -- at install (or even at boot time) choose between "classical desktop" or mobile interface. With large multi screen setups that people have these days running apps in Full screen mode only is absolutely idiotic in most cases.

(example of using cascading (mult-level) menuing via custom toolbar in W8.1).

The idea also that you can create a "Vendor Lock" is also ludicrous -- people will find all sorts of ways around that -- for example many people say buy e-books from amazon and use any number of the "available tools" to de-drm stuff to use on other devices such as tablets or even phones. - I've bought books from amazon - but I happen to like my Sony e-reader better than the kindle --it also had external micro SDHC card. Well with well known tools I convert the book into epub for loading on to the Sony. -Why shouldn't I --I've paid for the book and don't want to carry extra devices around.

Cheers
jimbo

 

[Britton30]

Hi there,

Jimbo, please don't beat around the bush, say what you mean.

(I agree with all of your points too.)