Lets hear it! Iimmersive UI (Start Panel) in Windows 8 (Desktop) Good?

[Steven P. Administrators]

After installing Windows 8 Developer Preview in a VM, and then alongside Windows 7 on my desktop PC, I'm not totally convinced that metro UI belongs there on my desktop.

I know it's a DEV PREVIEW please don't bother reminding me, I also know that Microsoft is serious about having this on the desktop, as well as everything else (Tablets, Phones etc)

So, what's your opinion?

* Metro UI is the tiled interface, that replaces the desktop.

[Eric Veteran]

Yes, with a N.I. (Needs improvement)

I'm sure there are features missing, but it needs to have the ablity to drag-scroll with the mouse for those without touch peripherals.

I would prefer a single press of the Windows key open the old start menu and maybe a double-tap or something similar to return to Start.

[Zain Adeel]

Its great!

but it needs alot of work.

I will be posting mockups in my topic i made earlier to show how they can add more functionality to this UI and allow us flexibility and more power.

[articuno1au]

IT'S A GOD DAMN TECH PREVIEW!!!

:p

Yeah, I agree. It's interface doesn't react well to the mouse. I'm sure there will be changes made.

I'd love to keep Metro (because it's awesome) but with the normal start bar instead of the start panel or whatever it's called >.>

I remain hopeful >.<

[TheLegendOfMart]

Metro is **** and is for phones and tablets not a desktop os. They are going to destroy desktop usability for the sake of consistency between devices, Microsoft are ridiculous they go from one extreme to the other, Windows 8 is going to flop.

[Steven P. Administrators]

Metro is **** and is for phones and tablets not a desktop os.

I agree (Y)

[articuno1au]

Metro is more then just the start panel guys :\

[~Johnny]

I don't think we can honestly judge yet. What makes the Metro interface what it is is its apps - without the apps it's quite literally nothing, apart from your user tile and a piece of text that says "Start".

And due to the fact that there are no proper apps for it, apart from a bunch of placeholders, I'd don't think it's right to judge it from a user perspective, because users just aren't going to be using it like this. Users are going to be using it in a far more personal, alive state, that simply doesn't exist today. When the programs are there, when they're all linked up to search contracts and share contracts and all working harmoniously, smoothly, fluidly and quickly with each other - with live tiles exposing all their personal data right there on their start screen - that'll be a better time to judge.

At the moment though, I like it's vision. I like where it's going - it's aiming to make the PC far more personal and far more integrated than what's the default right now. I like it on the desktop too - it's easy to use with the mouse, and it's fast. It's not harder to use, once you're properly introduced to the new workflow (which may take you a little while), it's a nice way of doing things.

I also like the way Microsoft have embraced the cloud with this new Metro framework - much better than what Google is doing with Chrome OS. Instead of killing off the desktop, they're bring down all your data from all your cloud services all over the place, and making them feel natively like part of your operating system. Extremely simple to get too and use all your content in the same UI's, no matter what service it's hosted on.

[Roger H. Veteran]

I don't think it works in it's current form - if anyone is interested in what I think it should be then you can read that here:

[iDEA] Immersive UI for non-touch devices

(hehe, not trying to spam my thread)

[TheLegendOfMart]

Metro is more then just the start panel guys :\

Wow no way, thats just changed my whole outlook on Metro, i am now a convert /s

Ive played with the Dev build and i despise the direction that its going, all the desktop and control elements simplified for the slate market, Windows Phone 7 isnt doing that great and if Microsoft think they can make a dent in the Android/IOS slate market with Windows 8 they are going to do it at all costs which means completely shafting over desktop PC users by making everything oversimplified, just look at the control panel ffs.

[Phouchg]

Nope. I like the design, the overall look, as such but generally PC should not be dumbed down, it's must still be able to function as a workstation. Though I suppose Metro and Aero could be fused together rather well.

[Eric Veteran]

Metro is more then just the start panel guys :\

It's a design philosophy:

- no chrome

- the data is the UI

but in this preview the only Metro component is the Start Page and the included apps. :)

(and my gripe - the scrollbar - is chrome :p)

[Fourjays Veteran]

Yes, but only providing it can actually replace the desktop. I keep reading conflicting information on this, but the last thing I want is a "browse the Internet on Metro, get dumped to the desktop for anything useful" type experience. For legacy/compatibility purposes I'd be fine with the desktop remaining for now, but if you want to you should be able to use Metro exclusively.

Done well (ie: follows the Metro design philosophy), Metro would make a computer much more fluid and productive, putting the focus on the task at hand and not on a load of superfluous graphics (like web designers have been doing for years).

[Steven P. Administrators]

I edited the title and poll question to be more clear about what I mean.

[Chicane-UK Veteran]

I think it has legs potentially so I voted Yes. Needs tweaking, needs refinement, needs to all hang together a lot better.. but I think the potential is there.

[Boz]

Hey.. I havent' tried WIndows 8 preview but I can't imagine they will force us to use Metro on desktops if we don't want to. What about enterprise? How is corporate customer going to train their people to work on something like Metro.. it doesn't compute.

Microsoft has become so jealous of Apple that they are making very stupid decisions.

I like Metro UI but it is clearly intended for tablets and phones. If Microsoft doesn't allows us to turn off Metro for our desktop machines I most likely won't be upgrading to Windows 8.

I need Windows so I can use my professional apps and development tools in a usable manner and not some cheesy consumer experience. Microsoft saw Apple making a bucket load of money with iOS and now they think they need to make Windows 8 be completely consumer, dumb down OS.

I hope I'm wrong but all signs point to it now.

[rkenshin]

IMHO, the Metro UI is bland. Its just text and colored boxes with simplistic icons. I dunno, that's just me. I like the Windows 8 desktop experience better than the Start Tiles.

[TheLegendOfMart]

To me its just brightly coloured windows classic except it destroys useability by having full screen overlays for start screen and fullscreen apps.

[BajiRav]

I think it has legs potentially so I voted Yes. Needs tweaking, needs refinement, needs to all hang together a lot better.. but I think the potential is there.

couldn't have said better :)

They need to make it work more smoothly with KB/mouse. For example, click-drag scrolling with mouse instead of just scroll wheel.

[Shaun N.]

It lasted a day on my testing PC, I don't think its a good direction for the Dekstop. They're trying to do what Apple did to Snow Leopard and iOS for Lion. However you can't see the icons most of the time in Lion. With Windows 8 they are staring at you all of the time.

It's defo a thumbs down for me at this time.

[Steven P. Administrators]

What I hate about it currently as well, is the fact that you can only view one app at a time in the Start Panel, either Socialite or TweetORama is taking up the full 23" screen, that to me is a step backwards when I have up to 6 apps open on my second screen in Windows 7, all viewable, not having to chop and change like the Start Panel requires. The little tiles have some sort real time notifications (like weather) but many others do not.

[~Johnny]

IMHO, the Metro UI is bland. Its just text and colored boxes with simplistic icons. I dunno, that's just me. I like the Windows 8 desktop experience better than the Start Tiles.

When it's finished (i.e., RTM'd on your machine) - 90% of the time you won't be seeing cloured squares and icons. It'll be alive showing you your data from whatever services you've pinned to the start, animated images and text that's constantly updating and changing. It's kind of like a big, animated, alive notification center, that also launches programs. Which will be very nice for a lot of people - it simplifies being connected to the cloud, and brings the cloud right to your desktop.

And of course if you're in an entreprise environment - you can just unpin all that stuff and just leave it with only the programs you need for work on there. It's flexile, and hides everything you don't need. Only thing's you want are what you see.

[Woelfel]

I don't think we can honestly judge yet. What makes the Metro interface what it is is its apps - without the apps it's quite literally nothing, apart from your user tile and a piece of text that says "Start".

And due to the fact that there are no proper apps for it, apart from a bunch of placeholders, I'd don't think it's right to judge it from a user perspective, because users just aren't going to be using it like this. Users are going to be using it in a far more personal, alive state, that simply doesn't exist today. When the programs are there, when they're all linked up to search contracts and share contracts and all working harmoniously, smoothly, fluidly and quickly with each other - that'll be a better time to judge.

At the moment though, I like it's vision. I like where it's going - it's aiming to make the PC far more personal and far more integrated than what's the default right now. I like it on the desktop too - it's easy to use with the mouse, and it's fast. It's not harder to use, once you're properly introduced to the new workflow (which may take you a little while), it's a nice way of doing things.

I also like the way Microsoft have embraced the cloud with this new Metro framework - much better than what Google is doing with Chrome OS. Instead of killing off the desktop, they're bring down all your data from all your cloud services all over the place, and making them feel natively like part of your operating system. Extremely simple to get too and use all your content in the same UI's, no matter what service it's hosted on.

I wholeheartedly agree with this statement as I was saying this very statement in the #xna channel yesterday. The applications (and the hubs that they will be creating) are going to really make this UI stand out. Even right now I have a lot of websites pinned to my start screen. Oh and just fyi, I use my live ID to sign in and I installed Win 7 over Win 8 yesterday...then installed Win 8 over Win 7 and it kept my group of pinned websites together (I'm guessing through the cloud) and it was awesome. Not having to remember favorites OOTB is a good thing. It's going to be some work but I like where Metro UI is going. Yea, it's going to be jarring and we really don't have anything to do right now but we have to be patient because we are really early in the OS lifecycle but even so, I believe it's the right path to go.

[TheLegendOfMart]

What I hate about it currently as well, is the fact that you can only view one app at a time in the Start Panel, either Socialite or TweetORama is taking up the full 23" screen, that to me is a step backwards when I have up to 6 apps open on my second screen in Windows 7, all viewable, not having to chop and change like the Start Panel requires. The little tiles have some sort real time notifications (like weather) but many others do not.

Yup. Microsoft want a slice of the slate market and if WP7 is anything to go by it doesnt have a hope in hells chance, they are going to burn bridges with all the desktop users who want a desktop experience not a mobile OS experience and when their slates flop they are going to be in big trouble.

[George P Global Moderator]

It does need things, that's clear, there's lots of option left out or locked from this build because they probably don't work well, one of which is changing the start screens background image as many have asked to do. Stuff like that and naming and moving whole tab groups like they demoed isn't in this build, it's very early. Having used it though, I got used to it and once you know all the kb shortcuts it speeds things up a lot. Toss in more options and more customization and it's good to go without touch as well.