Will the web turn weird when Windows 8 arrives?

[fintechfooty]

I was just thinking about this but because Windows 8 is more of a touch interface, won't websites start becoming more touch friendly (because Windows 8 is probably going to take over a large chunk of market share) which would then ultimately affect non-touch users. Meaning icons might become bigger, and things will just feel out of place for the conventional keyboard mouse/trackpad user.

[_neutrino Veteran]

It is a possibility however, There has already been an effort to make website more touch friendsly with how much usage they are seeing with Mobile and tablet browsers.

[Hedon]

It is a possibility however, There has already been an effort to make website more touch friendsly with how much usage they are seeing with Mobile and tablet browsers.

I think this is accurate. Google has been doing that with all their sites (Docs, +, Gmail). Large touch friendly interfaces for desktops and tablets.

[Yusuf M. Veteran]

I think we may see more mobile/tablet-friendly versions sites once Windows 8 tablets start shipping. However, I don't think we'll see touch-friendly desktop versions of sites. If companies like Samsung or Acer start making touchscreen monitors, they'd likely make 20"+ models. And if you have a monitor that big, using your fingers to navigate the desktop version of a site shouldn't be hard.

[Zain Adeel]

I can say one thing.

Websites will look far better if they utilize the full screen display of devices.

In the Immersive UI.. There is no Chrome. Only Content.

So for a very pretty website. Using all the screen can end up with a beautiful and rich experience.

Like imagine facebook Status bar staying right on top taking all the width there. It will look so pretty without any Chrome. It will look like we are using Facebook as an App.

And thats exactly what i think will happen.

Every big site will release a HTML5 Appish version of their site. Which will be a site. But have a seperate tile and some extra features and will utilise the whole screen!!!.. Which will be just awesome!!!

Bigger text. Cleaner UI.. it will be like the future!.

Although more and more i think of it. I think multitasking like we do with multiple windows at a single time is on the way out with the direction Microsoft is headed.

And from a productivity point of view. Research shows we are more productive handling one task at a time.

So in the end it may not turn out to be a bad thing as most of the people here cry about.

[fintechfooty]

Yeah but see now if companies do start making touchscreen monitors and such, would you suggest this touchscreen era has now entered it's peak in market, and will in a year or two be more of a massive technological 'refresh' for everybody. If that were to be the case, then I think websites will start to all become touchscreen, and a lot of the computers we own today will be outdated..which would suck. I'm a big fan of the MacOSX trackpad, think it's better than touchscreen and wouldn't want to have OS's really focusing on touch.

[Zain Adeel]

Yeah but see now if companies do start making touchscreen monitors and such, would you suggest this touchscreen era has now entered it's peak in market, and will in a year or two be more of a massive technological 'refresh' for everybody. If that were to be the case, then I think websites will start to all become touchscreen, and a lot of the computers we own today will be outdated..which would suck. I'm a big fan of the MacOSX trackpad, think it's better than touchscreen and wouldn't want to have OS's really focusing on touch.

Trust me on this.

Windows 8 works perfectly with a mouse and keyboard.

The Developer Preview worked ok. But from the videos and blogs ive read. They have hugely improved the experience with a Mouse and Keyboard. You will not be disappointed. It will work just as if we are in a browser clicking links and buttons. Not any different.

[firey]

I can say one thing.

Websites will look far better if they utilize the full screen display of devices.

In the Immersive UI.. There is no Chrome. Only Content.

So for a very pretty website. Using all the screen can end up with a beautiful and rich experience.

Like imagine facebook Status bar staying right on top taking all the width there. It will look so pretty without any Chrome. It will look like we are using Facebook as an App.

I disagree, I prefer windowed browsing, especially when I am doing other things on the computer. That's the problem with full screen, I like controlling multiple apps at one time, flip open a browser while waiting for something to load, with the browser in a window I can see what's happening in the back.

[ILikeTobacco]

The web will do what it has been doing for a while now. If a particular platform, whether it be the operating system or the browser, makes changes that require the site to change, but only for that particular platform, you will see multiple versions of the same site.

[44MLX]

Internet is evolving, touch friendly interface on PCs would be amazing.

[Stokkolm]

Internet is evolving, touch friendly interface on PCs will be amazing.

Fixed that for ya ;-)

[44MLX]

Fixed that for ya ;-)

No need ;). That's if you understood me.

[winlonghorn]

I was just thinking about this but because Windows 8 is more of a touch interface, won't websites start becoming more touch friendly (because Windows 8 is probably going to take over a large chunk of market share) which would then ultimately affect non-touch users. Meaning icons might become bigger, and things will just feel out of place for the conventional keyboard mouse/trackpad user.

I wouldn't worry about that too much. If the site developer is smart, they will use common sense and implement feature and platform detection to determine if they should enable touch based content or not. :)

[techguy77]

No it wont. Metro concept will die in a year after Windows 8 Final release. That concept never took market in Windows Phone and before with Zune. It would be nice to do survey to see how many people will turn off Metro in their Windows 8 setups. I am sure MS has a way to collect that by analyzing users usage.

[Zain Adeel]

I have a solution for ppl who think they will not be able to be productive. Like waiting for an app to load.

I have a simple solution.

MS should allow all programs to give us a popup notification for these things. Like App loading. Or active window. Alerts. And all that.

[Lunfai]

I think it's a good idea that Windows 8 will evolve desktop computing, but I don't think it'll impact the web as much as mobile devices have. In the sense that the mobile device after iPhone geared many websites of opening there existing website to more mobile friendly websites, after the huge market explosion of people web browsing on their devices, the web industry started to evolve.

I think the major websites people use will create tablet interfaces or websites that take more real estate, but I also think Windows 8 will have a weird adoption rate. I think people will use the Desktop more then the Metro Tablet Interface, I'm not sure if people are ready to move to touch interface for everyday computing, and for this, I think not many websites will find the time and support to develop a website just for tablet users, as existing websites work good enough.

But, we'll see I guess. I could be wrong, I just wanted to see what others thought of my opinion, and I'll respect yours :).

[The_Decryptor Veteran]

Yeah, I think certain sites will jump on the bandwagon, and most likely do it badly (Most mobile sites are written terribly as well). Currently a web site can query if the computer is touchscreen or normal and change the site layout based on that, but that could easily be ignored.

[FMH]

Sure. I think it is highly likely. Since tablets have started a migration away from PCs, and towards them.

But why call it weird? That would also be good for people using mouse.

And also, I think we will see a trend towards tiles and Metro, in web designs.

Microsoft will be the trend-setter, like once Apple was.

And I have already started to see sites becoming more 'Metroish'.

[a1ien]

I dunno. On the current web (which I think is just great) touch is a second class way to point at thing, because human fingers too blunt and no technology can change that. The mouse and the stylus are basically first class pointing devices. As a side note, even Windows 7 does not recognize text well enough for the stylus to also be equivalent to a keyboard.

Because a human can only position the fingers on a screen with what, 10 DPI accuracy at most? Especially when the finger is blocking the screen, a touch interface takes up more room than one made for pointers. That means that in a given area, a touch based website or OS would have less functionality or content or efficiency than one made for the better pointers. Multi-touch helps... but a mouse has more than one degree of freedom too you know, mine has 5 buttons and a wheel. A mouse can also provide thousands of DPI precision controlled by the precise human hand vs. the 10 DPI a blunt finger is worth.

So I think that ultimately making a GUI touch based, dumbs it down compared to one designed around more powerful forms of pointing. With Windows it's no problem because I don't imagine the desktop will go away, because professionals will need it (unless some future GUI is more powerful than both the mouse and touch with some other new paradigm). But unless websites have two versions (they won't) they would be dumbed down.

[alexalex]

Will the web turn weird when Windows 8 arrives?

No, it won't. The days of web sites compatible only with IE/Microsoft are over. Apple, Google, Chrome, Firefox... (html5) are pushing and influencing web changes not Microsoft.

[a1ien]

No, it won't. The days of web sites compatible only with IE/Microsoft are over. Apple, Google, Chrome, Firefox... (html5) are pushing and influencing web changes not Microsoft.

You don't get it dude, it's not just Microsoft pushing touch. There's also Apple and Android tablets, and smartphones. They have full featured browsers, so websites could choose to make the interface more touch friendly and push the same pages to desktops, laptops, and tablets.

[Dolan]

YouTube new design is adopted for tablets.

[Zain Adeel]

Exactly.

Youtubes new design is touch friendly.. but it still looks and works brilliantly with a mouse.

Also. Youtube just updated the mobile site..

[Astra.Xtreme]

I doubt the native Metro UI on Windows 8 will become a huge part of the market share. A very very small percentage of people will have touchscreens on their PCs, so I don't think it will be very popular with a regular keyboard and mouse.

On tablets it will probably be great, but the internet isn't going to evolve just for tablets.

[Spencer R]

Astra, My guess is you're wrong. Touch screen is going to become HUGE. Laptop and desktop touch screens are going to go everywhere once there's an OS worth using them.

My mom's all-in-one desktop has a touch screen, and while NO i would never code using no mouse, it is VERY nice to just use when jumping around the computer. With an integrated OS designed around it? It's a game changer. I'm sorry all you metro haters, maybe Metro itself will fall to the wayside, but what it's trying to do to the desktop/traditional computer ecosystem is going to work. every day users? the users that keep the industry going? Going to love touch-based task-focused interfaces.