blog Where Microsoft Has

[bandit_liberty_rumble]

This. Are you running it on a 3GS like me ?

No. On the original iPad. Such a simple app should really be running much better on a two year old device. :pinch:

Agreed. Microsoft needs to take more control of the hardware part like Apple does. I wish Microsoft would make their own hardware and drivers.

So really, you have it backwards. Apple would be a mere shell of itself without their software and it is a major aspect of what users find delightful about their products. If anything, Apple is a software company that saw it fit to design their own hardware to deliver the best overall package. Admittedly, they've gotten very good at designing hardware but what makes Apple Apple is the close integration of hardware with (usually) excellent software.

[einsteinbqat]

Agreed. Microsoft needs to take more control of the hardware part like Apple does. I wish Microsoft would make their own hardware and drivers.

That probably will not happen. OEMs will go on a monopoly rant. Let's wait and see with MS Surface. If Surface is successful without alienating OEM manufacturers too much, perhaps MS would get more involved in hardware. And if Surface fails, perhaps MS should just stick to mice and keyboards.

[Athernar]

Two sides of the same coin. Apple's designs are over-done, Microsoft's belong in the last century.

Such a shame too, Microsoft were close to finding a nice middleground between minimalism and polish, and then they throw away all that progress for a gimmick. Sad.

[Motoko.]

Metro isn't the worst UI I've used, it's not bad at all but I just have a bit of an issue with the mouse hover when I try to get to the charm bar. Sometimes it just doesn't register my gesture and as a result slows me down in multitasking.

[Scorbing]

Two sides of the same coin. Apple's designs are over-done, Microsoft's belong in the last century.

Such a shame too, Microsoft were close to finding a nice middleground between minimalism and polish, and then they throw away all that progress for a gimmick. Sad.

Agreed here too. I think Windows 7 is a great OS. Hardly any flaws in it and it simply works. The UI is great and now MS is going to tarnish all that with that Fisher Price interface called Metro. Bad, bad move. What they should have done is improve Windows 7, polish it more and make it better, not change everything. Change is not always good and you know what they say:

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

[Noir Angel]

Strange that this comes about now. I think the design of Windows 7 was more "tasteful" than what they are focusing on now with Metro (or, as I like to call it, the Fisher-Price UI).

Personally i'd argue that XP's front end UI is better (Explorer is better in 7 and 8 than XP but I find XP to be better than Metro). At least they had silver, which was a bit less repulsive than the blue, and the beautiful Royale theme :D

[Motoko.]

Agreed here too. I think Windows 7 is a great OS. Hardly any flaws in it and it simply works. The UI is great and now MS is going to tarnish all that with that Fisher Price interface called Metro. Bad, bad move. What they should have done is improve Windows 7, polish it more and make it better, not change everything. Change is not always good and you know what they say:

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Microsoft is after the potential profits in the tablet market by appealing to the masses with Metro. Their methodology of thinking is to kill two birds with one stone and release a single UI that will encompass both non touch devices and tablets.

[Growled Member]

I think more tasteful is a matter of personal preference. I've never been overly wowed by Apple for some reason. Not overly fond of Windows 8 either.

[BajiRav]

This. Are you running it on a 3GS like me ? It feels like they?re giving us treats by still supporting our phone for a fourth year (seriously, a 4th year of support for a cellphone ! which company has done this in the past ?), but for me it?s more of a reason to buy the upcoming iPhone right on release day.

They support it because they still sell it. Apple's whole business model is based on planned hardware obsolescence but Android forced their hands to have a cheap iPhone out there and 3GS is exactly that.

Agreed here too. I think Windows 7 is a great OS. Hardly any flaws in it and it simply works. The UI is great and now MS is going to tarnish all that with that Fisher Price interface called Metro. Bad, bad move. What they should have done is improve Windows 7, polish it more and make it better, not change everything. Change is not always good and you know what they say:

"If it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Just a note: Metro is actually exact opposite of "Fisher Price" interface.

[migo]

More reason to run Win8 on your MacBooks though. ;)

Haha! Yeah. Although Vizio's doing a good job with that industrial design too, and Asus seems to have caught on as well while putting their own stamp on it. Rather like the sublte background design in Office 2013.

[Rudy]

I personally really wish Apple would stop using "real life elements" in the UI (calendar looks like crap :()

[bj55555]

Apple's UI is very tasteful...if you're into cheese.

[bj55555]

I have to laugh at all the butthurt Apple fanboys commenting about that article on CoM. They refuse to believe that that skeuomorphic crap that they love so much is absolutely cheesy.

[PyX]

They support it because they still sell it.

I know. That?s what I said. Not only do they still sell it, they still keep it up to date.

Apple's whole business model is based on planned hardware obsolescence [?]

Psychological product obsolescence. Apple products rarely break per se after a strategic amount of time. What they do instead is roll out new designs and new features so that your Apple product sounds as if it were imported from the last decade. As technology advances, they won?t be able to do this for a long time anymore though.

[neufuse Veteran]

Well in that case it means I hate Microsoft, I hate Apple, I hate everyone. :)

I don't. I appreciate things that are done right and criticize things that are not done right. Saying Microsoft has taste is just wrong IMO.

eh don't listen to them, people on here have marked me as anti-apple, because I disagreed with Jobs... and branded me Pro MS because I liked Windows, now I am "anti-Microsoft" because I don't like Metro..... never got how I could be anti-everything.... almost like you can't have a time relevant opinion anymore

[neufuse Veteran]

I personally really wish Apple would stop using "real life elements" in the UI (calendar looks like crap :()

what do you mean by real life elements?

[LaP]

Time will tell how Windows 8 products are received by common people. I for one, also hate the ultra simplistic Metro UI. Coloring it with pink/teal/lime green makes matters even worse.

I like the simplicity of Metro. What i don't like about it is the flatness. When there's not too much info on the screen it works relatively well. But as soon as the screen is filled with too much information (and it doesn't take a lot of it) the lack of deep make it hard to distinguish between the different part of the UI.

I think some light shadow and subtle lighting can definately help.

[BajiRav]

what do you mean by real life elements?

See first post.

[Rudy]

what do you mean by real life elements?

Look at the "skin" Calendar is using... that's the kind of things I'm talking about

[Dashel]

what do you mean by real life elements?

Did you read the article? Seems many here didn't and just decided to spout off about the headline. The issue of 'taste' was specifically defined, not a general claim.

[Elliott]

Metro, in its essence, is quite beautiful. However, it also seems incredibly limited. I haven't seen an information-dense UI yet that looks good in Metro. Case in point: Outlook 2013. Its UI is a total mess.

Skeuomorphism is also limiting, but at least it's possible to denote content priority with something other than font size/weight. Gradients and depth are important.

[Dashel]

I agree on the density issue (especially compared to v1 Metro) Elliott. That's the rub with 'control' neutral. Office 2013 does show it may be possible, but only because it has done what Metro so far has not, UI change based on detected inputs.

[redfish]

I agree, skeumorphism is cheesy. The author of the article I think gets a little lost in his reasoning why, though, arguing that its only cheesy because of why people do it, ie to make inexpensive things look expensive. In this case, Apple thinks its adding "humanity" to its OS, as one of the commenters said, which is a different motive entirely. It doesn't change the situation though, because "humanity" doesn't make an interface better or look nicer. Its substituting sentimentalism for aesthetics, which has more to do with craft, as he points out. The whole idea of "kitsch" are things that are meant to make a sentimental appeal to what people's ideas of what beauty is ("humanity" being one example), but aren't really beautiful.

That doesn't automatically make Metro good, although I personally like Metro.

Also this isn't the only case in which Apple has shown bad taste imo. I think pinstripes are bad, as are gel buttons, as are bouncing dock icons, as are a lot of animations in their OS, as was the original fruit colored iMac, as were the clamshell iMac notebooks. I'd argue the idea that Apple has more taste in general is just a myth.

[OOOOOOOO]

Apple is a hardware company. Software is not their strength, although they are doing a good job with the few apps they have made. No matter what Apple haters and fan boys say, the truth is Apple makes unique hardware devices and gadgets. No company out there has been able to come close, not even Samsung (yes, I said it. Not even Samsung). The iPad, the Iphone, the Apple TV, the iMac - all excellent machines that do what they are designed to do with hardly any flaws (they are not perfect, but they are better than the alternatives out there). I have had my iMac for 3 years now. I have never, and I mean never, had any issues with it whatsoever...None.

Software is a huge strength at Apple. You clearly have no idea what UX is ... Apple do. Sometimes they go off base a little. But for the most part, they're influencing a lot of designers around the world with their software and user experiences.

[Tom]

Uh oh, not this debate again.