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iOS and Android are both very successful and easy to use tablet OS's. Both have a status bar with useful icons/widgets. Why did Microsoft remove it from Win 8 Metro?

Metro never had a status bar to begin with, so how could they remove it?

  • Like 2

I would really like a status bar. It could replace the system tray and have the clock/date in the middle so I don't have to constantly bring up ye olde lucky charms menu just to see the damn time/battery status. A show/hide feature could also be implemented on it.

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The phone has a status bar which is brought into view with a tap at the top.

Windows 8 gets an overlay when you swipe for the charms, with battery, time, signal strength etc

I know that. The point of a status bat is its visible. Esp on a desktop where there is more than enough space. I'm perfectly fine with how it is now on an Arm tablet, with no desktop. But with desktop apps that have useful information in the status bar, it makes no sense to hide it.

it makes no sense to hide it.

Making sense is not really Microsoft's strength these days. I fully agree on this one, it's one of the largest annoyances I had with Metro. There's simply no rationalizing it, a mere notification indicator would have done wonders for usability of the entire platform.

Making sense is not really Microsoft's strength these days. I fully agree on this one, it's one of the largest annoyances I had with Metro. There's simply no rationalizing it, a mere notification indicator would have done wonders for usability of the entire platform.

Why do you need it ever present, where a simple tap or swipe is too much of an effort to see this stuff. Also if the device screen is off, press the power button and its on the lock screen.

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I know that. The point of a status bat is its visible. Esp on a desktop where there is more than enough space. I'm perfectly fine with how it is now on an Arm tablet, with no desktop. But with desktop apps that have useful information in the status bar, it makes no sense to hide it.

With desktop apps, you have the taskbar... with the notification area... which provides all the same information...

With desktop apps, you have the taskbar... with the notification area... which provides all the same information...

STOP BEING LOGICAL! Personally I love the fact that the there is no unnecessary information on a metro app, but all the info I want is just a Win+C away.

Not to bash anybody, but MS can't win. If they do the same as Android or iOS, they can't innovate and are just copying. If they decide to do something differently then people are upset because it's different and they want the same as all the others. Very strange if you ask me.

Why do you need it ever present, where a simple tap or swipe is too much of an effort to see this stuff. Also if the device screen is off, press the power button and its on the lock screen.

Why would I want to tap to see if it's there if it can just be there? It's minimum screen real estate for a critical task -- informing you of stuff that changed (new emails, IMs, any other notifications), and Microsoft tried really hard to make this as complicated and convoluted as possible.

With desktop apps, you have the taskbar... with the notification area... which provides all the same information...

For desktop users stricktly in Metro I think was his point rfirth. If someone want to never use the desktop, Metro is much more of a pain for at a glance items that they could see before without a swipe or click. (If Metro is the future, apologists need to spend a lot less time saying well, you can do that on the desktop. No ****?!)

Metro has no status bar because they aren't that far into the design state yet, its quite alpha. Even my WP7 can show basic things like time without a swipe so don't give me that 'it hides battery/network' business. Two different classes of 'info'. Oops, I forgot, we need an app for that. :rolleyes:

Cause gods forbid, especially on a desktop, that we'd like to glace at it but not interact with it (which is a much more common scenario than on handheld devices obviously).

For desktop users stricktly in Metro I think was his point rfirth. If someone want to never use the desktop, Metro is much more of a pain for at a glance items that they could see before without a swipe or click. (If Metro is the future, apologists need to spend a lot less time saying well, you can do that on the desktop. No ****?!)

Metro has no status bar because they aren't that far into the design state yet, its quite alpha. Even my WP7 can show basic things like time without a swipe so don't give me that 'it hides battery/network' business. Two different classes of 'info'.

Cause gods forbid, especially on a desktop, that we'd like to glace at it but not interact with it (which is a much more common scenario than on handheld devices obviously).

If you are in a metro app, and you want to see the clock, date, signal strength, or battery life. You will have to swipe for the charms. There will not be a permanent on screen status bar!

iOS and Android are both very successful and easy to use tablet OS's. Both have a status bar with useful icons/widgets. Why did Microsoft remove it from Win 8 Metro?

It has a whole freaking screen showing notifications. It's called the start screen.

Should they add a dedicated drawer? may be. I think the current approach still works.

I love how people are willing to defend every single illogical decision MS has made with Metro. So I'm in a Metro app, but I also have my email, Google talk, IM and all kinds of other important apps running in desktop mode. An important email or chat comes in. In Metro I'll get a toast if lucky. Then it dissapears with absolutely no indicator that something critical requires my attention.

So the defense people have is I should be hitting Win+C or swiping like a monkey every few seconds to check the status. Instead of having a few pixels out of the tons of wasted screen space dedicated to a status bar, which shows at a glance what's happening. Hell, I want to see the time, the netowrk speed, all kinds of things. But I get punished for using Metro, designed for tiny tablets and forced upon everyone.

Yeah that makes a lot of sense.

  • Like 2

[. . .] But with desktop apps that have useful information in the status bar, it makes no sense to hide it.

I disagree. I feel it makes sense for it to be hidden when one doesn't require that information. It being on show constantly contributes to the overall design being less attractive than it otherwise would be, in my view.

I love how people are willing to defend every single illogical decision MS has made with Metro. So I'm in a Metro app, but I also have my email, Google talk, IM and all kinds of other important apps running in desktop mode. An important email or chat comes in. In Metro I'll get a toast if lucky. Then it dissapears with absolutely no indicator that something critical requires my attention.

So the defense people have is I should be hitting Win+C or swiping like a monkey every few seconds to check the status. Instead of having a few pixels out of the tons of wasted screen space dedicated to a status bar, which shows at a glance what's happening. Hell, I want to see the time, the netowrk speed, all kinds of things. But I get punished for using Metro, designed for tiny tablets and forced upon everyone.

Yeah that makes a lot of sense.

I think you raise a good point there. If I miss a toast notification, how am I to know that I've received a notification, without going to the Start Screen and checking (something I'd rather not do, in certain circumstances, while I'm using certain apps)?

Having said that, I'd likely only miss a toast notification if I'm away from my PC, and if I'm away from my PC, I'll lock the screen (meaning I'll come back to the lock screen, which informs of missed/unread notifications).

I'm torn between my desire for a more attractive design and your useful idea. I guess I'd have to see in practice whether I ever become unaware of new notifications due to this. It could well be that I don't miss any, due to the toast notifications and lock screen notifications.

Edited by Calum
Added to the post.

Having said that, I'd likely only miss a toast notification if I'm away from my PC, and if I'm away from my PC, I'll lock the screen (meaning I'll come back to the lock screen, which informs of missed/unread notifications).

You can only choose 7 lock screen apps + 1 with detailed view.

You can only choose 7 lock screen apps + 1 with detailed view.

Ah yes :/ Thanks for reminding me :) I could just check the Start Screen instead of the Lock Screen when I return, though.

I'm curious to see how the OP's suggestion of some kind of status bar could look and work. Perhaps he and/or some other members could create some mock-ups :)

I love how people are willing to defend every single illogical decision MS has made with Metro. So I'm in a Metro app, but I also have my email, Google talk, IM and all kinds of other important apps running in desktop mode. An important email or chat comes in. In Metro I'll get a toast if lucky. Then it dissapears with absolutely no indicator that something critical requires my attention.

So the defense people have is I should be hitting Win+C or swiping like a monkey every few seconds to check the status. Instead of having a few pixels out of the tons of wasted screen space dedicated to a status bar, which shows at a glance what's happening. Hell, I want to see the time, the netowrk speed, all kinds of things. But I get punished for using Metro, designed for tiny tablets and forced upon everyone.

Yeah that makes a lot of sense.

Can I play devil's advocate here? I wanted android like notification drawer on WP for the longest time and never got it. I still sometimes need one but 99% of the time most notifications on WP I care about are in the first few rows and I see them without much effort (probably same as pulling down a drawer). A status bar with bunch of icons will probably clash with the overall metro minimalism (e.g. on WP the status bar is hidden most of the times). It's not blindly following Microsoft's decisions as such but more like it's their OS and sometimes the designs make sense. In Windows 8, the start screen appears and disappears crazy fast and I think it probably acts equally well. They cut off desktop apps as those are not WinRT apps.

Having said that, I'd likely only miss a toast notification if I'm away from my PC, and if I'm away from my PC, I'll lock the screen (meaning I'll come back to the lock screen, which informs of missed/unread notifications).

I'm pretty sure that if a toast notification comes while your screen is off, it will display when you turn the screen back on.

I'm pretty sure that if a toast notification comes while your screen is off, it will display when you turn the screen back on.

Oh, great. Thanks for letting me know. I'll check that whenever I can. If that is the case, I shouldn't miss toast notifications when I'm away from my PC for extended periods. Further, I didn't think when I wrote that post that if I'm away from my PC, I'll likely receive the toast notification on my phone (apps that provide notifications I'm most interested in will likely have a Windows Phone counterpart).

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    • Sihoo Doro C300 Pro V2 Ergonomic Office Chair review: The Ikea of chairs by Steven Parker I've reviewed a few gaming chairs over the past three years or so and generally found them to score well in our reviews. SIHOO reached out asking if I was interested in taking a look at their flagship chair, the Doro C300 Pro V2. I never got the chance to check out its predecessor, but the V2 is described as an "Adaptive Ergonomic Chair." It became available to buy in April of this year. Let's get things rolling with a closer look at the specifications and features. Specifications Doro C300 Pro V2 Model Ergonomic Materials Mesh Back and Seat; Soft PU Coated Armrests Height adjustability 45.5 - 53 cm / 17.5" - 20.9" Seat (w+d) 52 x 43 - 47 cm / 20.5" x 16.9" - 18.5" (adjustable) Backrest 52 – 60 cm / 20.5" - 23.6" (adjustable) Lumbar support Mesh built-in (adjustable) Armrest adjustability 8D Bionic Armrests Rocking angle 105°, 120°, 135° (fixed) Neck support Mesh built-in (adjustable) Net weight 27.3 kg / 59.64 lbs Weight support 150 kg / 330 lbs Colors Black, White Warranty 5 years (upon registering) Price $499.99, $539.99 Introduction At first glance, it looks like a chair that in another life wants to be a Herman Miller; It certainly looks like my Aeron Remastered, but the Doro C300 Pro V2 has quite a few more features and costs quite a bit less. SIHOO says that it is made up of a "DynaCore" system that tracks your movement and synchronizes the headrest, backrest, lumbar support, and armrests as you shift, twist, or recline. 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In the box, there is a folded sheet that explains the 12 steps to assemble it; they are: Remove the bottom cover on the aluminum base; Insert the five legs into the aluminum base and use ten screws to fasten them; Insert the castors into the legs; Replace the bottom cover on the bottom of the aluminum base; Place the Class 4 Hydraulics gas cylinder into the aluminum base; Screw the bottom part of the arm rests, taking care of the orientation using two screws on each side; Use three torx screws to fasten the footrest to the bottom of the seat; Fasten the backrest to the seat using four torx bolts; Fasten the armrests to the backrest using four Torx bolts (two on each side), taking care to note the orientation; Place the chair onto the Class 4 Hydraulics gas cylinder; Insert the headrest into the top of the backrest; Use two torx screws to fasten the headrest to the backrest. There's also an online guide you can refer to. 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In all honesty, they are just hollow metal tubes, so it is not recommended to let a kid sit on them. I also feel like it doesn't really go out far enough for my height, so that kind of puts the dampener on me being able to use it regularly. I'll just have to continue to use my subwoofer as a footrest! I do not like the armrests being able to shift around as easily as they can, and they are a little too forward-positioned in the chair to comfortably sit close to my desk, because even in the lowest height position, they don't allow me to go under the desk like is possible with my Herman Miller. I also feel like this chair could have been delivered partially constructed, especially the armrests on the seat, and why the aluminum base wasn't already pre-constructed (without the castors) is baffling, considering it would have fit in one of the two boxes that way. The instructions also need to be clearer. 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Check out Today's Deals on Amazon | or our recent tech deals. Become a Prime member (for Students or SNAP) via Neowin Get Prime Access - Prime for half price (for qualifying Medicaid, EBT, SNAP) Subscribe to Prime Video, Audible Plus, Music Unlimited or Kindle Unlimited via Neowin As an Amazon Associate, we earn from qualifying purchases.
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