How does Metro work?

By Atomic Wanderer Chicken
in Microsoft (Windows)

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Grand Master

Atomic Wanderer Chicken

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How does metro work? Does it work in the same way as when you press alt+ctrl+delete in Windows to bring up the security screen thing? In other words, how does it operate in technical terms?

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Grand Master

Atomic Wanderer Chicken

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How does it work in Windows, does it work like the security screen when you press alt ctrl delete? I think my question was very clear and understandable

Grand Master

Atomic Wanderer Chicken

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So, it operates in the same technical manner as the security screen or the lock screen (Win key + L). For an example, when you press win key + lock, the screen appears immediately just like metro, it is always there?

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argonite

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I think he's asking how Metro was written as a whole other interface on top of Windows, and how the Shell instantiates it on startup. I think his analogy is to the Secure Desktop for login, which is a separate user interface handled by a separate (non-Explorer) process that takes over the display when you press Ctrl+Alt+Delete.

Grand Master

TAZMINATOR

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I think he's asking how Metro was written as a whole other interface on top of Windows, and how the Shell instantiates it on startup. I think his analogy is to the Secure Desktop for login, which is a separate user interface handled by a separate (non-Explorer) process that takes over the display when you press Ctrl+Alt+Delete.

Oh, I remember that, that was on Windows 2000 and/or Windows NT.

Grand Master

Atomic Wanderer Chicken

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When I was first introduced to windows 8, I wondered how Metro would not eat more memory. So metro is apart of the Windows system. So, does Metro work in the same way as when you hit al ctrl delete in vista and beyond?

Grand Master

TAZMINATOR

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When I was first introduced to windows 8, I wondered how Metro would not eat more memory. So metro is apart of the Windows system.

The desktop is there but Metro is like Start Menu... And Metro apps allow you to view app in full screen... but you can not change to windowed version unless you have the desktop apps which can be viewed on your desktop.

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Matthew_Thepc

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I think (don't quote me on this) when Win8 was being announced they made it very clear that Metro wasn't a layer on top of Windows - it is Windows now, basically like replacing the "classic shell," but still keeping the Desktop there, but the desktop code is only loaded when the Desktop app is launched. Again, not completely sure, but I think it's more analogous to like the Windows Desktop and the command prompt or DOSBox, where the "stock Windows" is the Start Screen and the desktop is more there for older applications and applications that take advantage of the specific desktop-based Windows features. not a perfect analogy, but that's the best I could come up with :\

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argonite

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When I was first introduced to windows 8, I wondered how Metro would not eat more memory. So metro is apart of the Windows system. So, does Metro work in the same way as when you hit al ctrl delete in vista and beyond?

While I'm not sure how Metro apps are represented in the system, I can say for certain that Windows is not instantiating a 'new desktop' like the Ctrl+Alt+Del Secure Desktop. You'll notice it doesn't flicker when going in and out of the Start Menu like it does if a UAC prompt (on the Secure Desktop) comes up.

If I were to guess, everything is still tied to explorer.exe and the Desktop Window Manager. You'll notice that if you kill that process, all Charms Bars, start screen, taskbars disappear. So I'm guessing they just rewrote explorer.exe to show the Start 'menu' first and the desktop later, Metro apps are Windows apps that use WinRT (as opposed to Win32) that draws to fullscreen Direct2D surfaces represented inside the Desktop Window Manager, like every other window.

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Grand Master

Atomic Wanderer Chicken

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I see now, Metro and the desktop work almost the same way. Metro is like alternate desktop then. I still like and always will like the start menu though. Metro may be nice and everything, but it makes people a lot less productive. Microsoft really did not need to get rid of the start menu, it worked fantastically. Metro is designed primarily for the tablets!

Grand Master

FunkyMike

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When was this thread ever a technical discussion, the OP question didn't even make any sense, it took most of the first page to work out what he was saying

It did make sense. You cannot expect someone that is trying to ask a technical question and hence obtain more knowledge to form it coherently if he is trying to learn more about this topic.

Metro is part of explorer.exe so it is not like hitting control alt delete. Try killing the explorer.exe process and see for yourself.

Metro Apps on the other hand run separately.

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