windows 8 Microsoft Drops Aero from Windows 8

[contextfree]

The taskbar isn't interactive? Window previews, jump lists, right-click on jump list shell links for other commands & properties, drag & drop to/from jump lists, progress bars, notification badges, buttons in thumbnails? I like most of the new stuff in Win8, but none of it is as cool or useful as the Win7 taskbar IMO ...

[Dot Matrix]

So you are saying that current Windows 7 Desktop is not interactive and personal. How do you people even come up with such statements.

Not in the sense Metro is. It's a static environment filled with icons. How interactive is that? Where's my social updates? News? Weather updates?

[Rigby]

Not in the sense Metro is. It's a static environment filled with icons. How interactive is that? Where's my social updates? News? Weather updates?

Apparently you don't know what desktop gadgets are.

(Though personally I don't want all that annoying crap on my desktop. I didn't like it when they called it Active Desktop in Windows 98 either.)

[Noir Angel]

I find it a matter of some amusement that people wish to talk smack about those of us that don't like Metro and simply believe that it has to be the best thing ever simply because it's made by Microsoft. Why the hell should I have to justify it by saying "it harms my productivity"? I hate the look, I hate the design, and I hate the fact that they have completely robbed users of their choices. Whether or not you consider those arguments to be valid, the way Windows 8 is designed has a massive impact on the usability of the OS for me, and as such I'm simply not going to use it.

[Dot Matrix]

Apparently you don't know what desktop gadgets are.

(Though personally I don't want all that annoying crap on my desktop. I didn't like it when they called it Active Desktop in Windows 98 either.)

Pointing and clicking is not interactive. -_- Desktop gadgets don't even come close to the level of interactivity Metro can deliver.

[Noir Angel]

Pointing and clicking is not interactive. -_- Desktop gadgets don't even come close to the level of interactivity Metro can deliver.

Metro simply downloads data and displays it on a page. Something you can do just as easily by opening a web browser and clicking a couple of buttons. And what's more a browser does it without completely ruining my desktop experience.

[Jase]

about time, the glass looked like **** anyway.

[Rigby]

Pointing and clicking is not interactive. -_- Desktop gadgets don't even come close to the level of interactivity Metro can deliver.

What are you talking about? You don't have to click on gadgets. They can display the weather on your desktop, RSS feeds, etc without any user interaction at all.

[Noir Angel]

Actually pointing and clicking is by definition a form of interaction :/

[Dot Matrix]

What are you talking about? You don't have to click on gadgets. They can display the weather on your desktop, RSS feeds, etc without any user interaction at all.

But 1. Who uses them, and 2. point me to high quality gadgets that people have made. I don't recall there ever being a Twitter or Facebook gadget, the weather app is basic at best, and doesn't come near the functionality of the weather metro app.

[remixedcat]

I seriously think MS is trollin everyone with windows 8... they were bored of windows 7 being great so they set off to do this.... they know what everyone wants and they put it together in one package... now... having everything you want at the same time isn't good either.

I mean... it's like eating steak, bacon, ice cream. salmon, spaghetty, tacos, and sauerkrout blended together and drinking it out of a cup.

[Rigby]

But 1. Who uses them, and 2. point me to high quality gadgets that people have made. I don't recall there ever being a Twitter or Facebook gadget, the weather app is basic at best, and doesn't come near the functionality of the weather metro app.

A lot of people use them, and yes there is a Facebook and Twitter gadget available. The weather gadget gives me the current weather and the forecast for lows, highs and weather for the entire week. If I need more information than that I'll go on the web and find whatever I need.

[Dot Matrix]

A lot of people use them, and yes there is a Facebook and Twitter gadget available. The weather gadget gives me the current weather and the forecast for lows, highs and weather for the entire week. If I need more information than that I'll go on the web and find whatever I need.

No. Nobody significant uses them. There are no top notch gadgets to install, which is why they were discontinued, and the gallery shut down. Gadgets are dead.

[MorganX]

I seriously think MS is trollin everyone with windows 8... they were bored of windows 7 being great so they set off to do this.... they know what everyone wants and they put it together in one package... now... having everything you want at the same time isn't good either.

I mean... it's like eating steak, bacon, ice cream. salmon, spaghetty, tacos, and sauerkrout blended together and drinking it out of a cup.

Not to be the conspiracy theorist, but having met with MS last year and showing them a timeline of why we really wouldn't need to upgrade for many EA cycles and therefore wanted a discount on our EA agreement; Microsoft knows Windows 7 is so good and stable, there's little reason to keep upgrading for the next 3-6 years given the longevity of XP. The wholesale changes they made not only to the UI but the application architecture insures an upgrade revenue stream that didn't exist before they went this route. That's just one of many reasons, some good for the users, some good for MS shareholders (mostly).

[Rigby]

No. Nobody significant uses them. There are no top notch gadgets to install, which is why they were discontinued, and the gallery shut down. Gadgets are dead.

So let's see, Active Desktop was a huge failure on Windows 98, the sidebar failed on Vista and now you are saying that Gadgets were a miserable failure. But oh boy, everyone is going to love this same tired feature on Metro! Woo-hoo, this is the year of push technology! :rolleyes:

Funny though you keep changing your complaints about gadgets. First you say they could not do what Metro does and when told they in fact do then you complained that certain gadgets weren't available and when told they are now you say no one uses gadgets and they are dead.

Just get a motel room, go make love to Metro and get it over with.

[MorganX]

No. Nobody significant uses them. There are no top notch gadgets to install, which is why they were discontinued, and the gallery shut down. Gadgets are dead.

As much as it pains me to agree, you come up with some way over the top theoretical nirvana for Metro sometimes, but I do. I don't know if "that's" why it shutdown, it was dead long before it shutdown. But there were few quality gadgets. I have one of the better weather and calendar gadgets but most of the cool gadgets designers chose the Mac platform or alternative widget platforms.

I think at some point MS closed down gadgets because they don't want anyone making any more. Gadgets, since they can live on the desktop where you work, are superior to live tiles "on a desktop pc" IMO. They can have all and actually more functionality than live tiles when expanded. But, they just never caught on and not many people used them. Many don't use them for the same reason they won't use live tiles on a PC much. Why look at a gadget/tile while "sitting at a pc" when you can just open facebook or mail, or have notification on taskbar or popup while doing other more meaningful things without being taken away from those things to a Start Page.

It is only on the desktop PC that I question the value of Live Tiles. My personal thought is except for the most newb (the soccer mom in the kitchen of which there are lots) anyone sitting at a PC constantly looking at live tiles doesn't need a PC. Get off your butt and go do something becuase if you're sitting at a PC constantly glancing at the start page you are not doing jack #%^ on your PC. Get a tablet or Windows Phone and glance at that.

[remixedcat]

rainmeter FTW!!!

[Dot Matrix]

So let's see, Active Desktop was a huge failure on Windows 98, the sidebar failed on Vista and now you are saying that Gadgets were a miserable failure. But oh boy, everyone is going to love this same tired feature on Metro! Woo-hoo, this is the year of push technology! :rolleyes:

Funny though you keep changing your complaints about gadgets. First you say they could not do what Metro does and when told they in fact do then you complained that certain gadgets weren't available and when told they are now you say no one uses gadgets and they are dead.

Just get a motel room, go make love to Metro and get it over with.

Ya know, if you hate Metro so much, then don't use the apps. Simple. I'm tired of having my words turned inside and out by every single person here. But simply put, the 9x paradigm is tired, rotten, and dead. There are new and upcoming technologies that just won't work with it, and we need a UI that'll allow us to interact with computers in new ways. Computers (yes, that includes desktops too) are heading in a new directions that is forcing us to change out habits, whether you like it or not. Consumers want simple, easy to use devices that'll connect them to the things that matter, and quickly. Fumbling around an overly complex desktop, pointing and clicking on icons, isn't doing that, and neither are those desktop gadgets of yours. Metro will allow them to do just that. I'm sorry you feel cheated or your ego threatened or whatever, but this isn't the 90's anymore. Things have changed.

So if you don't mind, I'm going to keep using Windows 8 and brace myself for the future of computing. If you wish to remain behind, that's your prerogative, but don't expect me to show any compassion for when you're still clinging to XP or whatever and crying that no one is showing you any love.

Click on my sig if you *really* want to see what interactive looks like. You won't get that with Windows XP or Windows 7.

[Rigby]

Ya know, if you hate Metro so much, then don't use the apps.

Oh believe me I won't. I just think your arguments about the live tiles are ridiculous when the are absolutely nothing new. On one hand you say that Gadgets failed and are dead, then you somehow claim that live tiles are going to be wonderful. It's been done to death, remember the Pointcast Network? Most people really don't care about having "live content" on their desktop and Metro isn't going to change that.

Click on my sig if you *really* want to see what interactive looks like. You won't get that with Windows XP or Windows 7.

Again with this "interactive" nonsense. Every OS is interactive. As for Metro, sorry but I think it is an ugly mess. I'm glad I won't get that with Windows 7, that's why I'm sticking with it.

[Dot Matrix]

Most people really don't care about having "live content" on their desktop and Metro isn't going to change that.

Good, because live tiles aren't living on the desktop. Oh, and the people tied to mobile devices, especially corporate types, and younger kids, who are always information hungry, disagree with you. Jus' saying. ;)

Good, what a cluttered mess. That's why I'm sticking with Windows 7.

Great! That means our conversation here is done. Good day, sir! The exit is in the upper right on the big red X.

[Rigby]

Great! That means our conversation here is done. Good day, sir! The exit is in the upper right on the big red X.

Sorry but you don't get to tell me when to leave. You're certainly free to stop replying to me if you wish.

[MorganX]

^^^ Come on guys chill. Windows 8 and Metro will do just fine. And it will annoy the hell out of people that are currently in 7th Heaven using Windows 7 and love the effeciency of the Start Menu and Aero and all that.

Unfortunately, we will have to go back to customization apps, etc. to be happy again, but it'll happen, or we'll wait with the great 7 until MS fixes it in 9.

I do think the strong dissention among seasoned users is a sign MS took a path that will have negative consequences but not disastrous. It's all about the apps, and games and right now there aren't any.

I would love to see MS change the orientation of general web design from portrait to landscape. However, seeing them bundle Flash with Windows 8 after all the HTML 5 hype, I'm pretty positive they don't have enough influence to make that happen so I'm just tossing that one.

[Order_66]

Sorry but you don't get to tell me when to leave. You're certainly free to stop replying to me if you wish.

You should know TRC that logic and facts are something that fanboys simply can't stand.

[Order_66]

No. Nobody significant uses them. There are no top notch gadgets to install, which is why they were discontinued, and the gallery shut down. Gadgets are dead.

Well I certainly use them and have been using them since vista, but I am not "significant" since I would guess being significant must be someone like Bill Gates or that raving lunatic Balmer, I love the gadgets that I use, they are mostly system info gadgets and one for weather, they are always there showing info in real time and yet they are never in the way, unlike metro.

[MorganX]

Microsoft's visionary Office video focuses on the app. Particularly Office, and there's not much with software that can't be done today. Microsoft's designers simply don't have that much style. Apple's Keynote and Numbers come closer to that type of polish and cool productivity. Microsoft can't deliver that kind of app on Windows Phone though its quite capable today. Has nothing to do with Windows 8 or Metro.

Notably though, while content consumption can be managed by touching the screen on a mobile device in the video, the workstation had a keyboard and stylus/tablet input device. In fact, touch took place on an LCD/Screen on the keyboard. Not a workstation user reaching up touching their display all day long.

All of that is doable now (with regards to the software). I just don't think MS will ever deliver anything that slick, hopefully x86 app devs will. Somehow MS has to create tools to get more creative people designing application UIs. Microsoft can't even design nice icons so I don't know why anyone thinks they could deliver this vision themselves.