Recommended Posts

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.

What? Are you Bill Gates you seem to know everything about MS. MS needs to create tools to get more creative people making UIs? That statement alone proves you never touched Visual Studio. And wtf is a x86 app developer? Stop talking out of your ass, your post is mostly nonsense

What? Are you Bill Gates you seem to know everything about MS. MS needs to create tools to get more creative people making UIs? That statement alone proves you never touched Visual Studio. And wtf is a x86 app developer? Stop talking out of your ass, your post is mostly nonsense

No, like you, I'm someone posting my opinion online.

Visual Studio, yes, that has resulted in users interfaces that are quite creative, please, show the examples. We are talking about UIs here as in the video, please show me the application UIs that Visual Studio has helped actual graphic designers who developed the imagery in the video deliver to desktop applications? Pull it out of your ass if you have to.

x86 app developers would be anyond developing applicaitons for today's PCs running intel processors derived from the x86 architecture which would be PCs and Macs. With Apple hiring more designers resulting in them developing productivity applications that come closer to the images in the video being discussed.

Visual Studio developers tend to be boring programmers and not graphic designers who tend to develop nicer UIs and Icons, and consistent look & feel than programmmers. And you are correct, I do not touch Visual Studio, I hire and fire those who do.

But I am interested in your examples since you believe that Visual Studio has delivered in these areas. I await your links, and less lip service.

No, like you, I'm someone posting my opinion online.

Visual Studio, yes, that has resulted in users interfaces that are quite creative, please, show the examples. We are talking about UIs here as in the video, please show me the application UIs that Visual Studio has helped actual graphic designers who developed the imagery in the video deliver to desktop applications? Pull it out of your ass if you have to.

x86 app developers would be anyond developing applicaitons for today's PCs running intel processors derived from the x86 architecture which would be PCs and Macs. With Apple hiring more designers resulting in them developing productivity applications that come closer to the images in the video being discussed.

Visual Studio developers tend to be boring programmers and not graphic designers who tend to develop nicer UIs and Icons, and consistent look & feel than programmmers. And you are correct, I do not touch Visual Studio, I hire and fire those who do.

But I am interested in your examples since you believe that Visual Studio has delivered in these areas. I await your links, and less lip service.

What are you smoking? Ever heard of WPF or Silverlight? What more can you do with another IDE? Wow.... Ignorance is strong with you. I can assure you that Visual Studio can make any UI you can imagine and faster than any other IDE available. Exemples? http://www.telerik.com/developer-productivity-tools.aspx is a good example of nice UI design and it's for Visual Studio.

What are you smoking? Ever heard of WPF or Siverlight? What more can you do with another IDE? Wow.... Ignorance is strong with you. I can assure you that Visual Studio can make any UI you can imagine.

I asked you to point me to the applications and if you cannot, I stand by my assertion that MS needs to, among other things, make tools that are more accesible and encourage more designers to create UIs as shown in the video.

I don't want to imagine the UI, that's what the video is for, I say show me. The tools you are referencing are here now, they've been here long enough for Silverlight to be tombstoned, so show me the applications, clearly you cannot, which I already know.

telerik is a nice UI, but it's remoteness proves my point. Neowin web has a better UI than most apps. Work/Tools are needed here. Metro and it's tools and the consumption of applets may encourage more designers to create these types of UIs as would tool targeted more toward the creative types, and not so much the programmatic types.

The questions are:

1.- Do we have the choice to choose colors for our start screen? I dont want that multicolored crap.

2.- Do we have the choice to disable push tiles? I dont want my OS to inform me of everything at all times.

I asked you to point me to the applications and if you cannot, I stand by my assertion that MS needs to, among other things, make tools that are more accesible and encourage more designers to create UIs as shown in the video.

I don't want to imagine the UI, that's what the video is for, I say show me. The tools you are referencing are here now, they've been here long enough for Silverlight to be tombstoned, so show me the applications, clearly you cannot, which I already know.

http://www.telerik.c...vity-tools.aspx Now please return from under the rock where you emerged. I'm a programmer and a UI designer and Visual Studio is by far the best thing out there. You fire people who use Visual Studio? You must have a really successful company :)

http://www.telerik.c...vity-tools.aspx Now please return from under the rock where you emerged. I'm a programmer and a UI designer and Visual Studio is by far the best thing out there.

I'm not going to debate whether or not Visual Studio is the best thing out there, I'll leave that to a programmer to choose. What my point is and remains, the tools that are out there, clearly are not reaching a whole lot of creative types. When tools are available that do reach these types, or that they want to use, we will see much better UIs.

I'm not going to debate whether or not Visual Studio is the best thing out there, I'll leave that to a programmer to choose. What my point is and remains, the tools that are out there, clearly are not reaching a whole lot of creative types. When tools are available that do reach these types, or that they want to use, we will see much better UIs.

Clearly you are living under a rock or you are some kind of Santa Claus or God from a parallel universe. Why don't you pay a little visit to www.dreamspark.com or www.xna.com to see if the tools are reaching the creative people yet. Wow.. I've never seen someone talk about something they have no idea about like you. Please educate yourself on the subject before replying, you may want to try "WPF" in a google search to put some little knowledge in that brain of yours.

Clearly you are living under a rock or you are some kind of Santa Claus or God from a parallel universe. Why don't you pay a little visit to www.dreamspark.com or www.xna.com to see if the tools are reaching the creative people yet. Wow.. I've never seen someone talk about something they have no idea about like you. Please educate yourself on the subject before replying, you may want to try "WPF" in a google search to put some little knowledge in that brain of yours.

I asked you for the applications not the tools. You think name calling like a spoiled child-like programmer will hide the fact that you can't backup your bull****?

This is why programmers generally stick to programming. You ask them for applications developed with the tools and they point you to sites for the tools.

I asked you for the applications not the tools. You think name calling like a spoiled child-like programmer will hide the fact that you can't backup your bull****?

This is why programmers generally stick to programming. You ask them for applications developed with the tools and they point you to sites for the tools.

http://www.metrotwit.com/

http://www.telerik.c...ucts/fdeck.aspx

http://origininterac...nd-development/

to name a few... now please stop being so ignorant... People are making great apps you're just pretending they are not. Tool makers would be out of business if no one made apps with them. Oh and keep pretending "x86 app developers" are a thing.. that's cute

The Start menu hasn't been fit for purpose for years (especially the Windows 95-style menu that you yearn for) and the Start screen fixes most of its predecessors problems:

  • It's no longer ridiculously cramped
  • You don't have to click through countless menus or search through endless lists of meaningless tiny icons to find things
  • You can finally group your most used apps in a variety of ways
  • The frequently used apps list, which never did anything after about a day of use, is (thankfully) gone.
  • More search results are visible and can be easily filtered

Hmmm, am I the only one that finds Windows 7 simpler than Windows 8? I can't be. I hit Winkey, type what I want, enter. Winkey + type calc + enter 1 second, its open. If I want Adobe Photoshop, I start typing Pho....there it is, enter. <shrug>

Hmmm, am I the only one that finds Windows 7 simpler than Windows 8? I can't be. I hit Winkey, type what I want, enter. Winkey + type calc + enter 1 second, its open. If I want Adobe Photoshop, I start typing Pho....there it is, enter. <shrug>

Ok and what's the difference with Windows 8?

The questions are:

1.- Do we have the choice to choose colors for our start screen? I dont want that multicolored crap.

2.- Do we have the choice to disable push tiles? I dont want my OS to inform me of everything at all times.

1- Yes you can pick up the accent color of your choice.

2- Yes. But I don't see why you want to disable live tile, just don't pin the apps if not needed. Also so apps are "notification" which is a little popup that pops in the corner of your screen, and this can be disabled too.

to name a few... now please stop being so ignorant... People are making great apps you're just pretending they are not. Tool makers would be out of business if no one made apps with them. Oh and keep pretending "x86 app developers" are a thing.. that's cute

None of those deliver the UI and Slick design as demonstrated in the future office video which was the context of my comments. In other words, you're just running off at the mouth. Whether or not the apps are "great" and do the job they were intended to do is not the point.

the X86 architecture isn't even a thing, it's made up, and no one develops applications for it. As I said, programmers generally should stick to what they know, programming.

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?

I don't have ADD/ADHD, I don't need all this stuff in my face every time I want to launch an app, if I want to find out what my friends are up to I launch a browser and go to facebook, if I want weather I will go to BBC Weather, if I want news I will load my newseader, I use my PC for work and games, anything else is just a distraction.

I don't have ADD/ADHD, I don't need all this stuff in my face every time I want to launch an app, if I want to find out what my friends are up to I launch a browser and go to facebook, if I want weather I will go to BBC Weather, if I want news I will load my newseader, I use my PC for work and games, anything else is just a distraction.

Interesting then that you can do all of that in the desktop on Win8 just like you do in Win7. People want to talk up the start screen vs start menu argument each and every time yet since Win7 and pinning apps to the taskbar my use of the start menu has dropped off a cliff. All of you self proclaimed power users (which i'm starting to question) should be pinning most if not everything you use daily to the taskbar anyways. If you still start all or most of your apps through the start menu even on Win7 then it's clear you're stuck in the 90's and haven't moved passed that one way of doing things.

I also find it funny that some of you want to bring up desktop Gadgets, something that went nowhere with Vista or Win7. It never was really taken advantage of, but that's beside the point. You talk about bringing up the start screen in win8 as "breaking workflow" and not letting you see your running apps just to get some info yet depending on how many desktop gadgets you have and how you place them you're going to have to move your windows out of the way to see the damn gadgets anyways. How is this really any different?

At the end of the day since Win7 MS has been working people off of the start menu, it's now gone, get over it, or use one of the 3rd party start menus, yay for choice! For that few seconds I do winkey+ appname and hit enter to start something having the start screen show is hardly an issue. I'll be in the desktop just like I've always been 99% of the time, the apps I need daily will be pinned on my taskbar like they have been and I'll do my work just like I always have. This notion that the start screen is now going to totally break everyones way of using the PC is FUD. It's been blown totally out of proportion for no real reason at all.

None of those deliver the UI and Slick design as demonstrated in the future office video which was the context of my comments. In other words, you're just running off at the mouth. Whether or not the apps are "great" and do the job they were intended to do is not the point.

the X86 architecture isn't even a thing, it's made up, and no one develops applications for it. As I said, programmers generally should stick to what they know, programming.

Yeah people make applications for Windows, Mac and Linux which are made for a version of the x86 architecture. Good luck having those apps run on Intel 8088's and you know what my Canon 7D and Xbox use the x86 architecture so it should run all those apps right? And I'm not simply a programmer I'm also a designer and an engineer so I think I know what I'm talking about.

Saying "I'm a x86 app developer" is like saying "I work in a building". Sounds pretty stupid right?

Interesting then that you can do all of that in the desktop on Win8 just like you do in Win7. People want to talk up the start screen vs start menu argument each and every time yet since Win7 and pinning apps to the taskbar my use of the start menu has dropped off a cliff. All of you self proclaimed power users (which i'm starting to question) should be pinning most if not everything you use daily to the taskbar anyways. If you still start all or most of your apps through the start menu even on Win7 then it's clear you're stuck in the 90's and haven't moved passed that one way of doing things.

Seriously?

I use about 20+ apps regularly, if I pinned them all to the taskbar it would just be a massive row of icons along the bottom. It's clear you don't have a clue about power users so please keep your opinions of how we are 'stuck in the 90's' to yourself.

  • Like 2

Yeah people make applications for Windows, Mac and Linux which are made for a version of the x86 architecture. Good luck having those apps run on Intel 8088's and you know what my Canon 7D and Xbox use the x86 architecture so it should run all those apps right? And I'm not a only programmer I'm also a designer and an engineer.

Saying "I'm a x86 app developer" is like saying "I work in a building"

As an engineer, though in fairness you didn't say what kind and I don't really want to know, you should know the Xbox 360, the only relevant Xbox today, uses an IBM processor based on the PowerPC architecture and instruction set. I'll take your word for it regarding the 7D.

Saying you're an x86 app developer today, means you working a building developing apps for Intel-base processors (excluding the now defunct Itanium which was IA64). But I'll concede the point if it'll make you feel better. The term will go away once WOA is available, and Intel is not very happy about it at all.

Seriously?

I use about 20+ apps regularly, if I pinned them all to the taskbar it would just be a massive row of icons along the bottom. It's clear you don't have a clue about power users so please keep your opinions of how we are 'stuck in the 90's' to yourself.

If you use them regularly then it stands to reason they're open most of the time unless you like to open and close things over and over, another habit from the past. I have around 12-15 apps and windows open all the time, I don't go in and out and close things over and over. A number of them are minimized to the systray so they don't take up all of my taskbar space, or I guess you don't use apps that support that at all huh?

Regardless, as I've said, I use the start menu to open apps that I don't use as much, maybe once a week, it's a quck 2-3 sec of winkey+ appname and hit enter something that's just the same under Win8, nothings changed. And if I really wanted to use more apps and have more open all the time I'd want to upgrade to Win8 even more just for the added multimonitor support it now has, even more taskbar space to pin everything I need.

And for the record, I'll voice any opinion I have, if you don't like it cry me a river.

As an engineer, though in fairness you didn't say what kind and I don't really want to know, you should know the Xbox 360, the only relevant Xbox today, uses an IBM processor based on the PowerPC architecture and instruction set. I'll take your word for it regarding the 7D.

Saying you're an x86 app developer today, means you working a building developing apps for Intel-base processors (excluding the now defunct Itanium which was IA64). But I'll concede the point if it'll make you feel better.

I was talking about the first Xbox which uses a standard Pentium 3, relevant today or not it's still next to my TV.

You talk about bringing up the start screen in win8 as "breaking workflow" and not letting you see your running apps just to get some info...

Don't forget, now with the new multi-monitor enhancements, you can now do this. ;)

Don't forget, now with the new multi-monitor enhancements, you can now do this. ;)

Lol :p I don't get people who are concerned about "breaking workflow". Must be really important for them to see what they were doing while they are trying to do something else for a couple second.

*Opens start menu* Oh no I forgot what I was doing before.. what's my name again?

Not pointing fingers but, yes, this is how stupid some people sound.

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Posts

    • Google Chrome 149.0.7827.103 (offline installer) by Razvan Serea The web browser is arguably the most important piece of software on your computer. You spend much of your time online inside a browser: when you search, chat, email, shop, bank, read the news, and watch videos online, you often do all this using a browser. Google Chrome is a browser that combines a minimal design with sophisticated technology to make the web faster, safer, and easier. Use one box for everything--type in the address bar and get suggestions for both search and Web pages. Thumbnails of your top sites let you access your favorite pages instantly with lightning speed from any new tab. Desktop shortcuts allow you to launch your favorite Web apps straight from your desktop. Chrome has many useful features built in, including automatic full-page translation and access to thousands of apps, extensions, and themes from the Chrome Web Store. Google Chrome is one of the best solutions for Internet browsing giving you high level of security, speed and great features. Important to know! The offline installer links do not include the automatic update feature. Download web installer: Google Chrome Web 32-bit | Google Chrome 64-bit | Freeware Download: Google Chrome Offline Installer 64-bit | Direct Link | 131.0 MB Download: Google Chrome Offline Installer 32-bit | Direct Link | 119.0 MB Download page: Google Chrome Portable Download: Chrome ARM64 | Direct Link View: Chrome Website | Release Notes Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware
    • Apple would rather delay Siri AI than open iOS to rival assistants in the EU by Pradeep Viswanathan At WWDC 2026, Apple today announced a revamped Siri AI experience for iOS and iPadOS users. However, this new Siri AI experience will not be available on iPhones and iPads in the European Union when iOS 27 and iPadOS 27 launch later this year. In a detailed press release, Apple blamed the Siri delay on the EU’s Digital Markets Act, highlighting that EU regulators did not accept its proposed solutions for bringing Siri AI to the region. Consequently, there is currently no timeline for Siri AI’s availability on iOS and iPadOS in the EU. Here is what EU users will be missing due to this delay: Siri AI, Apple’s next-generation assistant powered by Apple Intelligence A new dedicated Siri app for revisiting conversations Expanded Visual Intelligence features Integrated AI-assisted writing tools Siri mode in Camera on iOS Other system-level AI features Since the new Siri experience on watchOS 27 is dependent on an iOS 27 device, EU users will also miss out on Siri AI on watchOS 27. The most frustrating part is that even developers based in the EU will not be able to test or use the new Siri AI features for their apps on iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and watchOS 27. In its press release, Apple mentioned that making Siri AI available in the EU would require the company to give other AI assistants (like ChatGPT, Claude, and Gemini) broad access to private user data and the ability to control installed apps. Essentially, the EU wants competing AI systems to be able to read and send messages, make purchases, access files, and perform actions across apps. To address these concerns, Apple proposed an intermediary system called Trusted System Agent. This system would have allowed other virtual assistants to access the same features as Siri AI in a safer way. However, the European Commission rejected Apple's proposals, and it is currently unclear why. The good news is that Apple stated it will continue working with EU regulators to bring Siri AI to the region. For now, however, iPhone and iPad users in the EU will have to wait. If platform gatekeepers such as Apple and Google reserve deep operating system capabilities only for their own AI assistants, rival services such as ChatGPT, Claude, Perplexity, and others will be at a major disadvantage. Modern AI assistants are no longer simple chatbots. They require access to core OS-level capabilities such as reading on-screen context, interacting with installed apps, sending messages, creating calendar events, managing files, and completing user-approved actions across the device. If only Siri on iOS or Gemini on Android can access these capabilities, competing AI services will struggle to offer the same level of convenience, even if their underlying models are better. This is exactly what the European Union's DMA is trying to address. Apple and Google should be allowed to protect user privacy and security, but they should not be permitted to use those concerns as a blanket excuse to block rival AI assistants from getting fair access to core platform features. A secure permission-based framework could allow users to choose their preferred AI assistant without giving any company unrestricted access to personal data.
    • Firefox 151.0.4 by Razvan Serea Firefox is a fast, full-featured Web browser. It offers great security, privacy, and protection against viruses, spyware, malware, and it can also easily block pop-up windows. The key features that have made Firefox so popular are the simple and effective UI, browser speed and strong security capabilities. Firefox has complete features for browsing the Internet. It is very reliable and flexible due to its implemented security features, along with customization options. Firefox includes pop-up blocking, tab-browsing, integrated Google search, simplified privacy controls, a streamlined browser window that shows you more of the page than any other browser and a number of additional features that work with you to help you get the most out of your time online. Firefox key features Enhanced Tracking Protection (ETP) – Blocks trackers, cookies, cryptominers, and fingerprinters by default. Private Browsing Mode – Deletes history, cookies, and temporary files when closed. Lightweight & Fast Performance – Optimized memory usage with efficient page loading. Cross-Platform Sync – Sync bookmarks, passwords, history, and open tabs across devices. Customizable Interface – Toolbars, themes, and extensions can be tailored to user needs. Strong Privacy Controls – Options to manage cookies, permissions, and site data easily. Reader Mode – Strips away clutter for distraction-free reading. Pocket Integration – Save and read articles offline with Pocket built into Firefox. Picture-in-Picture (PiP) – Watch videos in a floating window while multitasking. Extensions & Add-ons – Vast library for productivity, security, and personalization. Built-in PDF Viewer – No need for external software to view PDFs. Firefox Monitor – Alerts users if their email is part of a known data breach. Multi-Account Containers – Isolate browsing sessions (e.g., work, personal, shopping). Performance & Resource Efficiency – Uses fewer system resources than some competitors. Open Source & Community-Driven – Transparent development with global contributions. Download: Firefox 64-bit | Firefox 32-bit | ARM64 | ~70.0 MB (Freeware) Download: Firefox for MacOS | 145.0 MB View: Firefox Home Page | Release Notes Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware
    • When I was a teen, I actually believed that the government used to be always be the bad guy. However as an adult, someone who has actually seen the Law work (though not perfect). I now think everyone cries a river. In this specific case, the so called freedom has consequences to society. Anyone who has seen how child are indeed affected, and I don't mean only extreme things like getting drugs or hate crimen , but no one can deny society as a whole has gone down a rabbit hole due to exesive use of internet. Before anyone calls out that it's the parents responsibility. Yes that's true, but the reality your family/kids might be good people. There are 99% out there who are not and have been brain dead by many things on the internet.
  • Recent Achievements

    • Very Popular
      Captain_Eric earned a badge
      Very Popular
    • One Month Later
      amusc earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • One Month Later
      DJC50PLUS earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Week One Done
      DJC50PLUS earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Proficient
      Eric Biran went up a rank
      Proficient
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      509
    2. 2
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      222
    3. 3
      ATLien_0
      92
    4. 4
      +Edouard
      86
    5. 5
      Steven P.
      81
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!