win8 Common sense fixes to Windows 8

[Ian W]

calling it Metro instead of Modern UI

No offense, but if that comment had been at the end of your list of Thurrott problems, you would have been given the Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking award.

"Boot to desktop" would only be useful for the present because Modern UI has poor integration with legacy, and would only actually work well in a server environment where there isn't normal use anyway.

Don't you think it would be useful for people who primarily use the desktop? It would prevent them from having to click the Desktop tile.

Edit: See CSharp's post.

[Davo]

No offense, but if that comment had been at the end of your list of Thurrott problems, you would have been given the Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking award.

It's important to note that almost always it's the Win8 haters calling it Metro. It's a refusal to accept that the name for the UI style changed (or just flat out being uninformed) and coincidentally, a refusal to accept that the OS has changed too. I can't take any discussions about it seriously with someone not even knowing what it is or not being current enough on the subject to call it what it really is. It's a prime example of why I find him annoying at best.

Don't you think it would be useful for people who primarily use the desktop? It would prevent them from having to click the Desktop tile.

Edit: See CSharp's post.

It might save people a click and a few seconds but it would slow down the development of Modern UI horribly. It's half baked right now and if people have a way of skipping it and the only apps are the half hearted ones from MS, it'll be a mess when it finally becomes the majority of the OS. It also doesn't take into account that the OS is supposed to be multi-device.

[bandit_liberty_rumble]

It's important to note that almost always it's the Win8 haters calling it Metro. It's a refusal to accept that the name for the UI style changed (or just flat out being uninformed) and coincidentally, a refusal to accept that the OS has changed too. I can't take any discussions about it seriously with someone not even knowing what it is or not being current enough on the subject to call it what it really is. It's a prime example of why I find him annoying at best.

Did you read the source from which I quoted in my previous post?

Several readers wrote to me to scold me for not calling it the Metro interface. Sorry, but that is not what Microsoft calls it, as we learned this summer. Nor is its name the Modern interface; that was an early, internal name Microsoft had for it. When you ask Microsoft what it?s called, the company says it should simply be called ?Windows 8,? insisting that it?s not two different environments at all.

[+Warwagon MVC]

I got a kick out of this. Yesterday I was watching the movie

"Idiocracy" (2004)

Private Joe Bauers, the definition of "average American", is selected by the Pentagon to be the guinea pig for a top-secret hibernation program. Forgotten, he awakes 500 years in the future. He discovers a society so incredibly dumbed-down that he's easily the most intelligent person alive.

A guy from the future was watching tv and it made me laugh.

[Dashel]

It might save people a click and a few seconds but it would slow down the development of Modern UI horribly. It's half baked right now and if people have a way of skipping it and the only apps are the half hearted ones from MS, it'll be a mess when it finally becomes the majority of the OS. It also doesn't take into account that the OS is supposed to be multi-device.

I honestly don't see how it would slow development (vs adoption) or create a mess once Metro gains traction. Nor effect its ability to be multi-device (if anything, it emphasizes that aspect).

[BajiRav]

I got a kick out of this. Yesterday I was watching the movie

"Idiocracy" (2004)

A guy from the future was watching tv and it made me laugh.

so future looks like Google Play store?

[Ian W]

While using the Blue pre-release, a common sense fix entered my mind.

A Rename option for the left click "context menu" of Modern application tiles would be a nice addition.

Edit: I'm still hoping for something like this.

[Noir Angel]

It's important to note that almost always it's the Win8 haters calling it Metro. It's a refusal to accept that the name for the UI style changed (or just flat out being uninformed) and coincidentally, a refusal to accept that the OS has changed too. I can't take any discussions about it seriously with someone not even knowing what it is or not being current enough on the subject to call it what it really is. It's a prime example of why I find him annoying at best.

Has the thought ever occurred to you that people can still use the term "Metro" in reference to the design paradigm rather than the start screen? Get the hell off your soapbox. Besides, I don't call things modern that look like a throwback to Windows 3.1 computing.

[Davo]

Has the thought ever occurred to you that people can still use the term "Metro" in reference to the design paradigm rather than the start screen? Get the hell off your soapbox. Besides, I don't call things modern that look like a throwback to Windows 3.1 computing.

It's a refusal to accept that the name for the UI style changed (or just flat out being uninformed) and coincidentally, a refusal to accept that the OS has changed too.

[threetonesun]

I call it Metro and I like Windows 8. :laugh:

[bandit_liberty_rumble]

I'm glad to see Microsoft starting to integrate UI elements like the search icon into the app window :

And apparently the 'all apps' button is gone in Windows Blue, and the tiling system is somewhat more flexible. Baby steps.

[Ian W]

I'm not sure if posting the following information in this topic is appropriate, but I don't know where else to put it (without creating a new one).

According to Paul Thurrott, Windows "Blue" will fix one of the annoyances in Windows 8: no unified search results.

In Windows 8, Search is activated via the Search charm (WINKEY + Q, or Charms, Search) and provides a full-screen experience that can be filtered by apps, settings, files, or by individual Metro-style apps.

The big complaint about this interface is the separation of apps, settings, and files: In Windows 7, applications, settings, and files all appeared in-line, together, in the search results (which occurred in the Start menu in that release). So the Windows 8 Search experience requires an extra step if you are looking for a setting (a Control Panel or PC Settings item).

. . .

In Windows 8.1 ?Blue,? this is changing.

Now, there?s just a single Search experience for apps, settings, and files, so there?s no need to choose the type of result unless of course you?re trying to filter it to a specific Metro app.

Edit: I can't believe I missed the Neowin artice regarding the same subject. Sorry about that...

[bandit_liberty_rumble]

FYI, the latest version (1.15) of Start8 now allows you to use the (fullscreen) Windows 8 style start screen but leave the task bar visible at the same time. Alternatively, you can have it default to the (Windows 8 style) applications view, too. :)

[bandit_liberty_rumble]

Looks like MS is coming around... ;)

 

 

For the App Screen aka "Start Screen":
 
- Put a magnifying glass icon in the upper right corner, activates the search charm/ all 'app apps' view

 

done

- remove the "all apps" entry from the app bar

 

done

-Settings/power icon  

 

done 

- option to boot directly to the desktop

 

done


- putting apps into a a window 

 

coming in Threshold

- put full-screen button in a modern app's title bar to set it back into fullscreen mode

 

coming in Threshold

- Make an app-specific search field or button mandatory 

 

done

 

 

 
- Put a settings/power icon on the bottom or far right of the task bar 

 

coming in Threshold (will be part of the Start Menu)

- Put a magnifying glass icon in the upper right or lower left corner 

 

coming in Threshold

 

- show active/most recently used/pinned modern apps in the task bar

 

done

- allow the 'Charms' bar and its hot corners to be deactivated

 

done

- the Share charm can be activated by clicking on a window title

 

coming in Threshold

- Allow integration of the Share charm into Desktop apps

 

coming in Threshold

- (optional:) remove the Search/Settings/Devices/Start charm,

 

coming in Threshold

For the new windowed search 'not quite Start' menu :
-  link to the App Screen  
  button next to the search box to go fullscreen - activates the 'all apps' view/search charm

(sort of) coming in Threshold (choice between Start menu and Start Screen) 

 

[PGHammer]

Laptops for programming in a professional market is not a good idea. Even with a 3 year old desktop, a program I use with millions of lines of code takes about 45 minutes to compile.

 

Don't tell Microsoft that.

 

Microsoft ALONE has been a major player in the portable-computer market - going back to the days of luggables.

 

However, Microsoft - like other major players in development - doesn't DO "vanilla" configurations for the most part.  Not for desktops, and not for portable computers, either.

 

I've been interacting with Microsoft going back to the days of Windows 3.x/NT 3.x - in short, pre-9x.  Briefings, trade shows and symposia, training events (especially "train-the-trainer" events that are part of MSDN and TechNet prior to their merger).  If you are going to code for the leading edge - let alone the bleeding edge - keeping your hardware up to date is mandatory.  (IBM was the same way, and still is; same applies to Lenovo - in fact, it even applies to most large software developers.)

 

You have to be - at a minimum - at the same hardware level as your customers - if you aren't, that is YOUR fault.

 

[PGHammer]

IIRC MS Office does not have option to create desktop shortcut. (it's been a while since I installed it though)

That is entirely due to user requests - Microsoft killed the last by-default application shortcut (that for Outlook) with Office 2000 - in short, the default, even for Office, is NO shortcuts, and this has been the case since Office XP/2003.  (The default with Office 95 - the first x32 version of Office - was shortcuts for each application; however, by Office 2000, it had been pruned to just Outlook.)