Ideas For Windows 8.2

[raananan]

I would like better touch support for desktop mode. For example the context menus should recognize that they were opened due to touch gesture and be touch friendly.

 

Also the shortcuts menu from the start button (Win+X) should be more modern then just old fashion context menu.

 

P.S I cant reply in the forum from IE11 from Win8.1 RTM :( I had to use chrome

[chrisj1968]

I wouldn't be surprised if development for Windows 9 hasn't started already

[+Red King Subscriber²]

Replace all old GUI elements with modern equivalents. Some things haven't changed much for ten+ years.

Make DirectX 9 support an optional download, generally all XP era application support optional or professional feature.

[LimeMaster]

Sir, your Outlook is out of date, here is the latest version:

Internet Explorer is also outdated in the screenshot as the latest version looks like this:

 

 

:p

[DualOpAmp]

They also need to keep improving the multitasking behavior, as far as how the snap modes work.  I like the changes in 8.1 to allow more control over the size of the snapped view, but they could do more.

 

There's an app on the store called Toolbox for Windows that has an impressive way to multitask. It's similar to how apps are arranged in 8.1 but allows for apps to be stacked vertically as well. This creates these kind of sections, where apps would lay.  I like this idea because there are many apps that don't need a full bar, like a calculator app for example or a calendar app.

 

Apart from that, I'd like to weigh-in on the argument between Dot Matrix and Asik.

 

1.) Yes, that is exactly what I am saying. Who exactly is aiming for pixel precision with a mouse? Certainly no one. There are other tools for that job. Pixel precision isn't needed in day to day OS operations. That argument is flawed.

 

 

As a game developer, I use Visual Studio and Adobe Photoshop (desktop  programs) on a daily basis. Both of which just can't be duplicated with touch. Believe me, I've tried. But don't get me wrong, I hate the desktop interface, and think it's look and feel is ugly.

 

So, touch is great for consumption activity, (i.e. viewing photos, watching movies, browsing the web) but not for production. For example, try making a masterpiece in Adobe Photoshop with touch. It's not that easy, even if a modern app for Photoshop was made, a user on a tablet would not be able to have the same kind of control as a user with a mouse and keyboard. But, touch is the ideal medium for tablets. A compromise is needed.

 

The leap motion. If Microsoft could get behind the leap motion, integrating it into tablets, selling it with every copy of Windows 8, and promoting it like it's own, then both worlds could combine. Suddenly, you could use Adobe Photoshop on your Surface, without needing a mouse. You could have the precision control needed for productivity activities, while still having the "touch" like swipe and scale gestures only available with touch. Not to mention, giving existing desktops and laptops without touch, a "touch" like feeling. The modern UI would make more sense, and big companies could make modern versions of their apps. I.E. Photoshop, Maya, Visual Studio.

 

Personally, I'd love to see the modern UI take over. It's a fresh new breathe of air for Windows. But, I just don't think touch (the main medium for the modern UI) is capable of productivity, even if all the millions of desktop apps were converted to modern versions. The leap motion could change that.

 

Just my 2 cents. :D

[MorganX]

They already have a hard enough time convincing new touch focused applications to come to their platform at all...

 

The desktop isn't going anywhere due to the practical reality, as you so well eluded to.

 

Things are moving slow due to the reason you gave above, but for consumption and data entry, I think the desktop will go away. Just not as fast as Dot Matrix seems to believe. For content creation, I don't see how it can go away, at least not with the Modern UI, but I can potentially see it for some things. There's no reason why Office can't be Modern UI, though file operations will be clumsy and or inefficient. The desktop has the potential to disappear before the mouse/keyboard every will.

 

MS is trying very hard to drive people away from the GUI on the server side with PowerShell and RSAT. Wait, RSAT is a gui and management tasks in it require the precision of a mouse and a keyboard for data entry. To get rid of the GUI you need a PowerShell prompt which could just as well be in the ModernUI though a full screen command prompts is such a waste.

[Heisenberg]

8.2 should have a modern desktop interface (similar with the Office 2013 UI, I really like what the office team did). This should give a consistent metro experience. And while they're at it, they should put TABS on the file explorer, it's already 2013 and I still have to juggle several windows for explorer (good thing there's qttabbar).

[zhangm Supervisor]

Desktop environment needs better shadows - it isn't the tile or fullscreen environment, and like it or not, content will overlap with other content. The existing shadows and borders just don't cut it as far as visually separating a stack of windows.

Add more gesture support. Touch opens up many possibilities and the interface should allow users to customize movements and actions. Use other inputs: for example, lock screen orientation until the user rotates and shakes the tablet.

Allow users to interact with apps directly from the start screen. An example would be Prev/Next/Play/Pause buttons for the Music and video apps. Also allow better handling of real-time updates for the tile interface: for example, if I start a stopwatch, update the time on the tile instead of making me open up the entire app or take up a quarter of my screen just to show a counter or timer.

After using 8 since it came out, I'm convinced that the majority of apps were designed with the purpose of adhering to a Metro design philosophy, rather than made for the purpose of being useful.

[Obry]

And what precision are you talking of? The mouse offers no more precision than my finger does. I have a 1680 by 1050 screen, getting a ridiculously small 1x1 strike zone, to precisely hit a specific pixel is damn near impossible - and it only gets worse as screen resolutions get higher, and the pixel density gets deeper.

 

If you're having a problem hitting something with the mouse then you're going to have a 10x bigger problem doing it with your finger so your argument makes absolutely no sense at all. I have a Lenovo X1 ultrabook with the exact same resolution and the only way I can use the touchscreen is to make text and everything at least 125% zoom. So because of that I had to create a second user account for doing work (no zoom or touch optimization nonsense). At the end of the day the developers and engineers who will be writing your touch friendly software will require precise tools, such as a mouse and a keyboard, to get their work done so I don't see these tools going anywhere for years to come. Yes, the Desktop might become an "app" or whatever you want to call it one day but it will be there in one shape or another for a long time. When professionals need to get real work done they need precise tools which Metro does not offer. They can't even get Office apps on Metro yet much less advanced tools like Visual Studio (which all your Metro apps are written in). I know it's a bit of a chicken-egg type of deal but it is what it is and I don't see the desktop disappearing completely because then even Microsoft engineers won't be able to get their job done...

[Dot Matrix]

If you're having a problem hitting something with the mouse then you're going to have a 10x bigger problem doing it with your finger so your argument makes absolutely no sense at all. I have a Lenovo X1 ultrabook with the exact same resolution and the only way I can use the touchscreen is to make text and everything at least 125% zoom. So because of that I had to create a second user account for doing work (no zoom or touch optimization nonsense). At the end of the day the developers and engineers who will be writing your touch friendly software will require precise tools, such as a mouse and a keyboard, to get their work done so I don't see these tools going anywhere for years to come. Yes, the Desktop might become an "app" or whatever you want to call it one day but it will be there in one shape or another for a long time. When professionals need to get real work done they need precise tools which Metro does not offer. They can't even get Office apps on Metro yet much less advanced tools like Visual Studio (which all your Metro apps are written in). I know it's a bit of a chicken-egg type of deal but it is what it is and I don't see the desktop disappearing completely because then even Microsoft engineers won't be able to get their job done...

I think you're misunderstanding my argument.

 

I'm simply stating that the mouse offers no more precision than a finger does. Anyone who seems to think otherwise, is kidding themselves. 

[Obry]

I think you're misunderstanding my argument.

 

I'm simply stating that the mouse offers no more precision than a finger does. Anyone who seems to think otherwise, is kidding themselves. 

 

So you can manipulate graphics in Photoshop with your finger just as well as a mouse? Or can you play video game such as StarCraft for instance (not much of a gamer so pardon me if there are better examples) with your fingers just as well as a mouse? If so, I would really like to meet you! No offense but I'm not quite sure who is kidding who. If a mouse wasn't more accurate than your finger then touch-optimized UI's wouldn't have substantially larger target areas than their mouse-optimized counterparts. Perfect example of this would be Office 2013 which has touch and mouse mode switch. If both touch and mouse were equally accurate then why would Microsoft decide to add these two modes? Are they too kidding themselves?

[Dot Matrix]

So you can manipulate graphics in Photoshop with your finger just as well as a mouse? Or can you play video game such as StarCraft for instance (not much of a gamer so pardon me if there are better examples) with your fingers just as well as a mouse? If so, I would really like to meet you! No offense but I'm not quite sure who is kidding who. If a mouse wasn't more accurate than your finger then touch-optimized UI's wouldn't have substantially larger target areas than their mouse-optimized counterparts. Perfect example of this would be Office 2013 which has touch and mouse mode switch. If both touch and mouse were equally accurate then why would Microsoft decide to add these two modes? Are they too kidding themselves?

Because Office has too tiny of controls to manipulate with a finger. If you enlarge them, like a live tile on the start screen, touch/finger becomes irrelevant. The precision would be the same between the two. And yes, it's not too hard to manipulate graphics with other tools, including your finger.  

[Athernar]

So you can manipulate graphics in Photoshop with your finger just as well as a mouse? Or can you play video game such as StarCraft for instance (not much of a gamer so pardon me if there are better examples) with your fingers just as well as a mouse? If so, I would really like to meet you! No offense but I'm not quite sure who is kidding who. If a mouse wasn't more accurate than your finger then touch-optimized UI's wouldn't have substantially larger target areas than their mouse-optimized counterparts. Perfect example of this would be Office 2013 which has touch and mouse mode switch. If both touch and mouse were equally accurate then why would Microsoft decide to add these two modes? Are they too kidding themselves?

 

Pretty much any FPS game is a prime example of the precision a mouse has over alternative input methods.

 

Heck, even gamepads can't match it - and they are generally viewed to be vastly superior to touch controls in that regard.

[+LogicalApex MVC]

Things are moving slow due to the reason you gave above, but for consumption and data entry, I think the desktop will go away. Just not as fast as Dot Matrix seems to believe. For content creation, I don't see how it can go away, at least not with the Modern UI, but I can potentially see it for some things. There's no reason why Office can't be Modern UI, though file operations will be clumsy and or inefficient. The desktop has the potential to disappear before the mouse/keyboard every will.

 

MS is trying very hard to drive people away from the GUI on the server side with PowerShell and RSAT. Wait, RSAT is a gui and management tasks in it require the precision of a mouse and a keyboard for data entry. To get rid of the GUI you need a PowerShell prompt which could just as well be in the ModernUI though a full screen command prompts is such a waste.

Microsoft's love with the command prompt on the server is driven heavily by their push to cloud computing. With them running massive server farms in Azure they are finally learning why Linux admins prefer the command prompt. So the shift on the server side is driven largely by the needs of the workflow. Similar to the reason the desktop can't go anywhere.

[Pulagatha]

Does anyone else feel like Metro should be a start-up option rather than mixed into the desktop?

[Rayhoo]

This looks ancient. Hope MS will not bring us back to Stone Age. :argh:   

They could use this as optional start screen theme:

 

[DConnell Member]

Does anyone else feel like Metro should be a start-up option rather than mixed into the desktop?

 

I don't really get the feeling that Metro and desktop are mixed - I'd be happier if the desktop/desktop apps were better integrated into 8 as a whole. As it is, it feels like I'm running Windows 7 in a virtual machine. I'd like to see a feature added like 7's Virtual XP mode had - applications running in VXP could appear on the 7 desktop. I'd love it if MS could do the same for desktop programs, so they feel less like they're on a Win7 virtual machine.

[Noir Angel]

Modern UI isn't "tacked on" to the desktop - the desktop is now an app within the Metro UI. And, yes, changes needed to occur. The old ways of doing things, are being pushed out for new ways. The old, desktop/file/folder based computing is loosing ground to new app based paradigms.We're also moving towards new input methods - touch and motion sensing the biggest two. And what precision are you talking of? The mouse offers no more precision than my finger does. I have a 1680 by 1050 screen, getting a ridiculously small 1x1 strike zone, to precisely hit a specific pixel is damn near impossible - and it only gets worse as screen resolutions get higher, and the pixel density gets deeper. That level of precision isn't needed by people, and those that do need it, use other more specific tools for the task.

You're not going to be having a good day trying to do all of this on the desktop. It was built in a different day for a different age, and it's starting to show. In this day and age, devices are key, not desktop PCs. They are just one device among many, that need to work and play together. This argument isn't void of meaning, just look around you and you'll see it.

 

Also, they haven't thrown away the desktop, like I said it's still there, within the Metro Start Screen. But all those features, you'll start to see deprecated, and transformed into the Metro UI, The Control Panel being the biggest evidence for that. Soon, the desktop will be replaced, and emulated for only the advanced users still wishing to run that one desktop app, while everyone else works, and plays in the Metro environment.

 

Really want to put that to the test hmm? Let's play an online shooter, your fingers on a touchpad against mine on a keyboard and mouse. Then let's see which has the greater precision.

 

As for the change I would most like to see? The old Aero theme from Windows 7, or the theme from the Windows 8 RP that had some definition. The new "flat" themes are completely hideous.

[Ian W]

• A new keyboard shortcut, such as Alt + Win + Prnt Scrn, to take an instant screenshot of the active application window.

In addition to the current predefined tile size options, an option to scroll the mouse wheel after selecting a tile(s) on the Start screen to increase (or decrease) their size.

An option to create a symbolic relationship between Windows 8 applications. Currently, if snapped applications are present, any newly opened application is forced to occupy a previous application's portion of the screen. Allow previously snapped applications to retain their relationship while allowing newly opened applications to create their own.

Ability to drag and drop items onto the Start screen.

Rename contextual item for tiles.

An option to disable lower hot corners.

A larger Aero Peek button (Thanks for ruining that, Windows 8.1).

More Toast notifications for desktop-related actions or events.

Jump List-like dropdown menus for certain items pinned to the Start screen.

Something like . . . this?

[MorganX]

 

• A new keyboard shortcut, such as Alt + Win + Prnt Scrn, to take an instant screenshot of the active application window.
• In addition to the current predefined tile size options, an option to scroll the mouse wheel after selecting a tile(s) on the Start screen to increase (or decrease) their size.
• An option to create a symbolic relationship between Windows 8 applications. Currently, if snapped applications are present, any newly opened application is forced to occupy a previous application's portion of the screen. Allow previously snapped applications to retain their relationship while allowing newly opened applications to create their own.
• Ability to drag and drop items onto the Start screen.
• Rename contextual item for tiles.
• An option to disable lower hot corners.
• A larger Aero Peek button (Thanks for ruining that, Windows 8.1).
• More Toast notifications for desktop-related actions or events.
• Jump List-like dropdown menus for certain items pinned to the Start screen.
• Something like . . . this?

 

 

Win+PrtScr does a screenshot of the full active screen including open menus, you want just the active Window? That would be nice, I guess I haven't tried Win+Shft+Prtscr, but cropping isn't too bad, I'm just glad they included the new screenshot, you can capture anything including Win32 games.

 

As for the rest of your list, you are just not going to meet Modern UI halfway are you? lol, I ain't mad at cha...

[MorganX]

This looks ancient. Hope MS will not bring us back to Stone Age. :argh:   

 

It was ahead of its time. At that time, the people, by the millions, that are buying tablets and smartphones thought PCs were alien science. The geeks wanted more control. Now the geeks are older, have more money, and if the software can do all the mundane work in the background, hell, give me a dashboard and live tile...

[Raa]

Add a classic start menu option.

Bring back "classic" Aero effects.

Reinstate DirectInput, Direct3D and DirectSound APIs for games that use them.

 

Some new sounds would be nice too!

 

 

Those are my bug bears at the moment. I'm sure i'll have more soon...  :p

[bandit_liberty_rumble]

ALAC support.

[Atomic Wanderer Chicken]

Here is what I want in Windows 8.2. Microsoft should take Windows 7 and update it to Windows 8 minus the modern interface. Then Microsoft should take the modern part of Windows 8 and make it by itself. Then Windows 8.2 can give you the option of either using the desktop or just modern by itself but not both. Then Microsoft should put all the things they removed from Windows 7 and stick it back into Windows 8.2.

[DConnell Member]

Here is what I want in Windows 8.2. Microsoft should take Windows 7 and update it to Windows 8 minus the modern interface. Then Microsoft should take the modern part of Windows 8 and make it by itself. Then Windows 8.2 can give you the option of either using the desktop or just modern by itself but not both. Then Microsoft should put all the things they removed from Windows 7 and stick it back into Windows 8.2.

 

Either but not both? That would cripple Win 8.2 IMO. While I like Metro, the lack of Metro versions of a lot of programs means I'm not ready to ditch the desktop yet. The desktop is still needed for legacy programs. This suggestion wouldn't add anything to a hypothetical 8.2 - all it would do is kill the versatility built into 8.