Windows 8 In 3 Minutes

Soldato
Joined
19 Dec 2006
Posts
9,990
Location
UK
I suppose we should all thank MS for saving us .1% of screen real estate by hiding the start button, I can now use that to display erm... more taskbar...
 
Associate
Joined
6 Dec 2004
Posts
121
Do you honestly think MS didn't trial the OS with neophyte users during development?! They will have done a LOT of market research and ergonomics/etc. studies on this. Why do we see the same old Luddite reactions every time a new Windows is released?
 
Associate
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
1,330
Location
Eltham
Do you honestly think MS didn't trial the OS with neophyte users during development?! They will have done a LOT of market research and ergonomics/etc. studies on this. Why do we see the same old Luddite reactions every time a new Windows is released?

That doesn't invalidate the point though and in much the same way as testing won't catch all possible bugs.

Take a normal person, dump them down in Windows 8 and they have no visual indicators of how to get around the OS, why would they go to a corner? This can all be taken care of by taking 5 minutes to explain it and they should be able to happily go on their way (in fact I'd happily argue full screen apps in a sandbox environment for light use will provide a better experience for the average user) but it's bad design that you have to take those 5 minutes.
 
Soldato
Joined
13 Oct 2006
Posts
8,151
Location
Surrey
That doesn't invalidate the point though and in much the same way as testing won't catch all possible bugs.

Take a normal person, dump them down in Windows 8 and they have no visual indicators of how to get around the OS, why would they go to a corner? This can all be taken care of by taking 5 minutes to explain it and they should be able to happily go on their way (in fact I'd happily argue full screen apps in a sandbox environment for light use will provide a better experience for the average user) but it's bad design that you have to take those 5 minutes.

The start menu was always in the corner, in windows 7 the minimize screen button was in the corner, the close windows buttons are in the corner....need I go on?

People will learn, it's how we progress :)
 
Associate
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
1,330
Location
Eltham
The start menu was always in the corner, in windows 7 the minimize screen button was in the corner, the close windows buttons are in the corner....need I go on?

I don't think you've addressed my point though and I've actually seen it happen first hand with other people, they don't go down to the corner because there's nothing there.

People will learn, it's how we progress :)

Of course but it's just a shame that this way a lot of people are going to be initially put off something which may benefit them because there's a bit of a nasty learning curve.
 
Caporegime
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
33,188
Don't be a drama queen now :) I'm just pointing out that I think a great many people (and I am not talking about the likes of anybody using this forum) buying pc's with Windows 8 are going to be stumped. As stated, they have enough difficulty remembering how to open their email when there is a clearly labelled shortcut right in front of them, hide stuff and they're going to get nowhere fast.

WHile I'm firmly against the, build it for stupid people first, everyone else will have to deal with it, so screw stupid people who can't open e-mail, for people have trouble opening e-mail, they don't tend to e-mail much anyway and I couldn't give a crap about them.

On the other hand, I feel like its a step forward and backwards, snap to/multitasking has some serious improvements, as do a lot of the things you can do fairly quickly and it feels smooth and neat. However the start/tiles thing seems exactly what I dislike, people who need a picture to show them everything, and frankly if you open the computer and rather than look in a menu, there is a button saying e-mail, I fail to see how that is harder to use than windows 7, infact, its much much easier. Its much cleaner and more obvious than a windows desktop, you can remove everything for a PC illiterate user and leave a huge tile with E-mail on it, a huge box with IE, and get rid of everything else?

Also frankly being that its designed for tablets to a large degree, someone who has real trouble with computers, a screen where you press the tile that says e-mail is about as easy as it gets.


Meh, the video is good anyway, I was as 99% of the people on the planet, distrusting of new things. Not really, Win 7 is really just the first windows that, doesn't crash, is stable, does what I want(mostly) and I just didn't feel the need to move on and pay to do so. However the video impressed me a lot, I don't want to read about win 8 and be told tiles are great along with "its for tablets" everywhere. A video that shows a advanced user moving around quickly is far more telling and explanatory to me and has certainly made me consider moving to it.


One question to anyone that has it, does the multitasking/splitting up screen work with multiple aps, and can it only split up the screen vertically, or could you have a big app open on 2/3rds of the screen, and say the right side split into top and bottom with two small aps as that is the kind of stuff I generally have open all the time.
 
Soldato
Joined
17 Jan 2007
Posts
8,944
Location
Manchester
One question to anyone that has it, does the multitasking/splitting up screen work with multiple aps, and can it only split up the screen vertically, or could you have a big app open on 2/3rds of the screen, and say the right side split into top and bottom with two small aps as that is the kind of stuff I generally have open all the time.

You can only have two. If you need more windowing options it is best to stick to the desktop.
 
Soldato
Joined
5 Jul 2007
Posts
2,571
Location
NZ
The testament of a good GUI is not requiring a video to show how to do the basic stuff such as switching between applications or windows, launching them, shutting down, etc.

If Windows 8 needs hot keys then why not have a button which brings up a list of hot keys like Linux does?!

The video in the Op shows everything I dislike about the modern UI. Full screen less functional apps and a really convoluted way of switching between apps and open windows.

The whole point in the name Windows is the fact it has windows! Why did they even keep the same name if its all about full screen apps and not being able to see multiple windows at once on a large screen?!

Windows 7 - Internet explorer open in a window, Outlook running in a window, whatever else open in a window all the while being able to see the clock, office communicator, spotify, etc all down in the notification area for quick access without losing my current work flow.

Windows 8 - Internet explorer full screen, switch to mail app, switch to another program, forget what was in IE and have to move mouse to top left and pull down to get app list. Find IE in the app list and click it. Back to full screen IE.

Yes, in 8 you can work out of the desktop, but MS want to push modern UI as the standard and if you are working out of the desktop you aren't using Windows 8 as designed anyway! So saying windows 8 has a desktop means you aren't actually using windows 8 as MS intended so it has failed.
 
Soldato
Joined
5 Jul 2007
Posts
2,571
Location
NZ
I never said zero effort. I said doing the basic stuff by having to research online.

I have used mac osx, many versions of Linux and iOS, Android devices, etc and have never felt the need to watch basic tutorial videos until I installed windows 8 with its hidden menus and settings.
 
Soldato
Joined
17 Jan 2007
Posts
8,944
Location
Manchester
Whether you go online, get shown by somebody or just explore yourself it doesn't really matter. You say Linux gives you a list of hot keys - I don't see how committing them to memory is any different than learning a few tips and tricks from a Windows 8 video?

OSX makes you sit through videos at first run to show off the new trackpad gestures and scrolling behaviour. Having to be shown something doesn't always mean bad design.

If anything, Microsoft should be criticised for not showing enough in the out of box experience.
 
Back
Top Bottom