Windows 8.1 may make it easier to customize Start scren

Windows 8.1 will add new features to help you customize the Start screen -- at least it allegedly will, based on tidbits from the latest build.

The latest Windows 8.1 build dims the Start screen to focus on a single app tile and offers a wider array of tile sizes, says blog site WinBeta.

Read more at:
Windows 8.1 may make it easier to customize the Start screen | Microsoft - CNET News

 

[mdmd]

Ok I give, you totally lost me as to what your point is with this picture.

 

[goodintentions]

^^ Because MS is following the foot step of apple because of apple's huge success in universalising the UI. If you haven't noticed, the newest android jellybean upgrade has also universalized the UI across devices. I hate it. I hate the fact that my android tablet looks like a giant phone. I've always hated the fact that my ipad always looked like a giant iphone, and now my android tablet looks like a giant android phone.

While I agree with you completely, somehow I don't think the majority of people agree with us there. Let's be honest with ourselves, most people are tech illiterate. The success of the iphone, ipod touch, and ipad pretty much proves that most people want the exact same UI across the board. If you go onto android forums, you will find only a few people being annoyed with the new android tablet UI. Everyone else loves the fact that their android tablets now look like giant android phones.

This isn't something you find with Windows and Windows Phone, similar designed UIs, TOTALLY dissimilar interactions. Windows 8 isn't Windows Phone blown up. Windows Phone is more or less Windows 8 condensed down quite a bit.

I'm more for a similar UI design across different devices, not ONE UI across different devices. How the Xbox functions isn't like Windows 8, how Windows 8 functions isn't at all like Windows Phone.

No, but the idea is the same. MS is trying to make the windows experience the same across the board for people. I don't have an xbox, so I don't know how it goes with that. But seeing how google has already give into the one-UI-to-rule-them-all mentality like iOS, it looks like MS is doing the same thing with windows. And I suspect that most people will love this (I hate it btw).

 

[symbiont]

Ok I give, you totally lost me as to what your point is with this picture.

View attachment 20795

So wait, you're explaining yourself to me? I already figured this out about you - what I was questioning was why you used a shortcut laden desktop image in response to me talking about tiles on the Start Screen that you hold so dear.

 

[Coke Robot]

^^ Because MS is following the foot step of apple because of apple's huge success in universalising the UI. If you haven't noticed, the newest android jellybean upgrade has also universalized the UI across devices. I hate it. I hate the fact that my android tablet looks like a giant phone. I've always hated the fact that my ipad always looked like a giant iphone, and now my android tablet looks like a giant android phone.

While I agree with you completely, somehow I don't think the majority of people agree with us there. Let's be honest with ourselves, most people are tech illiterate. The success of the iphone, ipod touch, and ipad pretty much proves that most people want the exact same UI across the board. If you go onto android forums, you will find only a few people being annoyed with the new android tablet UI. Everyone else loves the fact that their android tablets now look like giant android phones.

This isn't something you find with Windows and Windows Phone, similar designed UIs, TOTALLY dissimilar interactions. Windows 8 isn't Windows Phone blown up. Windows Phone is more or less Windows 8 condensed down quite a bit.

I'm more for a similar UI design across different devices, not ONE UI across different devices. How the Xbox functions isn't like Windows 8, how Windows 8 functions isn't at all like Windows Phone.

No, but the idea is the same. MS is trying to make the windows experience the same across the board for people. I don't have an xbox, so I don't know how it goes with that. But seeing how google has already give into the one-UI-to-rule-them-all mentality like iOS, it looks like MS is doing the same thing with windows. And I suspect that most people will love this (I hate it btw).

It's similar, but Microsoft is taking a different route than google or apple. Those two are plastering a single OS and UI on two different devices, one of which is held in your hand the other held with two and sometimes with a keyboard as it is much larger in size.


This is the Xbox 360 Dashboard UI... By the way, the Xbox allows custom background images, something that Windows 8 REALLY should have.

This of course is the Windows 8....

And this is the Windows Phone 8.

Three disparate devices, three disparate interaction methods (Xbox through controller, remote control, or Xbox SmartGlass on a tablet or smartphone; Windows 8 through touch, mouse, speech, and keyboard; Windows Phone through touch and speech) and three similar but different user interfaces to take advantage of that device's intended use and form factor.

 

[mdmd]

So wait, you're explaining yourself to me? I already figured this out about you - what I was questioning was why you used a shortcut laden desktop image in response to me talking about tiles on the Start Screen that you hold so dear.

A desktop laden with shortcuts is precisely the same thing as a messed up start screen. That's why I emphasize unpinning. I am not arguing how ineffective the start screen can be or how stupid people are. I am suggesting what to do to make it work.

The critics of 8 always get personal and attack the opposition with suppositions that are irrelevant. How is this anything about me or my preference or how I work? The naysayers believe that they have a superior point of view. I only make statements based on experience and valued judgements of my own. The illustrations I have given have a specific relationship to the typical use scenarios that many have chosen. The denegration of personalities is not acceptable. Making a reasonable assessment of use patterns is what I have tried to illustrate. Bullies are not welcome. Emotional outbursts are unproductive. How Windows 8 is designed cannot be justified to naysayers. The entirety of its motivations is suspect. The attributes of satisfaction do not exist with naysayers. It is always about negativity and criticism. Even responses to this post will be plagued with belittlement. The naysayers are always seeking to find flaws, always seek to crush what is good or liked by others. From what I have seen as evidence, the naysayers cannot seem to just find easy ways to function, but rather seek to always find the worst. That type of analysis is not in my dna. I like to learn how to function with new tech and I do not complain about the technology. Mostly it is with people, and how they function, that is the problem.

I don't care about added tiles or an imperfect Operating System. I learn, I grow, I use what is available. I don't care what version of Windows is current, I use what works for me and I will not make inferences about the status of the general public. Stating that the common user is basically incapable of learning to effectively make use of the Operating System is blatantly outrageous. Suggesting that Microsoft has to make everything in the eyes of the beholder perfect beyond reproach, is ridiculous. Stating that Microsoft owes you a start menu is comical. That is a joke. You paid $50 bucks or maybe $15 for Windows 8. How much loyalty is that worth?

I am fairly certain that there will be readers of this that will be unable to comprehend the meaning or content, but rather respond with vulgarity or retribution.

Windows 8 will be upgraded. I look forward to Windows 9.

 

[turbofish]

And yet your comments and condescending pictures were insulting to those who don't agree with you...

 

[mdmd]

And yet your comments and condescending pictures were insulting to those who don't agree with you...

I am fairly certain that there will be readers of this that will be unable to comprehend the meaning or content, but rather respond with vulgarity or retribution.

 

[symbiont]

So wait, you're explaining yourself to me? I already figured this out about you - what I was questioning was why you used a shortcut laden desktop image in response to me talking about tiles on the Start Screen that you hold so dear.

A desktop laden with shortcuts is precisely the same thing as a messed up start screen. That's why I emphasize unpinning. I am not arguing how ineffective the start screen can be or how stupid people are. I am suggesting what to do to make it work.

The critics of 8 always get personal and attack the opposition with suppositions that are irrelevant. How is this anything about me or my preference or how I work? The naysayers believe that they have a superior point of view. I only make statements based on experience and valued judgements of my own. The illustrations I have given have a specific relationship to the typical use scenarios that many have chosen. The denegration of personalities is not acceptable. Making a reasonable assessment of use patterns is what I have tried to illustrate. Bullies are not welcome. Emotional outbursts are unproductive. How Windows 8 is designed cannot be justified to naysayers. The entirety of its motivations is suspect. The attributes of satisfaction do not exist with naysayers. It is always about negativity and criticism. Even responses to this post will be plagued with belittlement. The naysayers are always seeking to find flaws, always seek to crush what is good or liked by others. From what I have seen as evidence, the naysayers cannot seem to just find easy ways to function, but rather seek to always find the worst. That type of analysis is not in my dna. I like to learn how to function with new tech and I do not complain about the technology. Mostly it is with people, and how they function, that is the problem.

I don't care about added tiles or an imperfect Operating System. I learn, I grow, I use what is available. I don't care what version of Windows is current, I use what works for me and I will not make inferences about the status of the general public. Stating that the common user is basically incapable of learning to effectively make use of the Operating System is blatantly outrageous. Suggesting that Microsoft has to make everything in the eyes of the beholder perfect beyond reproach, is ridiculous. Stating that Microsoft owes you a start menu is comical. That is a joke. You paid $50 bucks or maybe $15 for Windows 8. How much loyalty is that worth?

I am fairly certain that there will be readers of this that will be unable to comprehend the meaning or content, but rather respond with vulgarity or retribution.

Windows 8 will be upgraded. I look forward to Windows 9.

View attachment 20821

The hypocrisy in this post is astounding, after all - you're the one that posted a PEBKAC cartoon right? I did none of the things you're talking about, I merely talked about what they could do to help the flood of icons on the Start Screen. Blasphemy for suggesting a "multi unpin" feature. Those icons are the desktop in that screenshot were not automatically created by the OS - they were created by the user - as opposed to the multitude of ones created by Windows8. So your point in posting it is totally moot.

If you want to make blanket statements about the general naysayers - then don't quote people. I'm glad that you are satisfied and content with anything you buy no matter what condition it's in - you sir are the perfect customer for a lot of companies that take advantage of that.

 

[Coke Robot]

If you want to talk about imperfect OS's, Windows 95 took about 15 years to fully mature the start menu, Taskbar, and multipane window navigation.

 

[jimbo45]

^^ Because MS is following the foot step of apple because of apple's huge success in universalising the UI. If you haven't noticed, the newest android jellybean upgrade has also universalized the UI across devices. I hate it. I hate the fact that my android tablet looks like a giant phone. I've always hated the fact that my ipad always looked like a giant iphone, and now my android tablet looks like a giant android phone.

While I agree with you completely, somehow I don't think the majority of people agree with us there. Let's be honest with ourselves, most people are tech illiterate. The success of the iphone, ipod touch, and ipad pretty much proves that most people want the exact same UI across the board. If you go onto android forums, you will find only a few people being annoyed with the new android tablet UI. Everyone else loves the fact that their android tablets now look like giant android phones.

Hi there
Apple doesn't "Do OS'es for Servers" so the whole server UI thing is something else.

Besides would you really like to run a huge server Farm using a Mobile Phone UI.

Cheers
jimbo

 

[goodintentions]

^^ Because MS is following the foot step of apple because of apple's huge success in universalising the UI. If you haven't noticed, the newest android jellybean upgrade has also universalized the UI across devices. I hate it. I hate the fact that my android tablet looks like a giant phone. I've always hated the fact that my ipad always looked like a giant iphone, and now my android tablet looks like a giant android phone.

While I agree with you completely, somehow I don't think the majority of people agree with us there. Let's be honest with ourselves, most people are tech illiterate. The success of the iphone, ipod touch, and ipad pretty much proves that most people want the exact same UI across the board. If you go onto android forums, you will find only a few people being annoyed with the new android tablet UI. Everyone else loves the fact that their android tablets now look like giant android phones.

Hi there
Apple doesn't "Do OS'es for Servers" so the whole server UI thing is something else.

Besides would you really like to run a huge server Farm using a Mobile Phone UI.

Cheers
jimbo

You are absolutely right. But MS doesn't see it that way.

Try to think of it this way. When I have to explain to my clients, I have to use laymen's terms and dumb down a lot of the concepts not because my clients don't know any better but because I have no idea what they will understand and what they will not. I have to be careful, though, because people are easily offended and become defensive very easily. Personally, I don't know why. I don't know anything about medicine, so doctors can dumb down all they want to with me and treat me like an idiot. I don't care. I'm not going to pretend like I know squat about medicine. Or law. Or most other topics in life. So, I don't understand why people get offended when I don't know what they do and don't know about my topic of expertise.

Anyway, MS doesn't know who's going to work with their systems. Ever heard of the phrase the group is as fast as the slowest person? That's what happening. MS is assuming the worst to compensate for the slowest members. And that means universalizing the UI across everything.

Edit.

I run into the same problem with sci-fi topics. I have friends that are English teachers. We went to see the movie Source Code. Very cool if you're into scifi. My friends, a lesbian couple both english teachers, came out absolutely having no idea what happened in the movie. I then realized that most concepts in this movie requires a lot of prereqs in scifi themes.

To name a few: time travel, mind vs body, alternate reality, temporal mechanics (effect preceding cause), etc. are all scifi concepts that takes getting use to before understanding this movie. After unsuccessfully explaining the movie to them, I asked them if they knew what timeline was, and they both got really offended. I asked them to explain to me what they thought timeline was, and they both told me the history version of timeline. Sheese, I thought.

I just gave up and told them that's just not their kind of movie to watch.

Anyway, the point is I think it's tragic that MS is making the UI the same for everything, even servers. But I have a feeling in the grand scheme of things people will like it more that way. Remember that us geeks only make up a tiny portion of the population.