What I think Windows 8 should look like...

Xydin

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Well, I've been playing around Windows 8 for a while now and feel it is a pretty solid operating system, but it really seems they are trying to push Metro on the user. This creates the annoyance of having to switch back and forth between the old desktop and Metro constantly, for me at least.

So, why not do this: What I think Windows 8 should look like. - Imgur

I think this would allow Microsoft to get rid of the old desktop and push forward with Metro, and in my opinion it would be a lot more convenient for the user.

What do you guys think?
 

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The world is not ready to live without "desktop" yet, but I like Windows 8.
 

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You are on to something! I am not sure that is the right approach but I think that it would benefit MS to come up with some type of hybrid approach. They went from making tablets use a desktop interface to making desktops use a tablet interface. I would think with all the talent in Redmond they could have made something to appease both paradigms without such an amateur feel. Parts of Metro to me seem like completely non-planned patch jobs just to make it work. There is 0 refinement. Newbies/Old people are going to lose their mind trying to understand the difference between full-screen apps (which many are default like IE and media player) and desktop applications.
 

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Personally I would have preferred that Metro apps, live tiles and start screen were more lovingly worked into the desktop on a desktop machine.

However, your mockup and the idea that metro (at least on the desktop) /worked/ a bit more like a desktop with the ability to rearrange and resize live tiles and apps anywhere on screen (and mix in old style apps on the metro "desktop" as well) would be definately be preferrable to the metro were getting :(
 

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That is quite funny.

Earler build of starmenu7 put the start orb at bottom left of Metro screen as well as at bootom left of desktop.

It was by accident, but it amused me.
 

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I don't think it functionally works after a while, it's like having a start menu and TWO Desktop like environments. I would think it would cause a further confusion to the general consumer seeing that.

Good concept though.
 

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In my scenario, there would not be two desktop environments. Heck we have two completely different environments welded together in shop class as it is. It's like using two OSes at the same time, even after a couple months of playing with it, it still jarrs me greatly.

What would have been great is to have ONE environment that would have worked a lot better on a desktop machine. Like the OP suggesting would be more like a super charged metro that had a LOT more customisation and flexibility for multi app desktop users and then a more limited version for tablets and phones.
 

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I don't know, it kind of struck me as Windows 8 with training wheels. :p Get used to the Start Screen take off the start menu, made me laugh.... :)
 

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Or is it the other way around....
 

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It's interesting to see everyones thoughts on this.

What I was thinking was that something like this would provide a simplified yet functional and strong desktop experience. As it is now, the separate Metro/Desktop interfaces feel sloppy and tacked on. It's nice to have the normal desktop there, but it is really cumbersome to have to switch back and forth between Metro and Desktop constantly.

Due to the direction Microsoft has taken with the Desktop, and it's current implementation, it wouldn't be needed at all if they gave Metro some sort of task bar and allowed you to open regular windowed apps there as well. Of course I'd imagine they would make it flow a bit more with Metro, rather than just slap on the Windows 7 task bar like I did.

It would come down to being a "normal" desktop experience and you would have your usual control over the desktop, but instead of desktop icons you would pin your programs/folders Metro style, and have access to the Metro apps/widgets.
 
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Yep, that's why Windows 8 is called Windows Reimagined. The traditional Taskbar has been split onto the left and right sides of the screen while the traditional Desktop has morphed into the Start Screen. If the apps could window, which I have a feeling in the future they might, that will signal the end of the traditional Desktop interface, but this is far, far, from now.
 

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Yep, that's why Windows 8 is called Windows Reimagined. The traditional Taskbar has been split onto the left and right sides of the screen while the traditional Desktop has morphed into the Start Screen. If the apps could window, which I have a feeling in the future they might, that will signal the end of the traditional Desktop interface, but this is far, far, from now.

If windows had been truly "reimagined" it would be more like what the OP and I were describing. Windows has not been reimagined, it's had a cheap tail fin and plastic air scoop bolted onto it in an ungainly way. :/
 

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No sorry. I don't like the Metro screen on the same place as my Desktop. I mean, it could now cover my wallpaper and I could accidentally click on an app and have it running when I don't want to when I tap into the Desktop that I am used to as mostly free space.
 

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I do like Windows 8 and metro but I dont understand why they didn't include the start button on the desktop along with the metro UI.
 

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I do like Windows 8 and metro but I dont understand why they didn't include the start button on the desktop along with the metro UI.
Because if they did leave the desktop with a start button the majority of users would never use metro and MS couldn't push its tablet agenda forward.
 

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I do like Windows 8 and metro but I dont understand why they didn't include the start button on the desktop along with the metro UI.

It's a purity of vision thing. If they kept the Start Button, no one would use Metro, and they would not achieve their foolish consistency with mobile devices. The only reason Metro exists on the desktop is to achieve that foolish consistency, which gets Microsoft into the app business for everything you do on your PC. As with Zune, there will be a few enthusiastic early adopters, but it is going to be a massive failure on the PC and probably in the mobile space as well. People will see how badly it sucks on the PC, and the bad rep will stink up the mobile space. Windows 8 will come to represent a lost half-decade or more for Microsoft. There is no reason to upgrade from Windows 7 for the vast majority of people and endless reasons to stay put.
 

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I do like Windows 8 and metro but I dont understand why they didn't include the start button on the desktop along with the metro UI.

It's a purity of vision thing. If they kept the Start Button, no one would use Metro, and they would not achieve their foolish consistency with mobile devices. The only reason Metro exists on the desktop is to achieve that foolish consistency, which gets Microsoft into the app business for everything you do on your PC. As with Zune, there will be a few enthusiastic early adopters, but it is going to be a massive failure on the PC and probably in the mobile space as well. People will see how badly it sucks on the PC, and the bad rep will stink up the mobile space. Windows 8 will come to represent a lost half-decade or more for Microsoft. There is no reason to upgrade from Windows 7 for the vast majority of people and endless reasons to stay put.

It's also a design issue because when a metro app is snapped on the left of the Desktop, the Start button on the Desktop gets pushed over 1/3 on the screen, resulting in it being in a non-traditional place. If that's going to happen, might as well move it. That's what happened. The Start tile on the Taskbar is there, but the new Start button actually just got moved to the right hand side of the screen, no one ever removed from Windows 8.
 

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Yep, that's why Windows 8 is called Windows Reimagined. The traditional Taskbar has been split onto the left and right sides of the screen while the traditional Desktop has morphed into the Start Screen. If the apps could window, which I have a feeling in the future they might, that will signal the end of the traditional Desktop interface, but this is far, far, from now.

If windows had been truly "reimagined" it would be more like what the OP and I were describing. Windows has not been reimagined, it's had a cheap tail fin and plastic air scoop bolted onto it in an ungainly way. :/

If Windows 8 was as the post suggests, it would really just be a plastic air scoop and a cheap tail pin pinned and gummed onto it. I don't know, keeping the UI the exact same with one change doesn't seem really reinvented...
 

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To me, the technology preview and the current pre-release version indicate a software that is still in beta. I think it is logical that things could change and become more polished before the official release date, the first service pack and the arrival of the Server version.
 

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