I'm running Windows 8 on my desktop, laptop and tablet. I also have Ubuntu 12.04 running on my machine at work and Mac 10.8 on my Macbook. Lots of computers... What I've realized is that there are things that I like and dislike about the desktop UI on each of these OSes and I wish one of them would put it all together. I think Windows 8 could pull it off in SP1.
Ubuntu: I couldn't bear Unity. I switched over to Gnome 3. It has the same "magic corners" as Windows 8, but uses them to much greater effect, IMO. The top left corner has a similar effect of letting you switch between windows, but where Windows 8 makes you hit the corner then move down a little and only shows the running metro apps, Gnome shows all your windows right when you hit the corner. Click the window you want to give it focus. I've found that I don't minimize windows anymore and I run them all full screen because switching is so natural. In comparison, I get lost in Windows 8 because there is no way to keep track of EVERY window at once unless you are on the Desktop and then it is still awkward.
Mac 10.8: I think it is interesting that 10.8 now features the LaunchPad on the dock. This is basically the same thing as the Windows 8 start screen except it is still a little bit transparent so you don't feel like you are in a different world when you click it. It just shows all the apps that you can launch and you can type to find things quickly. Same as the start screen on Windows 8 that everyone freaks out about. The other neat feature of 10.8 is the fullscreen button that every app now has. Click this and the app takes up the whole screen. No chrome. But if you DON'T want it to take up the whole screen, you can just click that button again and it goes back to being a regular Window.
Windows 8: I like all the improvements to Windows 8 core OS. It feels fast, optimized and powerful. Compared to other OSes that I use, its like a sportscar. It works perfectly with all my devices. Awesome. I don't mind the start screen. It makes sense to me for the start menu to take up the whole screen and I like it because I usually just start typing to search on the start screen and choose a search result. Still, I feel like the UI changes to Windows 8 are a little too disjointed. I think Microsoft can fix it very easily:
1. Borrow the top-left corner behavior from Gnome 3. Show me all my open Windows at once. Use the whole screen. Show desktop apps and metro apps on one screen and stay on that screen until I click (err, point at) one. This would be a huge win for people running desktop and wouldn't adversely affect people running on a tablet either. It would be so much nicer than having to flick through a deck of windows.
2. When hitting the start screen from the desktop do something so that it doesn't seem like you just entered another world. Apple handles this by making the LaunchPad background semi-transparent. I'm sure Microsoft can think of some way to reduce that jarring effect. Maybe everyone in Seattle is used to it, but it just breaks people's brains from what I've seen and I think that's the reason for most of the Metro hate.
3. For desktop apps, borrow the fullscreen, no-chrome button from Mac 10.8. Then even "legacy" desktop apps will look right at home full screen on Windows 8 with no window chrome.
Ubuntu: I couldn't bear Unity. I switched over to Gnome 3. It has the same "magic corners" as Windows 8, but uses them to much greater effect, IMO. The top left corner has a similar effect of letting you switch between windows, but where Windows 8 makes you hit the corner then move down a little and only shows the running metro apps, Gnome shows all your windows right when you hit the corner. Click the window you want to give it focus. I've found that I don't minimize windows anymore and I run them all full screen because switching is so natural. In comparison, I get lost in Windows 8 because there is no way to keep track of EVERY window at once unless you are on the Desktop and then it is still awkward.
Mac 10.8: I think it is interesting that 10.8 now features the LaunchPad on the dock. This is basically the same thing as the Windows 8 start screen except it is still a little bit transparent so you don't feel like you are in a different world when you click it. It just shows all the apps that you can launch and you can type to find things quickly. Same as the start screen on Windows 8 that everyone freaks out about. The other neat feature of 10.8 is the fullscreen button that every app now has. Click this and the app takes up the whole screen. No chrome. But if you DON'T want it to take up the whole screen, you can just click that button again and it goes back to being a regular Window.
Windows 8: I like all the improvements to Windows 8 core OS. It feels fast, optimized and powerful. Compared to other OSes that I use, its like a sportscar. It works perfectly with all my devices. Awesome. I don't mind the start screen. It makes sense to me for the start menu to take up the whole screen and I like it because I usually just start typing to search on the start screen and choose a search result. Still, I feel like the UI changes to Windows 8 are a little too disjointed. I think Microsoft can fix it very easily:
1. Borrow the top-left corner behavior from Gnome 3. Show me all my open Windows at once. Use the whole screen. Show desktop apps and metro apps on one screen and stay on that screen until I click (err, point at) one. This would be a huge win for people running desktop and wouldn't adversely affect people running on a tablet either. It would be so much nicer than having to flick through a deck of windows.
2. When hitting the start screen from the desktop do something so that it doesn't seem like you just entered another world. Apple handles this by making the LaunchPad background semi-transparent. I'm sure Microsoft can think of some way to reduce that jarring effect. Maybe everyone in Seattle is used to it, but it just breaks people's brains from what I've seen and I think that's the reason for most of the Metro hate.
3. For desktop apps, borrow the fullscreen, no-chrome button from Mac 10.8. Then even "legacy" desktop apps will look right at home full screen on Windows 8 with no window chrome.
My Computer
System One
-
- OS
- Windows 8
). The problem, I'm really have no faith that MS will address that problems!