Why Windows 8 needs to keep the desktop

[KarterJK]

Having several tablets, laptops and desktops using windows 8... I have come to the conclusion that keeping the desktop alive is essential to Windows success. It is all nice and fine to use a few apps on my tablet, but what is even more important, is that I can sit down (attach a larger screen if I want) and use all of my powerful desktop applications.

Doing serious work when in a touch environment is just too difficult, you need things like the mouse, keyboard or even a pen to really be productive. While Windows 8 touch is cute, it is not productive, BUT having both tools on one machine (as a tablet is invaluable and extremely productive).

So, before everyone gets cut happy and starts stripping Windows core functions, ask yourselves, what really makes sense?

Lets start work on the next OS total voice control

Just an opinion

 

[Daf22]

I agree in principal that windows 8 needs to keep the desktop but I think long term windows will become metro centric.

I think touch will replace the mouse in time. I don't think voice control is really the way forward; could you imagine it in an open plan office everyone shouting at their machines?

 

[KarterJK]

LOL, yeah I guess you are right, voice is not a viable option

 

[dirtyvu]

I agree in principal that windows 8 needs to keep the desktop but I think long term windows will become metro centric.

I think touch will replace the mouse in time. I don't think voice control is really the way forward; could you imagine it in an open plan office everyone shouting at their machines?

if they use something like the new Kinect, it's not an issue. the mics are directional and the Kinect will only respond to the person that is directly engaged. so if someone tries to troll and yells out, "Xbox, pause movie" it will not respond to that person.

 

[Mystere]

Voice control is not as impractical as one might think. The reason is that if it becomes truly that ubiquitous then companies will invest in sound dampening, noise cancelation, and other technologies that allow workers to scream at their computers if they want without bugging the person next door. All that technology can be done today, it's just expensive, and there's no impetus to use it. I'm not saying that voice control WILL happen, or that any of this will.. I'm just saying that if they really wanted to, there are ways to solve those problems.

There are also new technologies, like the Leap Motion - https://www.leapmotion.com/ that you can control your mouse pointer by waving your hands in the air rather than actually touching them. You can also use an object like a pencil to draw without actually touching the screen. I actually have two of those on pre-order and they're scheduled to be delivered this month.

I don't think anyone can accurately predict where things are going, but one thing is for sure.. people want alternatives to mice and keyboards. They want portable devices. They want to be able to better control their systems in more natural ways. Yes, keyboards and mice will be around for a very long time as they are very useful for specific tasks, but they don't work well for all tasks.

The desktop as it is today will go away, but Metro is still evolving. You can easily say you don't want the Metro of today to replace the desktop, but that won't be what replaces it. It will be an evolved version of it. One that learns from its mistakes and improves. Just like the mouse and keyboard both had issues in their early days. Windows was terrible in its early days. Mass storage was terrible in its early days... stuff evolves and gets better.

What if people had said "These mouse things suck, and nobody will use them" (actually many people did say that, and they were wrong).

The fact is, you can't look at Windows 8 or 8.1 today and make judgments about what Windows will be like in the future. This is only one step on that path.