Microsoft to shake-up Windows 8 Start screen

Microsoft to shake-up Windows 8 Start screen

Microsoft will make changes to the Windows 8 Start screen based on user feedback, according to a company executive.Speaking to PC Pro in London today, the company's general manager of platform strategy, Tim O'Brien, suggested next month's Windows 8 beta will make amendments to the divisive Start screen menu.The Windows 8 Start screen currently defaults to the new, tile-based Metro interface. More controversially, when users click on the Start button in the tradtional Windows desktop, they are immediately thrown back to the Metro screen.[FONT=Georgia, 'Times New Roman', Times, serif][/FONT]
O'Brien said Microsoft will react to the feedback received on the Building Windows 8 blog, which devoted a lengthy post to the Start screen in October last year. "Some of the changes you'll see on the Start screen are based on feedback from developers on that blog," O'Brien explained.

Windows chief Steven Sinofsky admitted on the blog last year that forcing Windows 8 users to run the touchscreen-oriented Metro - irrespective of whether they're using a tablet, laptop or desktop PC - had angered some early testers."We've seen some small amount of visceral feedback focused on 'choice' or 'disable' — a natural reaction to change, but perhaps not the best way to have a dialog leading to a new product," Sinofsky wrote.

Microsoft then spent the rest of the lengthy post justifying the decision to apply Metro by default, but promised modifications such as increasing the number of tiles displayed on larger screens, and a redesigned Apps screen that makes it easier to scan through long lists of installed apps.

O'Brien couldn't confirm what features will be tweaked ahead of the beta, which is due to be released at the end of next month.​

Full article Available here >> ​

Microsoft to shake-up Windows 8 Start screen | News | PC Pro

 

[Coke Robot]

I'm going to drop a bomb: I like the Start Screen and metro design. Other's may not...

:shock:

 

[ADRz]

I'm going to drop a bomb: I like the Start Screen and metro design. Other's may not...

:shock:

Well, it takes all kinds.....

 

[SmartEyeball]

Ultimately it doesn't matter whether we like Metro or not, it is here to stay in Win 8.


Just like the evolution of major UI changes throughout Windows history, we'll adapt regardless. And just like previous versions some of these changes will be beneficial whilst others will not.

Time and the masses will prove/disprove if Metro has more pros than cons or vice versa.

 

[pezzonovante]

Pezz, you don't know scouting, you don't know baseball as well as you think you do. Sorry. You simply do not have the knowledge you think you do, and you sure as hell have no wisdom about much in general. You don't know who I am or what I've written about baseball, and if you did I'm confident you wouldn't have unloaded that excrement on the screen.

You gloss over everyone's arguments here, doesn't matter the subject, you assume things me and others assume but don't, you demand reason and give none, you point to thinkers but do little of your own, you type in caps WAY TOO MUCH, you have a superiority complex. The latter would be bearable if you had some kind of clout in anything except being the classic, self-righteous, immature, internet dope. And you don't even stand out in that category. You're just like all the rest of them out there.

Your post is so full of irony -- doing almost the same things you (wrongly) accuse me of doing. I can point all of them one by one, but it's not worth it to a sad person like you.

However, I found this one too hard to resist:

you have a superiority complex

Wow, you should probably receive a national award on irony for this one!

I am not the one who thinks he knows more about Operating System design and usability than Microsoft.
I am not the one who dismisses thousands of hours of research done by some extremely qualified and intelligent people without doing any kind of similar research myself.
I am not the one who dismisses the decades of research done by prominent Sabermetricians like Bill James, Pete Palmer, Mitchell Lichtman, Tango Tiger -- because it changes how I WANT the game to be.
I am not the one who lies about my occupation to prove my point.

To the contrary, I am always prepared to accept SCIENTIFIC and LOGICAL research done by experts on their respective fields.

You're just like all the rest of them out there.

Of course I am. I am proud to be amongst the majority of the people in the world -- who are logical, willing to accept evidence-based ideas and not afraid of change just because it messed up their own closed-minded view of the universe.

I'm also relieved that illogical, closed-minded, old-fashioned people like you are the minority. Otherwise, we would still be stuck in the dark ages, and the world would be a sad sad place to live in.

 

[Kriswithak]

Well I guess it's a cluster bomb,as I also have no problem with metro

 

[Colonel Travis]

I am not the one who thinks he knows more about Operating System design and usability than Microsoft.

When did I say I did? When did I hint at it? Point it out. If you supply the theory, supply the evidence, you lover of rational thought, you. Live up to your own standards. Is that too unfair? Can you dish it out but not take it? I'll save you some time. I've never said that because I've never thought it. You live in a fantasy world. When you can't argue a point with reason you have to make up stuff about what your opponent says and put yourself on your superiority complex pedestal.

I am not the one who dismisses thousands of hours of research done by some extremely qualified and intelligent people without doing any kind of similar research myself.

Again, where did I do this? Point it out. Don't make it up - use evidence (<-----this) to back up what you say. I've never disputed any research by anyone. I'll tell you what I have done, which obviously short circuits your brain because it's too weak to comprehend the difference: Instead of dismissing Fitts's law, for example, I've said I don't prefer big boxes on my computer screen. That's it. You like big colored boxes? Great. A shiny trophy is in the mail for you that says - BIGGEST BIG COLORED BOXES LOVER IN THE WORLD! I had it done all in caps since you also love caps. I should send you a CAPS LOVER trophy, too. I don't like the big colored boxes. I don't even like the little colored boxes. I think that's about all the research I need to do in that department. Would you love Metro less if you didn't have "thousands of hours of research done by some extremely qualified and intelligent people" to buttress your opinion? Are you that uncertain of your own likes and dislikes, your own computer behavior? Do you really need 100 gazillion words by scientists to prove you, yourself, that big colored boxes is the way to go?

I am not the one who dismisses the decades of research done by prominent Sabermetricians like Bill James, Pete Palmer, Mitchell Lichtman, Tango Tiger -- because it changes how I WANT the game to be.

Where the hell did I do this? Where? This is laughable. I am LOL!, Pezz. You understand LOL, right? I've made a note to send you a LOL trophy.


Oh, lookee here - right beside my computer on the shelf is my first Bill James abstract book, which got in 1987, which means I've been reading about this stuff probably, based on the sophistication level of your writing, longer than you've been able to read, period. Let me take a photo for you:

I am not the one who lies about my occupation to prove my point.

Ah, the liar card. Let's examine this one. This is a good one. Here you say I'm a liar because only someone who covered baseball for a living would "would know how dumbass those scouts really are." Garbled English aside, this comes before you say I'm "probably a big admirer of clowns like Murray Chass and Joe Morgan." Er, wait. Don't they cover baseball for a living? And they're the clowns who don't "know how dumbass those scouts really are." So, what is it, Pezz. Did I lie because I covered baseball for a living? Or did I lie because I covered baseball for a living?

 

[ADRz]

Ultimately it doesn't matter whether we like Metro or not, it is here to stay in Win 8.


Just like the evolution of major UI changes throughout Windows history, we'll adapt regardless. And just like previous versions some of these changes will be beneficial whilst others will not.

Time and the masses will prove/disprove if Metro has more pros than cons or vice versa.

Of course. It is up to consumers now to decide with their wallets. However, Microsoft would likely lose big in the enterprise. There is no need for a mobile OS there. Most enterprise customers will continue with Win7. Most existing users will continue with Win7 and would not upgrade. It remains to be seen if consumers like the Win8 tablets more than others. My guess is that what happened in the phones, will happen in the tablets. Win8 tablets will remain peripheral, overwhelmed in numbers by the iPad and various versions of Android (especially the Amazon and B&N offerings). With OEMs paying $50-80 per Win8 license, it is unlikely that these tablets will be as competitive as Android ones and their ecosystem would be primitive in comparison to that of established players.

 

[pezzonovante]

When did I say I did? When did I hint at it? Point it out.

Again, where did I do this? Point it out. Don't make it up - use evidence

You most clearly dismissed Microsoft's research on the Start Screen vs Start Menu productivity and usability. No, for the millionth time, I am NOT talking about having to love BIG COLORED BOXES. I am talking about number of mouse clicks, number of steps, distance travelled by mouse, number of key presses and so on. Despite Microsoft proving through their research that the old Start Menu and Taskbar model was highly inferior to the new Metro Start Screen, you claimed you knew more about your OWN usability than they knew about YOUR usability.

Yes, I dropped the bomb, "Colonel". Microsoft knows more about YOUR and MY productivity than YOU and I do. Just like doctors know more about OUR bodies than WE do. Microsoft can't make us LOVE the BIG COLORED BOXES -- but they do know that if we used Metro, we would be more productive than we previously were.

And no. Despite my repeated calls for showing ONE evidence of Metro Start Screen reducing productivity, you couldn't come up with one.

You ASSUMED you knew more about usability than Microsoft did without doing any research yourself. Worse still, you don't think you DO NOT need to do research to discover what is good for YOU.

That's EXACTLY what those dumbass old-fashioned scouts do. They ASSUME they know more about how to win baseball games, than those Sabermetricians who hack away in their mothers' basements. They assume this without ever doing any research on this -- just like you.

You and they are the people who suffer from superiority complex. You are the ones who are self-righteous. Not people like me.

That was the point of my post. And your subsequent reply just reaffirmed my point.

Did I lie because I covered baseball for a living? Or did I lie because I covered baseball for a living?

After seeing you assuming so many things about me and the universe, and reading so many lies from you, I couldn't resist making this assumption about you.

 

[Mike Lonewolf]

Hey Colonel Travis? How many megapixels is the digital camera you shot that with?

 

[Vertex]

Hey Colonel Travis? How many megapixels is the digital camera you shot that with?

Its not a high resolution camera to me. Its possible it was taken by a cellphone camera or was shrinked from its original size.

 

[Colonel Travis]

Hey Colonel Travis? How many megapixels is the digital camera you shot that with?

It's a crappy P&S Nikon 5600, about 7 years old. I believe it's 5 MP, but the lenses on these kinds of cameras are so tiny the resolution doesn't matter in a lot of shots.

 

[Colonel Travis]

Microsoft knows more about YOUR and MY productivity than YOU and I do.

My favorite sentence.

 

[lehnerus2000]

Distorted Telemetry

Sinofsky is distorting the telemetry to justify his position (i.e. he is being deliberately misleading, or he's an idiot).
This is exactly what happened with the "Ribbon".

What the telemetry actually proves is:

• MS is unable to explain the operation of their products.
• The included "Help" files aren't helpful.

The existence of numerous sites like SevenForum, shows this.

It's exactly the same behaviour that the Pharmaceutical Industry engages in.
They test their own drugs, collect the results and then release the results that "prove" their new "wonder" drug works.
Any results that dispute those findings are mysteriously lost/shredded.

Survey results can easily be distorted.

Sir Humphrey Appleby: [demonstrating how public surveys can reach opposite conclusions] Mr. Woolley, are you worried about the rise in crime among teenagers?
Bernard Woolley: Yes.
Sir Humphrey Appleby: Do you think there is lack of discipline and vigorous training in our Comprehensive Schools?
Bernard Woolley: Yes.
Sir Humphrey Appleby: Do you think young people welcome some structure and leadership in their lives?
Bernard Woolley: Yes.
Sir Humphrey Appleby: Do they respond to a challenge?
Bernard Woolley: Yes.
Sir Humphrey Appleby: Might you be in favour of reintroducing National Service?
Bernard Woolley: Er, I might be.
Sir Humphrey Appleby: Yes or no?
Bernard Woolley: Yes.
Sir Humphrey Appleby: Of course, after all you've said you can't say no to that. On the other hand, the surveys can reach opposite conclusions.
[survey two]
Sir Humphrey Appleby: Mr. Woolley, are you worried about the danger of war?
Bernard Woolley: Yes.
Sir Humphrey Appleby: Are you unhappy about the growth of armaments?
Bernard Woolley: Yes.
Sir Humphrey Appleby: Do you think there's a danger in giving young people guns and teaching them how to kill?
Bernard Woolley: Yes.
Sir Humphrey Appleby: Do you think it's wrong to force people to take arms against their will?
Bernard Woolley: Yes.
Sir Humphrey Appleby: Would you oppose the reintroduction of conscription?
Bernard Woolley: Yes.
[does a double-take]
Sir Humphrey Appleby: There you are, Bernard. The perfectly balanced sample.

IMDB
"Yes, Prime Minister - The Ministerial Broadcast" (1986)
"Yes, Prime Minister" The Ministerial Broadcast (1986) - Memorable quotes