We put a little thought into this week’s Apple event and its likely launch of the iPad 3. We discover that Microsoft Flight is going free-to-play. We talk about Microsoft’s push for Win-phone Skype compatibility. We discuss AT&T’s latest wireless data bandwidth fiasco. And we think about HBO’s future with the XBox.
There was some talk about Windows 8 on this podcast, so I thought I’d throw my 2 cents in after having played with the developer’s preview a couple of weeks ago at a conference. (I helped discover a bug, woot!)
First, I think that the Metro UI is going to cause a lot of problems with people’s mental models of how windows is supposed to work. As I’m sure most of you know, the “Home screen” (I don’t know what they are actually calling it…) is similar to that of windows 7 mobile with the tiles. And the Metro apps run full screen in HTML5 (or another language that I can’t recall). One of my biggest concerns about the Metro apps is that they are SO hard to switch between. To switch between full screen Metro apps, you swipe from left to right from off the screen to on the screen (think of accessing the notification center in iOS, but the gesture is from left to right) to access the next app, and you continue to do that until you reach the app you want (similar to iPad’s switching between apps with the multi-touch gesture). There is NO other way to access open apps except to go back to the home screen and reopen. There is NO way to see all of your currently open apps at once. I spoke with the Microsoft person extensively about this. Also, there is no way for you to CHOOSE to exit/quit/stop a Metro app. Apparently, the OS just recognizes when it is running out of resources and then starts closing the Metro apps you haven’t used in a while…?
Now, the best part about it is that it DOES have the option to run like people expect windows to run. You can access the desktop we are all too familiar with, and those proprietary apps (Office, Visual Studio, Matlab, Photoshop, etc…) that most of us use are all opened in that environment. But as far as I know, clicking the “Start” button, just takes you right back to the the Metro/tiled “Home screen”.
Lastly, I’m not positive how well this UI is going to transfer to a desktop setting with keyboard and mouse. The product I demoed was a tablet (and I must say, it was a beauty–it was a Samsung, but I don’t remember the model), but all I could think about was that the Metro style UI was designed for tablets. Transferring that UI to a keyboard and mouse style interaction doesn’t make sense. In general, the tiles are so large because people have big fingers and bigger targets=better accuracy. But, with a mouse, we are pretty accurate with smaller targets. It seems like a lot more work to move a mouse (in the mouse equivalent of a swipe gesture way) to scroll through the “Home screen” apps than it is with touch interaction. (Also, in general, I just think the tiles are a waste of space. In current versions of Windows, it’s very easy to access a program I want without mousing very far…but with the tiled apps, that’s going to change drastically.)
I think it could be a good thing for casual users like my parents. They generally just surf the web and don’t use any proprietary software really. So, they could just get a slate-like tablet and use it on the couch while watching tv (and maybe get a docking station that will allow them to use it like a normal laptop if they so choose). But, for heavy tech users like me…I just don’t think it will translate well. I want to be able to access my apps quickly…and I’m not sure the Metro “Home screen” will provide me with that opportunity. I want fast switching between apps, which I also believe Win8 may be lacking.
I’m really concerned with how this will translate to business users. You guys mentioned on the podcast how most businesses haven’t even upgraded from XP. I feel like the Metro style UI is something completely unnecessary in that sense. So, I wonder if they will offer a stripped version for business?
That was my ramble about my 1-2 hour experience with windows 8.
Also, in regards to Netflix producing their own shows, Hulu has a few original series they have out right now.