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Zeichick’s Take: With Windows 8, one size must fit all



Alan Zeichick
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October 26, 2012 —  (Page 1 of 2)
It is too early to praise Windows 8. It’s also too early to pan it. But it’s never too early to have an opinion. Mine is, “The one-size-fits-all UX paradigm doesn’t scale.”

I’m a fan of the mobile Metro user experience—excuse me, the Windows Store app user experience. Since its release with Windows Phone 7, the new user interface paradigm has been outstanding on phones and tablets. Live Tiles represent a genuine breakthrough. Microsoft has demonstrated through the original Zune music player software design, the Xbox Kinect, and now with Live Tiles, true creativity that rivals anything from Apple or Google.

The idea behind the Metro—ahem—Windows Store apps is, and let me selectively quote from Microsoft’s documentation:

Apps have one window that supports multiple views. Unlike traditional desktop apps, a Windows Store app has a single, chromeless window that fills the entire screen by default, so there are no distractions.

On a phone or a tablet, that is perfect, as the tiny amount of screen real estate lends itself to full-screen apps. Not only that, but given the environment where phone or tablet apps are being run, the user is probably focused on a specific task: I want to check my calendar. I want to send a text message. I want to update Facebook. I want to get driving directions. I want to answer a phone call. I want to play Angry Birds for a few minutes. I want to update my to-do list. I want to read “Fifty Shades of Grey” with a glass of wine.

This is a different use case than when a worker is sitting in front of a desktop computer for eight hours, or when a laptop is connected to a 27-inch monitor while the college student does her homework.

The Metro... err, Windows Store app design does not lend itself to immersive multitasking uses of the computer as a workstation. In my (admittedly limited) experience, it is not designed to help the user efficiently multitask without requiring context switching.



Related Search Term(s): Microsoft, Windows 8

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Comments


10/27/2012 04:19:04 PM EST

I'm a computer expert who has been using Windows 8 since March and I completely disagree that it's clunky on a desktop environment. I have dual monitors and manage servers and workstations for a living. I'm in and out of email, websites and remote sessions constantly. I can easily do everything I used to do without even realizing a "modern" interface exists. All of my main links are in the taskbar like they were in windows 7 (where I first stopped using the start menu) and the only time I really go to the start area of the screen is when I need to get to an admin tool at which point I right click in the start corner. This experience is actually far more fluid than previous versions of windows. As an admin with 10+ years of experience I find windows 8 to be quite efficient. And if I want to browse some customized news or play with some apps the modern interface works for that. Modern isn't there to change the life of business folks at this point. It's there to make the business software also amazing for home users. Microsoft nailed it with this software. If Microsoft replaced the start screen for business users with a simple "all programs" button you'd be fine and wouldn't have much to complain about. It's essentially the same thing only with super powerful gadgets that run on it instead of the desktop.

United StatesGlitch177k


10/29/2012 02:52:36 PM EST

In my own focus group of one experiment, I am frequently referencing source material while I edit a document. My current environment involves 4 editor windows, a few command windows and a couple of tablets. I may edit four documents at once as I declare, define and use each new function while referencing one or more data sheets. I could not do all of that very efficiently if I had to swipe-swipe-swipe to the next document. The creative process is somewhat chaotic which does not lend itself to the neat and highly structured one-app-at-a-time environment. My work is all about efficient multitasking. But, I appreciate having one app at a time on my tablet because getting interrupted while reading news or playing Agree Birds is really annoying. One size fits all definitely does not fit me.

United StatesBrian


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