Hardware 2.0

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

Windows 8 design flaws Microsoft MUST address

By Adrian Kingsley-Hughes | September 22, 2011, 7:15am PDT

Summary: Microsoft has a long way to go to make Windows 8 work on desktops and tablets.

I’ve been using the Windows 8 developer preview now for long enough to come across a number of design flaws that MUST be addressed for the OS to be usable on desktops, notebooks and tablets.

Note: I know that this is a developer preview, and not a beta or release candidate, and that nothing is fixed in stone, but if we don’t make a noise now, it might be too late by the time we get to the beta stage.

#1 - Metro multitasking = two apps

Right now, I’m working with six different applications. When it comes to Metro apps on Windows 8, multitasking means having two apps on the screen side-by-side. That’s it. For the causal user, that might be fine, but for power users, Metro offers little more than a LeapFrog ‘My First Computer‘ experience.

The limit of having two app on screen at any one time is crazy and needs a total rethink.

#2 - Mishmash of Metro UI and Aero UI

I find the fact that I’m continually switching between the tile-based Metro UI and the glassy Aero UI at best jarring, and at worse illogical and confusing. Switching between Metro apps and traditional applications is particularly painful, and the idea of trying to do any real work that way doesn’t fill me with joy.

At present, the Metro UI is thin veneer over the classic UI. A good example is Control Panel. One minute you’re seeing a Metro UI, but a single click is all it takes to kick you into the classic UI. Metro UI is a veneer that doesn’t work for either desktop or tablet users.

There needs to be a total reworking of Windows to allow two separate UIs, because this current situation is laughable.

#3 - Metro is nothing more than a gimmick on the desktop and needs a kill switch

While Metro makes some sense on tablets (it makes sense if you’re not in the market for a Windows tablet to get legacy support and a familiar environment), I can’t come up with a single good reason for this UI to be on desktops, and it’s hard to make a case for it on notebooks. I don’t see touch-based computing becoming mainstream on the desktop, and I don’t see Microsoft shoving the Metro UI down people’s throats changing this.

With this in mind, it makes no sense - none at all - for Windows 8 to boot into the Metro UI by default. I’ve gone to the point where I just see it as a secondary log-on screen that I have to get out of the way if I’m to get any real work done.

In other words - Metro UI needs an official kill switch.

Note: Check out my ZDNet blogging buddy James Kendrick’s thoughts on Windows 8 on a tablet.

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Flaw, Microsoft Corp., Microsoft Windows 8, Microsoft Windows, Operating Systems, Software, Adrian Kingsley-Hughes

Adrian Kingsley-Hughes is an internationally published technology author who has devoted over a decade to helping users get the most from technology.

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kill metro?

jmeinhart 1st May

you are clearly no Steve Wozniak!

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RE: Windows 8 design flaws Microsoft MUST address

BillDem 22nd Sep

For once, I agree with all of your points, particularly the Metro kill switch. Metro is obviously NOT a desktop UI. It's fine on tablets, but gets in the way on desktops.

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RE: Windows 8 design flaws Microsoft MUST address

alexdan2 22nd Sep

@BillDem Get six pack Abs

I???m busy and can???t spend 60 minutes a day with exercises.
Truth About Six Pack Abs does not require this.
30-45 minutes workouts 2-3 times a week should do the trick

go here : goo . gl /YR85Z

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The sad thing about these spam posts?

toddybottom 22nd Sep

@alexdan2
They are more relevant than AKH's blog.

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RE: Windows 8 design flaws Microsoft MUST address

alexdan2 22nd Sep

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RE: Windows 8 design flaws Microsoft MUST address

hkommedal 22nd Sep

@alexdan2
GET LOST !

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@alexdan2 .. all that gym work obviously

thx-1138_@... Updated - 23rd Sep

.. never helped with your mental ineptitude.

But I'm guessing it's nothing an electric drill to the side of your head and a small packet of peanuts couldn't fix.

.. oh, in case you're curious, the peanuts will help replace that empty gap between your ears .. hey, look on the bright side, they may even push your current IQ into positive integer territory!

go here (for definitions of: ineptitude, IQ, positive integer .. an .. to .. of .. the .. on): google.com

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RE: Windows 8 design flaws Microsoft MUST address

alexdan2 22nd Sep

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RE: Windows 8 design flaws Microsoft MUST address

hkommedal 22nd Sep

@alexdan2
Get OUT of here !

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RE: Windows 8 design flaws Microsoft MUST address

chris3145 22nd Sep

@BillDem
Robots of the world assume you don't have six pack abs, but you want them enough to work 90 minutes per week for them (not much more than that though).

Also, Metro needs a killswitch. This desktop mode without a start button hardly seems like a desktop mode. Maybe Metro could be accessed by a shortcut, as if it were a program running within desktop mode.
In fact, I hate this use of Metro where the traditional desktop environment is relegated to one program within metro. However, if Metro felt like one program running within the traditional desktop environment, Windows 8 would be a lot easier to swallow.

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RE: Windows 8 design flaws Microsoft MUST address

TsarNikky 22nd Sep

@chris3145
Microsoft could use a Control Panel element for the user to select the UI to invoke on boot up--Metro or traditional desktop.

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RE: Windows 8 design flaws Microsoft MUST address

belli_bettens@... 23rd Sep

@chris3145 I agree that Metro doesn't make sense for desktops. But MS would never simply turn it into an application, they learned to not doing that from Windows Media Center Edition: nobody ever uses it.

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RE: Windows 8 design flaws Microsoft MUST address

crogs Updated - 23rd Sep

Metro makes sense to be default on a touchscreen device. It wouldn't be difficult to just give the user a boot up choice in the control panel.

And I don't think the sky is falling. The article seems a bit dramatic on something that is just a developer preview. Like Windows 8 would only allow 2 app multitasking. Oh no!! Quick, gotta nip this one in the bud. Please.

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RE: Windows 8 design flaws Microsoft MUST address

Max Peck 27th Sep

@chris3145,

I agree. I've been using the DEV preview myself for a few days and that's the feeling I get. The desktop is being presented as a "program" to run from Metro. It really ought to be the other way around. Metro ought to be a "mode" of Windows, not the main entry point.

I can tell you for sure that if I ever consider developing to Metro myself, the front-end is not going to be Metro first, desktop as an afterthought. The jury is out on this one as far as I'm concerned.

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RE: Windows 8 design flaws Microsoft MUST address

scH4MMER 22nd Sep

@BillDem - unfortunately, the Metro kill switch would kill Metro. It's probably going to remain a requirement so that the future of Windows doesn't ricochet back to the old useless desktop.

Personally, I'm looking forward to having a rich desktop, and having a tablet OS that doesn't force me to also pack my laptop on trips. I was pleasantly surprised to see how much effort they put into keeping the mouse+keyboard support as full-featured as they did, and we can only expect more streamlining as the product nears its release. That said, I won't have much patience if the final product makes desktop apps hard to use.

And then... there will be Windows 9. This is only the beginning, so it's going to feel immature right now, but we can be thankful that we're no longer stuck with the Microsoft status-quo, which was dying a slow death.

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RE: Windows 8 design flaws Microsoft MUST address

sackbut 22nd Sep

@scH4MMER
So maybe Metro SHOULD be killed

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RE: Windows 8 design flaws Microsoft MUST address

Cylon Centurion 22nd Sep

@tk_77

What part of Developer Preview don't you get? The only reason they released it to the general public was because it was going to leak anyway, so rather than Microsoft risk customers getting malware from shady torrents, they just released it to everyone.

Sheesh.

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RE: Windows 8 design flaws Microsoft MUST address

TsarNikky 22nd Sep

@scH4MMER
Maybe killing Metro for laptops/desktops is not a bad thing. Metro is clearly designed for casual tablet users.

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RE: Windows 8 design flaws Microsoft MUST address

GeiselS@... Updated - 22nd Sep

@BillDem Have to say I concur. I love what Microsoft has done but it certainly needs polishing and all your points are valid. The most annoying thing is the start menu switch when you're in Aero mode then all of a sudden there's this damn Metro and of course vice versa. It makes more sense that you get the interface that matches the hardware attached. If I don't have a touch screen driver, why would I want metro? Reverse is true too, if I have a mouse attached how likely is it I want big blocks to click on? I think there needs to be some "thought" at the Windows kernel level that takes its best guess at the interface you want and then presents it. Perhaps an easy access icon/tile that lets you switch if it selected the wrong one for you but it certainly can't stay the way it is otherwise you can see people turning Metro off in the registry and leaving it off.

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RE: Windows 8 design flaws Microsoft MUST address

kamilw 22nd Sep

@BillDem It is desktop UI. For me it works fine.

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RE: Windows 8 design flaws Microsoft MUST address

TsarNikky 22nd Sep

@BillDem
AMEN! Will Microsoft listen??

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RE: Windows 8 design flaws Microsoft MUST address

rahbm 24th Sep

@TsarNikky
"Will Microsoft listen??"

What makes you think they would start now?

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RE: Windows 8 design flaws Microsoft MUST address

lefleur1987 23rd Sep

@BillDem you do realize that this is a developer preview most for Metro developers. Thats why the current system is Flip flop for the classic UI. MS is not stupid, they know enterprise users wouldn't want to see the Metro interface

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RE: Windows 8 design flaws Microsoft MUST address

TAPhilo 23rd Sep

@lefleur1987
True, but if you DEVELOP for Developers by the time it gets to the user they will hate it (think VISTA).
I think the idea that it intially detects the type of hardware it is on and then it starts the UI designed for it (with a manual override available to the user to choose use the UI they want to use always) would be good for the END USERS.

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I'll lay money right now that nothing is going to change

baggins_z 23rd Sep

from the developer preview to gold master regarding and that ALL of Adrian's points will still exist. Why? Because you can't go changing lots of things on a developer preview or you've just made the developer preview useless. The idea is to give developers something ESSENTIALLY UNCHANGING compared to the GM so that they can have apps ready at that time.

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RE: Windows 8 design flaws Microsoft MUST address

morrig 24th Sep

@lefleur1987
Change most to IS and virtually all AKH comments and others mean nothing!

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RE: Windows 8 design flaws Microsoft MUST address

kris_stapley@... 23rd Sep

@BillDem
Tablets, phones, televisions, Metro UI is far superior. Desktop and notebooks - not so much.

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RE: Windows 8 design flaws Microsoft MUST address

thoiness 23rd Sep

@BillDem OK, so another crystal ball blog asserting that a pre-alpha, concept depiction is the final product for Microsoft. I'm almost apathetic to the point where it hurts to type.

On the other hand, I welcome a way to come up to my desktop and at a glance know whether or not I should bother to sit down.

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No views on Metro, BUT

johnmckay 23rd Sep

@BillDem

As a user of a touch screen I really think folk have to open their minds more. It doesn't have to be for everyone but simple things like itunes for instance.... Why use the mouse when you could gesture and select? Similarly I'm sure there will be loads of apps, even if they have the sense built into them. Retail systems, User drill down menus, photoshop. I might not want to give up my keyboard and mouse but there must be good prospects for the functions we use in tablets to appear on desktops. Nobody is suggesting a bigger version; just the gestures and touch aspects on your desktop monitor.

Maybe even a network guy with the visual in front of him for instance. Would I rather scroll around with a mouse and mess about ctrl/+ OR use my fingers to select and gesture zoom etc. Thats a no brainer to me but I'm lazy. I think many folk are being too hasty, and too blinkered. How many folk really thought tablets would sell the way they did? Plenty thought otherwise.

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RE: Windows 8 design flaws Microsoft MUST address

bvonr@... 23rd Sep

@BillDem I did install the preview on both my desktop (VM) and HP TouchSmart tm2 convertible (I put a new HDD in and did a fresh install) On my desktop I agree that the Metro UI got in the way and the lack of Start Menu made it hard to work with, BUT on my tm2 I found it fantastic to work with in both Tablet mode and Laptop mode. In laptop mode I just touched the Desktop Icon and worked normally in Office and such. I really like being able to use the touch features of this laptop which with Win 7 was limited.

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Yes!

blackepyon01@... 27th Oct

@BillDem
I agree with this guy

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RE: Windows 8 design flaws Microsoft MUST address

ff2 22nd Sep

Author has clearly no clue what Metro is about. It's the uniform visual and API layer that enables running an application on ALL Windows 8 platforms, from cell phones through tablets to PCs. It's by design "dmb" (like it has no fancy windowing capabilities, doesn't support true multitasking, etc), because it has to offer the lowest common denominator of all platforms.

Therefore a design flaw would be if Microsoft would start adding the things author demands, because the inevitably would mean that some Metro apps wouldn't be able to run on devices with limited capabilites, like cellphones, or they'd drain the battery in no time.

However, Metro being present in desktop Windows 8 doesn't mean you HAVE to use it. If you hate it, you just stick to regular desktop apps - and you won't ever see the Metro screen, except for probably when you're loggin on. Therefore it also won't need a "kill switch".

So, next time do your homework before you start writing an article, and learn at least the basic concepts and ideas behind the things you're about to critize. Also, a pre-beta software should be never ever used to judge a final product or draw conslusions about features of a final product , because it will inevitably result in a big FAIL, like this article.

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RE: Windows 8 design flaws Microsoft MUST address

peterseb80 Updated - 22nd Sep

@ff2 What's funny is that you're criticizing the author for reviewing what has been put before him and urging him instead to parrot Microsoft. Maybe you haven't actually used the preview because then you would know that clicking the Start Menu brings you right back to Metro. Are you also suggesting that having to close the first UI that comes up automatically is not a big deal? The "pre-beta" excuse for this pile is meaningless. The entire point of this thing is to be able to draw some conclusions about the final product. This is a preview that Microsoft wanted us to see, and frankly it's so bad you would think it must be a practical joke. As for the idea that you need an interface as a "lowest common denominator" to link devices, what exactly is that idea based on? You think people want to use an interface designed for a tiny screen on their desktop? How does the koolaid taste?

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You are totally wrong

toddybottom 22nd Sep

@peterseb80
"The entire point of this thing is to be able to draw some conclusions about the final product."

No, the entire point of a developer preview is so that developers can start writing Metro UI apps.

"This is a preview that Microsoft wanted us to see"

No, this is a preview that MS wanted developers to see. AKH is not a developer so his comments are meaningless.

As are yours.

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RE: Windows 8 design flaws Microsoft MUST address

CarlitosLx 22nd Sep

@peterseb80
"The entire point of this thing is to be able to draw some conclusions about the final product. "

That would be a "beta".

This "developer preview" is to allow developers see the new bits coming to Windows and start developing "metro style" apps. Thus the name "Developer Preview". And MS is releasing the WDP now, even in this very unfinished state to get the developers moving now, not a year from now.

Much like developers have access to several pre-Mango releases and "developer preview" developer tools, actually.

Today using WDP requires a lot of switching between the new Metro style UI and the old desktop UI because there aren't any real apps for the new UI. When Windows "8" is released MS is hopping that will no longer be the case.

But in the end the thing is: if you're not developing Metro style apps for Windows "8", you shouldn't be using WDP.

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RE: Windows 8 design flaws Microsoft MUST address

tk_77 22nd Sep

@toddybottom

No, this is a preview that MS wanted developers to see

Bulls**t. If MS only wanted developers to see this preview they would have required some level of MSDN subscription. There are some radical changes in this new release and pushing a preview out for anyone to be able to download is so that they can start monitoring blogs like these to get peoples reactions. Hell, its easier to download a legit copy of Windows 8 then most MS software (that requires genuine verification crap).

No, the entire point of a developer preview is so that developers can start writing Metro UI apps.

I agree that this is a preview so developers can start looking into Metro UI versions of their apps. But if the overall community finds that Metro UI is terrible for anything but a touch device (which I find an accurate statement), then developers will have to take care in how far they dive into the Metro UI concept. Perhaps its not yet time to start porting major projects over to it, if ultimately it will be dumped from the desktop/laptop installs.

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RE: Windows 8 design flaws Microsoft MUST address

peterseb80 22nd Sep

Oh yes, silly me. Clearly it's only developers that are intended to see this preview. I guess I shouldn't have downloaded since I'm not one. I guess the final implementation of Metro will look like and function completely different than this one to the point where no conclusions can be drawn from it at all. Oh wait, how will that help the developers though? All you're trying to do is point away from the reality of the way Microsoft is marketing/previewing/testing their operating system and replace public perception with your own idea of what SHOULD be. After all, Microsoft's phone, which looks just like this, is doing so well, right?

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tk_77: Why? Because you said so?

toddybottom 22nd Sep

"If MS only wanted developers to see this preview they would have required some level of MSDN subscription."

Maybe they wanted to hit a wider developer audience? MSDN subscriptions are not inexpensive. If MS wants to encourage smaller developers to write smaller apps, they need to draw in the amateur developer, the one that isn't going to pay $1,000 / year for an MSDN subscription.

The developer preview is on MS's MSDN site and very clearly states this up front:
"The Windows Developer Preview is a pre-beta version of Windows 8 for developers."

Thus any opinion from the likes of AKH and peterseb80 simply serve to prove that these posters lack the ability to read.

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RE: Windows 8 design flaws Microsoft MUST address

DreyerSmit 22nd Sep

@tk_77 Actually the whole idea of Microsoft giving the Dev Preview to everyone to download is to get more and more developers.
Its actually very easy to develop an app and if Microsoft can inspire more and more people to try it out so be it.

@peterseb80 There are a lot of issues Microsoft needs to fix before this is ready. I think forcing the Metro UI on everyone is a good idea. I hated it and after using it for a week I'm getting used to it. Yes the Metro Apps are buggy and closing them are a nightmare. But this is where Windows are going into the future....if you don't like it then stay with Windows 7 or go Linux.

Microsoft changed in 1995, when the start menu launched, and now you cannot live without it, in 2020 you will say the same thing about Metro.

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peterseb80: first correct thing you've written so far

toddybottom Updated - 22nd Sep

@peterseb80
"Clearly it's only developers that are intended to see this preview. I guess I shouldn't have downloaded since I'm not one."

Clearly you shouldn't have. Clearly you lack even the most basic reading comprehension and got extremely confused when you read this:
"The Windows Developer Preview is a pre-beta version of Windows 8 for developers."

That's okay, you aren't alone. AKH also lacks fundamental reading comprehension skills. Maybe the 2 of you can start a support group for the mentally challenged?

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RE: Windows 8 design flaws Microsoft MUST address

Lerianis10 22nd Sep

@toddybottom

toddybottom, with all due respect, Developer Preview means NEWS preview as well in the real world.

If News people who have lots of experience in the industry don't like something, developers most likely won't either.

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RE: Windows 8 design flaws Microsoft MUST address

Beatnyama 23rd Sep

@peterseb80
Thank you @toddybottom for making something clear to those that want to jump the gun. Couldn't have said it better myself, none of these "experts" who r reviewing the developer preview are actually developers so have no idea why the operating system was released in the first place.

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RE: Windows 8 design flaws Microsoft MUST address

SylvainT 23rd Sep

@peterseb80

Maybe u dont understand, its a Metro developper preview. It target specificly the metroUI.

ff2 is right, the author doenst know what he is talking about.

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RE: Windows 8 design flaws Microsoft MUST address

ScorpioBlue 23rd Sep

Couldn't have said it better myself, none of these "experts" who r reviewing the developer preview are actually developers so have no idea why the operating system was released in the first place.

No, but they are potential end users who may have to end up using the damm thing one day.

Pull your head out of the developer's a$$ and start looking at the other end. They wanted public input so now they got it.

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RE: Windows 8 design flaws Microsoft MUST address

chris3145 Updated - 22nd Sep

@ff2

The design flaw is in creating a standard interface and having to limit it to what the weakest device can do. It's great when phones act like desktop and laptop computers. It's horrible when powerful computers act like phones.
Many consumers recognize the difference between devices and want different OSs for them. Metro works on phones, but sucks on desktops.

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RE: Windows 8 design flaws Microsoft MUST address

bitcrazed 22nd Sep

@ff2 - It's not about offering features and capabilities tuned to the lowest common denominator - it's about providing a power-efficient, safe, secure runtime for apps to run within and the infrastructure necessary to put apps to sleep when they're not active, re-hydrate those apps VERY quickly when they are re-activated, shutting-down apps that treat the user and/or the user's machine disrespectfully (e.g. trying to eat too much RAM, not responding quickly to user actions, etc).

BTW, @AKH:
1) If you want to make tiles smaller/larger, press and nudge a tile down - this will bring up a tile context menu that allows you to make tiles smaller (one-tile) or larger (two-tiles).
2) The metro UI is a great replacement for the tiny, touch-unfriendly start menu. Anyone who's learned to hit the start key and start typing the name of the app/applet/document, etc. that they want to find will love it within minutes. Anyone who is keyboard averse and prefers to scroll through icons and images will likely enjoy the larger, more visible app icons.
3) You CAN [ALT]+[TAB] to view the strip of open apps and navigate through them just like Win7 if you want. You can also [WIN]+[TAB] if you want to just flick between apps (without seeing the running app preview). Both mechanisms are lightning fast too.

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RE: Windows 8 design flaws Microsoft MUST address

Nitz_Walsh 22nd Sep

@bitcrazed
2) No, the Metro UI is great replacement for the Start Menu on *Tablets*. It's horrible replacement for the Start Menu when you're at a real PC.

"Anyone who's learned to hit the start key and start typing the name of the app/applet/document, etc. that they want to find will love it within minutes"

Really...why? Doing so now:

1) Entire desktop is swapped out with a completely different GUI, encompassing your entire screen and overlaying your current workspace.
2) The default search category is the last one you used, there is no "search all" whereby it gives you results grouped into categories. So if you want to search for Apps and you didn't last time, it's a)Hit the Windows Key, b) move your mouse pointer to the Apps category, c) start typing.
3) Right-click functionality on the search results? How would you drag and drop them to another window?

For now, launching an app on a Win7 PC is basically typing the first few chars and hitting . You can also interact with those results, such as dragging and dropping other results into other windows.

Supplanting the familiar Windows Key + search for an obvious force-feeding of Metro is not the way to do it, especially when the replacement gives less functionality and a completely alien aesthetic and workflow to what you were just in. It's just poor design.

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RE: Windows 8 design flaws Microsoft MUST address

jhammackHTH 22nd Sep

@Nitz_Walsh LOL! Your entire post can be summed up by:

"BOO-HOO-HOO! Microsoft changed something I was used to."

Why don't you cry a little more. Things change. Deal with it or go use something else.

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RE: Windows 8 design flaws Microsoft MUST address

bitcrazed 23rd Sep

@Nitz_Walsh - I think you're making a mountain out of a molehill.

Press [Win] key and the Metro UI appears. It takes over your screen. So? What I am interested in doing at this time is find something - app/setting/doc/email.

I can hit tab and then up/down arrows & enter to change the "grouping" (i.e. apps, settings, files (others doubtlessly soon to follow)). This actually makes it easier to find what I am looking for compared to having apps and control panel applets and docs displayed separately.

Ironically, In Metro, there ARE NO WINDOWS! Windows without Windows if you will wink

There is nowhere to drag your list of lists - choose what you want and get on with it.

I would strenuously disagree that Metro represents "no design". I'd argue that Metro exposes the strongest design ever introduced by Microsoft. It is different to what you're used to but it unlocks some key capabilities that expands Windows' relevance into important new scenarios.

I think we'll see some continued refinement and improvment to the experience in the coming months as Microsoft learns more about how we early adopters use the new Metro experience, but I think that describing it as a disaster and a failure this early in the product cycle would be a mistake.

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RE: Windows 8 design flaws Microsoft MUST address

ScorpioBlue 23rd Sep

@Nitz_Walsh I find the most telling sentence of Adrian's post says it all:

"The more I use Windows 8, the more it feels like Windows 7 with a Metro bolted onto the side."

And that's Microsoft's typical modus operandi. To band-aid what's on top leaving any sort of fundamental change only skin deep.

Eye candy, anyone?

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RE: Windows 8 design flaws Microsoft MUST address

GeiselS@... 22nd Sep

@ff2 Actually his article is very insightful and he does know what he's talking about. Go to your Aero desktop and see what happens when you click on the start menu...If you don't think you see Metro doing that then you're confused. I love what Microsoft is doing but all his points are valid issues.