Windows 8 should be used with touch
Microsoft kept insisting that people will love Windows 8, yet the reception has been lukewarm. What if Microsoft is actually right? What if we were all using Windows 8...wrong?
I was one of the doubters, pointing out the jarring experience from mixing the Modern UI and "tablet"-style apps with the traditional desktop interface familiar to previous Windows users. Modern seemed like an alien extra feature tacked onto the upgraded desktop experience. A feature meant to be minimized, turned off, set to "do not launch at start". Impossible to do that though; click here, click there, and all of a sudden you're inside a Modern app wondering where to point your mouse to get back to the desktop.
You know why I didn't like it? I was using it wrong.
Recently I got a Surface Pro. After 15 minutes of messing around with it, I was swiping left, right, up, down, and docking Modern apps with desktop apps (yes, even on the 10.6 inch screen). After 30 minutes I was seamlessly utilizing the mouse, keyboard, and touch to engage with the computer, and I wasn't consciously thinking about which tool (or hand) would bring about the next interaction.
Using a touchscreen transformed the Windows 8 experience from an "okay, it's fine" feeling into an sensation that I was really connecting with what's on the screen.
I wonder, what if Microsoft had required a touchscreen for Windows 8? While initial sales would have been slower, would satisfaction have been dramatically higher--possibly spurring a boom in both Windows 8 sales as well as a booster effect for hardware?
Think of how new games help drive hardware sales as people upgrade their video cards, processors, and memory--with Windows 8, this would be at a massive scale.
Since familiarizing myself with the touchscreen, I've discovered a few features that weren't readily apparent when using just a keyboard and mouse. At my desktop with a non-touch monitor configuration, I've been able to enjoy Windows 8 more because of these new features, but I can't wait to get a touchscreen desktop monitor for the much more intuitive gestures rather than clunky mouse movements.
What Microsoft should have told us all is: "If you're not using Windows 8 with a touchscreen, then you're doing it wrong."