Microsoft talks about the user experience in Windows 8

[zigzag3143]

In a new Building Windows 8 blog post from Microsoft, the company have today talked about the redefined user experience in Windows 8, and how it is now easier to use than in previous versions of Windows. The blog post goes into comparing the Windows 8 user experience with previous versions of Windows.

http://www.winbeta.org/news/microso...tered,+Technology+and+Microsoft+news+focused)

 

[JMH]

Creating the Windows 8 user experience

This blog often focuses on the bits and features and less on the “philosophy” or “context” of the product.
Given the level of brand new innovations in Windows 8, however, we think it is worth putting Windows 8 in the context in which we approached the design.
As with any significantchange to a broadly usedproduct, Windows 8 has generated quite a bit of discussion.
With millions of people using the Consumer Preview for their daily work, we’ve seen just as many points of view expressed.
Many people—from David Pogue of the New York Times to Mat Honan from Gizmodo and many more—have been quite positive, and others less so, most notably in the comments on this blog, where we’ve seen the rich dialog we’d hoped for. Some have asked about design choices we’ve made in the product and the evolution of Windows or suitability of the design to different people. Some bloggers believe it is critical to further separate the traditional desktop from Metro style elements. Other people believe passionately that it is important to make the desktop more like the Metro style interface.
There are as many opinions as there are folks who have tried out the Consumer Preview. Designing a new release of a product already used by a billion people in a billion different ways is, as we say, like ordering pizza for a billion people.
Doing so out in the open encourages this dialog, and we embrace and value it.
Jensen Harris, Director of Program Management for our User Experience team, authored this post.
--Steven

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/archive/2012/05/18/creating-the-windows-8-user-experience.aspx

 

[JMH]

Windows 8 to get some desktop UI changes

Of all the things that have been talked about and written about for Windows 8, none have been more discussed than its new Metro user interface and its touch screen centric design.
Many have complained that it is too much of a change from previous versions of Windows.
Today, in a new and massive post on the Windows 8 blog, Microsoft goes over the decisions it has made for the Windows 8 user interface.

http://www.neowin.net/news/windows-8-to-get-some-desktop-ui-changes

 

[JMH]

Microsoft opines: Vista was 'cheesy'; three devices too many

Microsoft published a "brief" history of the Windows interface in a blog post today that offered some flashes of candor about Vista and Windows 95 and argued that the tablet as we know it today is one device too many.

Friday's Building Windows 8 post lays out "a brief history of the Windows user interface" that is anything but brief. (True to the blog's prolix style).

Penned by Jensen Harris, director of program management for the User Experience team at Microsoft, it begins with, "the user interface of Windows has evolved and been transformed over the course of its entire 27-year history," and then takes a tour of the interface from Windows 1 to Windows 8.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-1001_3-57...o-many/?part=rss&tag=feed&subj=News-Microsoft

 

[Trouble]

Re: Microsoft opines: Vista was 'cheesy'; three devices too many

To "Aero" is human, to forgive (or in this case forget) is divine.
The Desktop (in the image) seems to still be a bit Aeroiee in that the desktop background does seem to bleed through the taskbar, I can see the individual applets (modules) like libraries do not seem to contain that effect. Not sure how I feel or what I think about this and the overall effect regarding the Windows 8 "Experience" but it is interesting to say the least.
I saw this today and thought I would pass it along. It made me grin a bit.

 

[JMH]

Re: Microsoft opines: Vista was 'cheesy'; three devices too many

Everything old is new again!

 

[zigzag3143]

RIP Aero Glass; Windows 8 Sticks a Fork in Familiar UI

Get your reading glasses, just not your Aero Glasses. Microsoft has released an 11,000+ word blog post that covers just about every nook, cranny, and design decision behind the Windows user interface since its inception. That's right – even good ol' Windows 1 makes an appearance, which has us wondering just how Microsoft managed to take a good screenshot of that legacy OS, let alone install it.

[url]http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2404647,00.asp?kc=PCRSS03069TX1K0001121&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+ziffdavis%2Fpcmag%2Fbreakingnews+%28PCMag.com+Breaking+News%29


[/URL]http://www.winsupersite.com/article/windows8/windows-8-release-preview-rip-aero-20032012-143133

 

[Britton30]

Re: RIP Aero Glass; Windows 8 Sticks a Fork in Familiar UI

Jeez, M$ doesn't seem to realize that the customer base is with people like me who have a home PC and don't have a car full of tablets and phones. M$ wants users to feel comfortable. It will make me feel comfortable as the new chrome will be like Win 95.

 

[zigzag3143]

Re: RIP Aero Glass; Windows 8 Sticks a Fork in Familiar UI

The steamroller rolls on. Only if 8 was as bad as vista might there be a re-think

 

[JMH]

Merging Windows 8 Metro with desktop

On Friday, Microsoft posted up a huge update to its official Windows 8 blog, with more information on how the Windows 8 team made the design decisions that led them to create the Metro touch screen user interface. The same blog post also talked about some of the changes that Microsoft plans to do with the desktop version of Windows 8.

In fact, that same blog had a statement from Microsoft's Jensen Harris, which gave some attention to those Windows fans that have created their own Metro-style version of the desktop. He stated:

We have appreciated seeing people on various sites post screenshots of their proposed designs for “Metro-izing” the visual appearance of the desktop. It is exciting to see the interest and passion that goes into designing them!

http://www.neowin.net/news/from-the-forums-merging-windows-8-metro-with-desktop

 

[Temmu]

Re: Merging Windows 8 Metro with desktop

... post screenshots of their proposed designs for “Metro-izing” the visual appearance of the desktop. It is exciting to see the interest and passion that goes into designing them!

...

o goodness. i just can't wait. lol!

 

[JMH]

Microsoft Plans to Kill the Aero UI Prior To Final Windows 8 Release

Microsoft has made some huge changes to its desktop UI in Windows 8, however it looks like they aren’t done yet. The Aero Glass UI first introduced in Windows Vista brought us translucent window borders, rounded corners, and an interface that was designed to blend into the background. These effects remained in the consumer preview, and will appear again in the release preview, however Microsoft today confirmed they would be axed from the final shipping version.

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/news/microsoft_plans_kill_aero_ui_prior_final_windows_8_release