Ceating the Windows 8 user experience

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John Gray
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Ceating the Windows 8 user experience

Post by John Gray »

I hope nobody else has already mentioned this extremely-lengthy Microsoft blog post Creating the Windows 8 user experience.

PC Mag says: RIP Aero Glass; Windows 8 Sticks a Fork in Familiar UI.
John Gray

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HansV
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Re: Crrrrreating the Windows 8 user experience

Post by HansV »

I like this comment from the 'softie:
Aero gave the appearance of highly-rendered glass, light sources, reflections, and other graphically complex textures in the title bars, taskbar, and other system surfaces. These stylistic elements represented the design sensibilities of the time, reflecting the capabilities of the brand-new digital tools used to create and render them. This style of simulating faux-realistic materials (such as glass or aluminum) on the screen looks dated and cheesy now, but at the time, it was very much en vogue.
Simulating faux-realistic materials? :evilgrin:
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Hans

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John Gray
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Re: Ceating the Windows 8 user experience

Post by John Gray »

Yes, this is the sort of pretentious marketing or artistic rhubarb that seems compulsory nowadays in the art and graphics world!
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Argus
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Re: Ceating the Windows 8 user experience

Post by Argus »

Now they call their Aero interface "dated and cheesy".
Well, what else is to expect them to say, the latest is always the greatest, it seems; though it's true that a classic theme, whatever we mean by that, without bells and whistles many times stands the test of time, and some might have called it "cheesy" right from the beginning. Though I think it works great with the Taskbar, showing status etc.

They are blogging heavily now, I have not read all; but I think I read the majority of the many blog posts Jensen Harris did when explaining and defending the new ribbon in Office 2007. They didn't listen to old users then, so I don't expect them to listen now.

That said, in the Office case there was a need to do something to the menus so that they could accommodate new features, on the other hand it is a rather mature product so not that many are added; I also understand it must have been frustrating getting support calls etc. asking for new features that had been around for several versions, but that some people could not find. However, it was a surprise that the solution was the equivalent of pulling out every drawer of the desk and pour the content on top of the desk, to display all there is. Also pretty bewildering when one consider the fact that they had introduced limited menus a couple years earlier, moving things around, and the default setting was to show the full menus only after a short delay. (Obviously there were several other areas in the Office suite that needed and got an improvement when they introduced the ribbon; such as the cluttered Options dialogues, the "engine" for charts etc. etc.)

Now the ribbon has spread to Windows Explorer; I think I said somewhere that I don't see that as a huge problem, but rather the new Metro interface and mixed interfaces; the ribbon is pale in comparison with the new UI, and I still don't like the ribbon, that says something about my thoughts about the new UI. Pick your battles and all that. :smile:
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