There is a big battle going on over whether Microsoft should allow the old Start Menu to be available in Windows 8.. Well personally I am all for choice especially if you don’t have a Touch Capable PC or a Windows Tablet.. The decisions almost sounded very defensive..
The current start menu as you see it today with instant search and find
The start menu was brought to us in Windows 95 and still exists today with search brings up programs faster than hunting through a screen or calling Windows key and SEARCH.. The first DOS based Windows (nope the UI didn’t really multi-thread until Windows 2000) that departed from the good old Program Manager (progman.exe) and File Manager (fileman.exe)
Windows 95 Start Menu without Search
Program Manager with Program Groups from Windows 3.x.. with MAIN Grouping Open (no search)
Notice the similarities to how the Windows 8 program “groupings” work, minus the Windows (which I think still belong in Metro or why call it Windows, why not Microsoft Rectangles ?)
File Manager from Windows 3.x
Another view with both open..
Windows 8 METRO program groups in the start screen..
Don’t the original system icons look clunky in the boxes and difficult to find the one you need ?
Windows 8 Search Screen STILL different more click and takes you away from running Apps to Launch
Oh and while I am throwing in my two cents.. Search should not be MODAL between apps settings and files. It should work just like the start menu and bring up all not separating (unless you have an option set for that (another preferences choice). It should show up on all screens and shouldn’t have to be called up from a windows key combo on non touch systems..
Below is how the Apple iPad does it, much like the search on the Windows Start Menu just top down instead of bottom UP..
Couldn’t search be integrated into the start screen directly (no side pulls) and look and work for apps and everything something like your Bing App for iPad does already today ?? HINT: REBRAND Windows Search Bing Search in your OWN OS.. It’s there in your Phone.. For all searches including apps and files.. Do you have tell me integrated into the search and Windows 8 yet ?? It’s on the Apple iPad and very “METRO” and still useable..
Also did you catch those tiny scroll bars in the first Windows 8 start screen graphic? Wow it’s like “back to the future” and what about that those TINY scroll bars at the bottom and sides of everything My mouse will barely click and hold on to them (gesture for mouse ? Scroll wheel ??..
If you have a mouse and keyboard only these things about the UI are totally annoying.. Couldn’t this auto scroll when you move the mouse (like the touch screen swipe behavior does ? It’s simply a lot of work to find files apps and settings with a keyboard and mouse and navigate right back to your running app..
It’s called parallax style scrolling and I am sure you folks know that in a similar UI on another Microsoft device called an X-Box 360 this already does this for you ? Can’t you guys collaborate a bit here between teams ? Some say you all are in the same division/buildings now anyway.. Why couldn’t this desktop be Kinect enabled like the x-box one below..
Why can’t Windows 8 look and work as smooth and cool as this Today ? Not getting it Mr Sinofsky..
Oh and some personal and not so nice comments about your defense of layout.. When I read through the reasoning about layout and why it’s so difficult to get at things you need with the new one versus the start menu I am left with just these thoughts.. Your defense just sucks we all understand the proportion things from web design.. Reading this in your blog.. (see image below)
The Building Windows 8 Blog’s defense..
On Wedding Reception Seating Charts..
This whole defensive posturing in the blog defending design decisions makes me wonder if the UI/UX designer was really designing a functional program launcher for just a tablet or a phone? At least Windows Phone still acts and is rectangular and vertical like a start menu. Is Microsoft designing a better way to launch apps (it’s just fine on a tablet or touch screen) but not for the keyboard and mouse only users ? Will most of these people find switch between apps and the start screen clunky while using just a keyboard and mouse and navigating Windows 8’s classic desktop mode ?
Or will Microsoft alienate the keyboard and mouse only folks, much like they did in the past with the Office ribbon change ?
No offense but the explanation done from the Build Windows 8 blog, made it seem as if the person doing the defense was actually a wedding planner trying to do a seating chart for people who don’t like each other at a wedding reception… Honestly you might get a few runaway brides this way.. They should leave the quick and easy way totally like it was for the mouse and keyboard only folks.. They resist change anyway. Could this be Vista 2.0 ?
By the way the graphics made me laugh right away and this is just not a realistic defense, because shouldn’t you create a few program groups there TIGER (see graphic below) and I use search to find things super quick anyway (I don’t have to hit a windows key to get there either with a mouse)… Your stats don’t hold water.. If it don’t fit with people don’t force it on them. CHOICE is the answer..
PLEASE GIVE US CHOICE!
Please, forget the justifications, keep what you’ve done, just let us also have our previous less efficient Start menu back as an option if we want it and prefer it in a keyboard and mouse only situation. With BING you should know even on a tablet that search for apps trumps more taps and clicks any day.. On Windows Phone Mango if we know the first letter we can type it and it brings the app right to us.. Why didn’t you guys make some adaption here.. Let us turn this back on in classic desktop at least if we want for the mouse and keyboard only crowd..
DON’T IGNORE PAST INNOVATION
Microsoft should think about why Windows 95’s UI killed the Mac and it basically was that start menu.. Now they finally have iOS with those same style program groups Win 3.x did (is this a patent violation on Microsoft’s original design sure looks like it to me by Apple with iOS’s program launcher and why Microsoft let that idea for something better. It’s not time to revisit that ERA..
Apple iOS screen Shots
Main Program Screen without groups
Wow this looks like a scrollable START MENU.. Hey it works on their tablet and options collapse and it’s on a tablet.. How about that and well there are plenty of icons there after all of your apps are on..
Psst,, Microsoft, cool article worth a read and they don’t mean scroll to the right side.. (http://www.readwriteweb.com/archives/ipad_users_scroll_more_google_search_results_than.php)
Now we get long groupings with no user sizeable rectangle size options (thus far)..
Program Group Comparison to Windows 3.x
Double take here on Apple iPad back to Windows 3.1 with groups and Apps..
The iPad iPhone UI is taken from Win 3.x program groups mostly doesn’t it look like to you ??
Okay how about an Android Tablet (HoneyComb)
The Beauty of WinRT
Underneath this all Microsoft has made major goodness and change at the API level.. Why stick us with a me too UI that looks like a graft of Windows Phone that you can’t switch off or make a choice on ??
Are there others out there ?
Just in case you are curious about the other alternative?? Yes Linux now has a new Tablet Interface that just looks awesome. It’s called Plasma Active One and it’s a KDE (think Gnome) type window manager for Linux.. I have to admit I like this one a lot..
http://www.kde.org/announcements/plasma-active-one/ Take note of the grouping of applications and how notifications work etc. Interface wise Apple and Microsoft take note of the travel planning activity in the tablet. This is very well done especially from a workflow standpoint..
“On the 9th of October, 2011 (9.10.11), the first release of the Plasma Active tablet user experience was made publicly available. Plasma Active One’s touchscreen interface is more than just an application launcher. As soon as the device is turned on, rather than the traditional grid of applications, you see the Activities view showing your current project, task or idea. With Activities, you can collect all of the documents, people, web sites, media and widgets related to a topic in one place, building personalized and interactive views of your life.
With Plasma Active, the possibilities are unlimited. You can add as many things to an Activity as you wish with its “infinite scroll” feature. You can create as many Activities as you like and move between them using the touch-friendly Activity Switcher.”
Similar facilities for workflow and activities exist in Android, but not so much in iOS (a consumer system) in Microsoft’s Windows 8/METRO.. The fact that this is oriented towards “Enterprise” work flow instead of a program manager and a file manager really speaks to the improvements needed in METRO before this gets released or they are already behind..
Enough Said..