4 ms·

Everyone loves to rail on Metro but there are a ton of HCI reasons that its the superior interface and most people I know who've actually given it a fair shot (

by theg2 13y ago

Everyone loves to rail on Metro but there are a ton of HCI reasons that its the superior interface and most people I know who've actually given it a fair shot (average users mostly) like it. It's an odd decision to force onto people, but when most people actually use it, it's a pretty good interface and you realize the Start menu was actually less efficient in many regards.

dm2 13y ago
People spent their entire computer lives relying on the Start Button and Taskbar. I spent a good amount of mine learning how to use it with the most efficiency and incorporated it into my daily workflow. Then all of a sudden, in one single new version of Windows, it's all gone. Now 90% of people who have used this brand are completely lost. I gave it a fair shot and had to Google everything I did. I had trouble even getting to an internet browser. Maybe an interface without a start menu is superior, but at the very least Windows 8 should have been a hybrid version which came with the Start button and taskbar enabled by default and a "new" way to remove the start button and taskbar. Having to move my mouse in a certain corner of the screen to access a backend "metro" area (which is the only way to actually get to program or files now) is NOT good UI design.
acqq 13y ago
It is not a superior interface for anything that isn't a small tablet or a phone. I'm in front of the big monitor and just to select another program boom the whole darned screen chnages the color, evrything I look at disappears just to present met "metro." That UI is good for the phone, awful for big screens. Whoever decided that it doesn't matter should be publicly humiliated. Ditto for those that claim that it's better for all cases. Can you please explain how can you consider it superior to make everything you work with disappear, no matter how big the screen you work with is, just to start another program? I'm not interested for the screen sizes of the phones, but 21 inches and above. Then do the same discussion for all non-touch monitors and touch dependencies. Metro existed before Windows 8 on the Windows phones. There's no good UI reason to make all big screen desktops behave like small screen phones. It was a pure political decision and they deserve every bad voice there is.
coldpie 13y ago
My girlfriend wants to watch a video on Netflix and have the PDF viewer open to read knitting patterns while she watches. Oops, can't do that! The PDF viewer is fullscreen-only.
- seanmcdirmid 13y ago
  Set the default PDF viewer to Chrome, it renders well enough and is pretty quick. Also make sure to set most media default viewers to alternatives, like images, videos, and anything else that could trigger the default metro viewers.
- gman99 13y ago
  Is that definitely right? Most metro apps should snap to 1/3 or 2/3 width allowing two apps side-by-side. Edit: OK, so apparently you can[1] snap the default pdf viewer, but I can see it's not going to be a very nice experience having either a video or the pdf viewer occupying 1/3rd of the screen. [1] http://www.eightforums.com/general-support/17670-how-snap-pdf-windows-so-doesnt-occupy-whole-screen.html#post174069 http://www.eightforums.com/general-support/17670-how-snap-pd...

by theg2 13y ago

dm2 13y ago

People spent their entire computer lives relying on the Start Button and Taskbar. I spent a good amount of mine learning how to use it with the most efficiency and incorporated it into my daily workflow. Then all of a sudden, in one single new version of Windows, it's all gone. Now 90% of people who have used this brand are completely lost. I gave it a fair shot and had to Google everything I did. I had trouble even getting to an internet browser. Maybe an interface without a start menu is superior, but at the very least Windows 8 should have been a hybrid version which came with the Start button and taskbar enabled by default and a "new" way to remove the start button and taskbar. Having to move my mouse in a certain corner of the screen to access a backend "metro" area (which is the only way to actually get to program or files now) is NOT good UI design.

acqq 13y ago

It is not a superior interface for anything that isn't a small tablet or a phone. I'm in front of the big monitor and just to select another program boom the whole darned screen chnages the color, evrything I look at disappears just to present met "metro." That UI is good for the phone, awful for big screens. Whoever decided that it doesn't matter should be publicly humiliated. Ditto for those that claim that it's better for all cases. Can you please explain how can you consider it superior to make everything you work with disappear, no matter how big the screen you work with is, just to start another program? I'm not interested for the screen sizes of the phones, but 21 inches and above. Then do the same discussion for all non-touch monitors and touch dependencies. Metro existed before Windows 8 on the Windows phones. There's no good UI reason to make all big screen desktops behave like small screen phones. It was a pure political decision and they deserve every bad voice there is.

coldpie 13y ago

My girlfriend wants to watch a video on Netflix and have the PDF viewer open to read knitting patterns while she watches. Oops, can't do that! The PDF viewer is fullscreen-only.

seanmcdirmid 13y ago
Set the default PDF viewer to Chrome, it renders well enough and is pretty quick. Also make sure to set most media default viewers to alternatives, like images, videos, and anything else that could trigger the default metro viewers.
gman99 13y ago
Is that definitely right? Most metro apps should snap to 1/3 or 2/3 width allowing two apps side-by-side. Edit: OK, so apparently you can[1] snap the default pdf viewer, but I can see it's not going to be a very nice experience having either a video or the pdf viewer occupying 1/3rd of the screen. [1] http://www.eightforums.com/general-support/17670-how-snap-pdf-windows-so-doesnt-occupy-whole-screen.html#post174069 http://www.eightforums.com/general-support/17670-how-snap-pd...