zag Posted May 17, 2012 Posted May 17, 2012 Yes I think the windows 7 phone comes a very distant third. The interface has to be that simple I think so the performance is acceptable. Sad state of affairs really.
Arthur Posted May 17, 2012 Posted May 17, 2012 The interface has to be that simple I think so the performance is acceptable. Sad state of affairs really. It's called design. Would you say Piet Mondrian's paintings were also crap because they are just blocks of colour and lines?
SYNACK Posted May 17, 2012 Posted May 17, 2012 Which one do you think is the best looking? lol Microsoft really need to employ some graphical artists. They did, its designed for a purpose, clarity. For accessability the large writing, simple colours and large touch areas mean that it can be accessed easily and quickly even in adverse conditions - moving, lowered eyesight, time constraints, dexterity issues. I actually like the Metro UI on the phone, that is what it was designed for and does its job well in my opinion. Both the other seem cluttered and scattered to me using the same kind of icon design that Xerox invented four decades ago. The WinPho screenshot also does it no favors in the colour departent as there are no other apps on there with different coloured icons which do exist. Also, that is not the home screen but the extended program list launcher so they are not really comparing like for like. Hardware wise the WinPho looses badly though thanks to their restricted hardware platform, it still behaves plenty smooth enough but their dev model seems to have stunted their growth a little thanks to their diverting what seems like all of their resources to Windows 8 instead of extending the featureset of WP7.
localzuk Posted May 17, 2012 Posted May 17, 2012 They are comparing like for like - the display on the Android is the 'extended app screen' and the iPhone doesn't differentiate between pages of apps and the home screen. The Metro interface is fine if you want to read everything but the icons are not easy to differentiate - the contrast between the colour and white is not high enough for the pale colour palette they have chosen so they just look like identical orange and blue icons really.
ZeroHour Posted May 17, 2012 Posted May 17, 2012 Even though this is mobile, I think this picture sums it up best http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2012/05/nokia-lumia-900-side-by-side.jpg Which one do you think is the best looking? lol Microsoft really need to employ some graphical artists. WP is far easier to read, thats its app list view which is not a view most use normally. Regarding colours, they can match the colour scheme you want if the app enables it (as the MS icons do) and its not MS's fault AT&T used those icons.
zag Posted May 17, 2012 Posted May 17, 2012 To me.....Windows 8 metro (and windows 7 mobile) look awful compared to the competition. I would be embarrassed to pull out a windows 7 phone in front of anyone at a dinner party Looks like one of those interfaces from the 1980s to me.
SYNACK Posted May 17, 2012 Posted May 17, 2012 Looks like one of those interfaces from the 1980s to me. Interesting dose of irony given that Android and to a certain extent the iPhone is using the exact same icon layout that Windows 3.1 and before used and so is actually a UI from the 80s. The iPhone one tries way to hard for my liking and is just so full of gradients and 3D effects etc. The Android one is bareble and not to cluttered but with the little icons it is guilty of a lot of the 'crimes' that Windows Mobile was hung for in the press. I'd much rather have the Android over the iPhone but UI wise I'd rather have the WinPho as for its use case; on the move, quick operations, clean clear information. To me it is actually just plain better desinged for its purpose as a quick little mobile information/gaming device.
CyberNerd Posted May 17, 2012 Posted May 17, 2012 WP is far easier to read, thats its app list view which is not a view most use normally.. You can tick the 'large text' button on android to improve that. TBH, yourself and @SYNACK are going to love the Microsoft stuff regardless.
ZeroHour Posted May 17, 2012 Posted May 17, 2012 The Metro interface is fine if you want to read everything but the icons are not easy to differentiate - the contrast between the colour and white is not high enough for the pale colour palette they have chosen so they just look like identical orange and blue icons really. Yeh icons based on white need to aware of light background colours and change appropriately. I think the point is more though you dont use that list view for apps often, when icons are pinned its easier to differentiate and the tiles animate to show relevant information. The same can be said for droid where most would pin icons on the home screen etc I think? on the diephone I got so many icons it was a nightmare to use (even with recognition of colours) which resulted in me using the search rather then icon grid hell.
SYNACK Posted May 17, 2012 Posted May 17, 2012 @CyberNerd - Probably true but I do still give them a fair amount of critisisum for their software stuff ups. I like the process that goes behind some of their stuff like the UI, for instance the previously much hated ribbon which was based on actual usage of the product and UI studies which has turned out to be epic when it comes to people actually using the features and finding them. Changing the UI that has been around for decades. Metro has the same kind of design fundementals behind it, research and studies that try to make stuff better for its usage. While I don't agree with them pushing this UI to desktop moniters (as that was not its intent) I do think that it is good on phones. The unified nature of it is also good in my opinion, I have setup all sorts of phones and the least scatered/fragmented was the Windows Phone. In comparison Androids strengths are also it's weaknesses, everything is an app and the settings are scattered around in all of them.
gshaw Posted May 20, 2012 Posted May 20, 2012 On the interfaces... Android all the way. I can't stand the Metro (Windows 1.0 look), it hurts my eyes with too much contrast and lack of detail in the icons. Everything is square and blocky, at a quick glance all the icons look the same and you have to squint to see what silly little white swish is in the boxes to figure out what they are... meh Actually came on here to put another experience of Windows 8... - tried to install a printer the other day... redesigned UI box seems pointless but it never actually installed anything... stuck at 99% and never completed... back to my Win7 desktop to actually get anything useful done - little box comes up in the corner of the logon screen for updates... OK I'll try clicking it... nothing... OK I'll open Windows Update via Metro search... can't do that... where is Windows Update FFS... oh... hidden in the corner of the Desktop Control Panel... really user friendly... not Why can't you search for Control Panel settings from the Start Screen? If MS is going to force this abortion of a UI on us the least it could do is provide quick access to all the machine's programs and settings This guy talks a lot of sense... XP was my idea: Features removed in Windows 8 The Beta really better up its game as at the moment this OS is a mess imo
Arthur Posted May 20, 2012 Posted May 20, 2012 The Beta really better up its game as at the moment this OS is a mess imo The Consumer Preview is the Beta. tried to install a printer the other day Surely you don't expect beta software to be 100% bug free? little box comes up in the corner of the logon screen for updates... The updates will install themselves when you restart or shutdown. Alternatively, just click the power button... http://i.imgur.com/R83KV.png Why can't you search for Control Panel settings from the Start Screen? You can: Windows Key + W This guy talks a lot of sense... An unbiased view from someone who thinks Windows XP is the epitome of operating system design. Posts like this one make him sound deluded and/or insane! The geek in me refuses to accept Windows 7 as a viable replacement for the more-customizable Windows XP.
Arthur Posted May 20, 2012 Posted May 20, 2012 No more Aero Glass in the Release Preview... http://i.imgur.com/2BDJX.png Source: Building Windows 8 Blog I reckon Microsoft will update the old Vista/7 icons before the final version is released too.
localzuk Posted May 20, 2012 Posted May 20, 2012 I hope that isn't how it ends up. What's so wrong with colour?! Good lord, it looks like someone put it through the wash 50 times and all the colour bled out. 2
alttab Posted May 20, 2012 Posted May 20, 2012 I hope that isn't how it ends up. What's so wrong with colour?! Good lord, it looks like someone put it through the wash 50 times and all the colour bled out. to be honest i like the simplicity of it, i hated all the aeroglass and transparency distractions in windows 7. Anything that's more bling than functional is a step back in my view. The more inline with the windows 8 server mgmt UI the better, as i quite like the minimalism, if you can call it that. the metro UI also displays good design in my view, i just question the adaptation of the traditional start menu method of interaction using keyboard and mouse to tile based using keyboard and mouse, and whether it's square pegs and round holes. I suspect it won't be as bad as that. once people get round to the idea of exploring their files, managing apps and collecting groups of things together in tiles. I don't feel massively more productive with each successive iteration of the old start menu/desktop, so that might finally change with the metro ui if i'm forced to navigate in a different way.
localzuk Posted May 20, 2012 Posted May 20, 2012 I can't really say I'm one for minimalistic UIs. I have an animated desktop, for example...
gshaw Posted May 20, 2012 Posted May 20, 2012 (edited) The Consumer Preview is the Beta. Pretty sure there's meant to be one more before full release, either called Beta or Release Preview and out sometime in June, according to Mr. Google The Consumer Preview is the Beta. Surely you don't expect beta software to be 100% bug free? You'd expect it to be able to do basic functions even in a Beta The updates will install themselves when you restart or shutdown. Alternatively, just click the power button... Didn't work like that at all, shut down about 5 times, no effect then randomly does it while I'm working. As for removing the basic control from the front of house it's another irritating "feature" dumbing down the OS for the Apple crowd. If I wanted a dumbed down OS designed for noob users I'd get an iPad / Mac! You can: Windows Key + W Very intuitive... Still can't find one thing this OS does better on a desktop than what we already have, you seem to be a big Windows 8 fan so maybe you can find me some lol? Edited May 20, 2012 by gshaw
alttab Posted May 20, 2012 Posted May 20, 2012 Still can't find one thing this OS does better on a desktop than what we already have, you seem to be a big Windows 8 fan so maybe you can find me some lol? for some reason i just don't find windows 7 as intuitive as OSX or XP. Some of the things i like like being able search for apps when typing them in via the 'run' area. But i don't find the explorer and folder organisation to be a big move forward, and the other stuff they have added don't make it a more sophisticated or intuitive OS than OSX. The one thing neither Microsoft or Apple have managed to crack is sorting out their respective file browsers, they've tinkered with them to varying degrees but they don't seem to have the confidence to redo the whole concept/design from the ground up. The two things that would convince me with Win 8 would be if they dropped the graphics bells and whistles from Windows 7, improved performance with less RAM, and the ribbon style interface in windows explorer is truly a big improvement. All those things, plus hypervisor in the client OS would convince me it's a better option than Win7, but only if the tile based navigation makes more not less productive. OR becomes more intuitive as a way to interact using a non-touch computer.
Gatt Posted May 20, 2012 Posted May 20, 2012 Whilst I like Aero, it is a huge drain on resources (RAM, CPU, Battery Life!) so I have mixed feelings about the loss of it I do agree with @localzuk in that the whole colour scheme makes it look like something thats been sun bleached.. The MetroUI is - err well lets not beat around the bush here... it's crap It might work on in WP7 and an ARM device, but not for a Desktop or Laptop - and certainly not a server!! Also, why the 8bit colour schemes?
Gatt Posted May 20, 2012 Posted May 20, 2012 Interesting read here: http://www.winsupersite.com/article/windows8/windows-8-release-preview-rip-aero-20032012-143133 First Aero.. will the Windows Desktop be next?
Arthur Posted May 20, 2012 Posted May 20, 2012 (edited) If you look at the forthcoming Office applications, the changes to the Windows desktop suddenly make perfect sense. http://i.imgur.com/rlACf.jpg http://i.imgur.com/TuM11.jpg http://i.imgur.com/IE7kp.jpg Paul Thurrott seems to like Office 15, so I don't get why he hates the changes Microsoft are making to Windows Explorer? They now look exactly the same! A clean, white interface with color-coded border elements marks each application: Word is blue, Excel is green, and so on. This seems stark at first, but the goal, again, is clear and obviously Metro-inspired: The user should be visually drawn to the content they are creating, and not to the ribbon or other onscreen elements that make up the application UI. Microsoft will use this same approach in other modern desktop applications it is creating--like the next Visual Studio--and while some may react strongly to this at first, it does grow on you and, more important, actually seems to work. (Source) I also don't think he is entirely correct with his assumption that it's all about battery life. It is also about making the desktop blend in with the Metro UI (something which @gshaw has complained about in the past), the new Office 15 apps and improving RDP performance over WANs (as mentioned on the Windows Server blog). Services like OnLive Desktop should be faster and the lower system requirements of Windows 8/Server 2012 will mean you can fit even more VMs on your servers. Edited May 20, 2012 by Arthur
localzuk Posted May 20, 2012 Posted May 20, 2012 Wow, that interface will be a nightmare for schools to work with in terms of dyslexia friendly stuff - I wonder if they'll let you change the ribbon background etc for users who need different contrast levels?
SYNACK Posted May 20, 2012 Posted May 20, 2012 Wow, that interface will be a nightmare for schools to work with in terms of dyslexia friendly stuff - I wonder if they'll let you change the ribbon background etc for users who need different contrast levels? I don't get that, short of black and white how can they get more contrast. White on dark blue seems quite close to that and without the additional visual distractions it should actually make it easier for them. It's big, plain and high contrast. Seems like progress in that direction. I do love the fact that UIs are getting closer and closer to LCARS (LCARS - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) proving again that scifi is a good shopping list for the future.
Arthur Posted May 20, 2012 Posted May 20, 2012 I wonder if they'll let you change the ribbon background etc for users who need different contrast levels? I'm sure Microsoft will elaborate on the accessibility improvements they have made in a future blog post, but I think it's safe to say it is something they are working on... ...we have a new way to toggle settings for high contrast, which is easier to discover and simpler to apply. We also made it easier to adjust the size of UI elements to be bigger, and take care of the DPI scaling settings for you, so you don’t have to manage it manually. We think simplifying these settings will help a large set of users. (Source)
localzuk Posted May 20, 2012 Posted May 20, 2012 I don't get that, short of black and white how can they get more contrast. White on dark blue seems quite close to that and without the additional visual distractions it should actually make it easier for them. It's big, plain and high contrast. Seems like progress in that direction. I do love the fact that UIs are getting closer and closer to LCARS (LCARS - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) proving again that scifi is a good shopping list for the future. It isn't always about 'high contrast'. It is about getting the contrast right for the user. Some need more, some need a soft background etc...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now