Metro UI, looks like it's there to stay on the desktop

[localzuk]

great if you have 8gb quad core pcs. school im in now has fujitsu siemens e2500 until last week most had 512 ram and they are p4 iirc they are ht p4s but thats typical i find of school pcs. While win7 even x64 runs on them video drivers are missing and not avaliable so im not sure i want to rebuild anyway

 

Windows XP with 512Mb RAM? That'd be a nightmare on its own IMO.

 

Obviously, if you have old hardware, you can't really look at updating to Windows 7 on it, but the bigger question here is why has your school let their IT get to the stage of having such old hardware? You can get refurbished Core2Duo machines with 2+GB RAM for £120 each. Even with the smallest budget you should still be able to do some replacements.

[sted]

moneys been used elsewhere and suite replacement has been put on the backburner. iirc this school this year 30 netbooks (win7x64) and a new admin server have eaten the budget nd probably a few staff laptops

[mathewdowns]

We have been testing Windows 8 out really looking at the Metro interface. We have apps for iphone, blackberry, android and windows mobile all under the brandname 'MyHighcliffe' which allow students to access their homework etc from their phone. We obviously had to start to look at Metro and play at getting an App written.

 

Have to say - impressed with the interface and how quick development can be.

 

Have a look at Windows 8 Metro Appsfor screenshots of our first school Metro App.

 

Edit - just to say Apptavi is my 'out of school' work but somewhere I have taken to posting the odd thing...... I work at Highcliffe School in Dorset.

[Nuckelsboy]

That looks quite good mathew, it is nice they are trying to simplify the app's development with win8 and that they are trying somewhat to combine the tablet and desktop processes

[zag]

Why would anyone buy a windows tablet when the apple ipads are clearly more powerful, cheaper and have better resolutions.

 

Thats the real question.

[3s-gtech]

^^AD integration would have been the easy answer to that, if only they'd put in domain support for the ARM version. As it is, it'll only be x86 powered tablets that appeal, and how many of those are there really - certainly not as common.

[zag]

^^AD integration would have been the easy answer to that, if only they'd put in domain support for the ARM version. As it is, it'll only be x86 powered tablets that appeal, and how many of those are there really - certainly not as common.

 

Yeh exactly.

 

Domain support is all well and good but when you need a core i5 to use it not many people are going to buy a £500 tablet just for that.

[SYNACK]

Why would anyone buy a windows tablet when the apple ipads are clearly more powerful, cheaper and have better resolutions.

 

Thats the real question.

 

I don't like the mandatory labotomy of the device and the user, Apple is the new great evil.

[Arthur]

have better resolutions

The best thing about the new iPad is that it seems to have spurred PC and smartphone manufacturers into putting higher-res 1920x1080 LCDs into smartphones, Android tablets and 11.6"/13.3" ultrabooks.

 

Without Apple, I wonder if other manufacturers would be happy just to continue selling devices with low-res (< 1366x768) LCDs forever?

[PiqueABoo]

higher-res 1920x1080 LCDs into .. 11.6"/13.3" ultrabooks. Without Apple, I wonder if other manufacturers would be happy just to continue selling devices with low-res (< 1366x768) LCDs forever?

 

It's not that confusing in a business-like context if you run Windows on one of those screens and remote desktop anywhere because one remote pixel = one local pixel and is very tiny. I suppose you could start making the remote side bigger, but then it's too big on the console or RDP from lower res screens. Or maybe just change the local res to blurry before you RDP anywhere.

[gpe5732]

I hate metro on the desktop. I don't want to turn this in to my own personal giant rant. If you want that, it's here: Windows 8 Will Fail | gpellis.com \\ Technology, Reflection, & Sports.

 

I just truly think Windows 8 is going to be a flop, especially in the enterprise world. Vista adoption rates were basically 0 in the enterprise world, and I honestly feel like 8 will meet that same fate. To me, it's an entirely different paradigm, one that requires re-teaching teachers and students that have already learned Windows XP or 7. Those are all evolutions, the new version is more of a revolution.

[localzuk]

We're playing with Windows 8 here at the moment and we just don't understand it.

 

Many of the things we've been doing for years are now more difficult to do because you have to get the Metro UI out of the way.

 

Something as simple as shutting down. Rather than Start -> Shutdown it is now Metro UI -> Click on the bottom right, click the cog, click the power icon, then click shutdown. Now sure, I can alter the settings so pressing the power button on my PC will turn it off, but I shouldn't have to.

 

Then there's the dual screen support. It isn't possible to have Metro open on one screen with the 'desktop' open on the other - its either Metro + useless screen or 2 desktop screens, without any menu available for quickly opening apps.

 

The next annoyance is the Windows key makes no sense - it launches the Metro UI, and if you're in the Metro UI and press it again, rather than taking you to the desktop it sends you to the last used Metro app. Which is kinda illogical to me.

 

I've seen a discussion on the Spiceworks forums where people are basically saying that it works well if you use it with a touch screen. Great, I'm sure it would actually, it looks ideal for a touch screen, but as they are still £300 - £400 for small models, they aren't exactly a device that everyone has or will buy. We're not going to buy £100k+ of touch screens for example...

Edited May 1, 2012 by localzuk
too many 'at the moment's

[Dos_Box]

I have a sneaking suspicion that W7 will become the next XP in terms of longevity unless a way can be found to make W8 play nice in the enterprise market.

[Arthur]

We're playing with Windows 8 here at the moment and we just don't understand it at the moment.

Did you spend a bit of time customizing the Start Screen?

 

The Metro hater's guide to customizing Windows 8 Consumer Preview « ZDNet

 

http://i.imgur.com/7LhBT.png

[localzuk]

Not yet, as I'm looking at out the box behaviour.

[sted]

i can confirm it does work well on a touchscreen plugged it into a smartboard to test (though the drivers arnt great on win8 my laptop when rebooted decided it had no keyboad or trackpad i had to use onscreen keyboard and external mouse to log back in on reboot lol) yes you can add tiles its basically the same as the start menu c:\users\name\appdta. . . . and add what you want there although all user diddnt seem to apply to my 2nd user for some reason (diddnt look heavily into it to be fair). Is suspct twin screen issues are the same as with media centre that wont allow full screen on screen 1/2 for tv while working on a doc on screen 2/1 always seemed to me to be an odd decision but i guess in media centres case its so that someone using the remote cant fudge up your documents etc.

 

im 100% sure its not aimed at enterprise and tbh i thing like it or not that seems to be the trend (look at firefox saying something along the lines of any time spent working on enterprise stuff was a waste) i suspect everyone thinks the desktop/laptop is dying to be replaced by phones/tablets (great for consuming data but i wouldnt even like to think about writing more than a few lines on a touchscreen even posting on forums is tedious) so tough on people who want "outdated ideas"

 

p.s.

 

whats with every os phone/tab/desktop now coming with a weather gadget i just dont see the need esp on phones its just data traffic for no reason

[Michael]

We're playing with Windows 8 here at the moment and we just don't understand it.

 

I have a sneaking suspicion that W7 will become the next XP in terms of longevity unless a way can be found to make W8 play nice in the enterprise market.

 

I totally agree with both of you chaps. Windows 7 will be supported until the year 2020.

[zag]

Did you spend a bit of time customizing the Start Screen?

 

http://i.imgur.com/7LhBT.png

 

It still looks so UGLY though. I mean seriously do they even have any graphic designers at Redmond? It looks like a collage I made in primary school

[Zoom7000]

I seem to be a little late joining the party, however, I just installed Windows 8 Release Preview on to a VM yesterday. I have to say, my fears for Metro on the desktop were just amplified to a whole new level. I just can't see how it can work in corporate environments. For reasons I won't go in to too much detail about, my school are still on XP/2003 and Office 2003. The plans to upgrade was put off as long as possible because most of the people were far too scared of the thought of Windows 7 and Office 2010 - Change, especially the ribbon. The school's argument for not upgrading was backed by the BSF being shelved etc etc. But now they are gonna have to upgrade and most of the staff here who are not so technically minded are bringing up the same fears of change again.

 

In using Metro properly for the first time yesterday, I actually had to do a Google search for how to quit an app using the mouse (without the need for Alt+F4 or simply hitting the Windows key). My favourite phrase here, to staff, is "Google is your friend" because more than 80% of the questions I get asked are simply answered by a quick Google search. Something that regular staff just don't do. If they can't see a Close (X) button at the top of the screen, they're gonna be completely lost. I've walked around school noticing that some users have their taskbars cluttered with 20+ windows, which they constantly flick between, SIMS, Word, Excel, IE, etc. Metro seems to take the productivity of multi tasking away from them. Sure, dragging a screen away using your fingers on a tablet may seem natural, but it doesn't feel right with a mouse.

 

Another thing that is going to confuse end users is Metro and non Metro apps. You go to the Start screen and you get a nice big button for IE10 Metro, which is gonna completely baffle them when they can't find the address bar! (Right Click btw - Again, another Google Search!) but then, when you go to the desktop and then click the shortcut on the taskbar for IE, you get non-Metro IE10. I don't know if Microsoft are thinking this is the answer to the corporate complaints, by giving users a half hearted attempt at a non Metro interface, but I can just see it causing mass confusion. I presume it'll be the same for Office 15 when it does arrive.

 

IMO, Microsoft are trying too hard to move to the Apple way of doing things. Apple are growing at an alarming rate in the consumer market, but they don't have anywhere near as big a base in the corporate market as Microsoft have. Sure, use Windows 8 to get up to speed with the consumer market, because, Metro does work, very well for tablets and touch devices. But I feel by forcing it on the desktop user, because I really can't see large corporate entities adopting touch devices en mass any time soon, they are alienating what has been their bread and butter for many years, the corporate/business/education market.

 

Just my opinions on the matter - Sorry for the mini rant

Edited June 20, 2012 by Zoom7000