Just wondering. Would love if someone made this a poll. :3
I find the Metro UI to be a complete redesign of Windows, and, as soon as it takes off, it will be a very nice feature of Windows 8, maybe even increase productivity, I found myself doing tasks faster with Metro UI than Aero.
Just wondering!
I voted 'Indifferent' because there are things I like about and things I don't like as much about it. I'll say this, the first two times I tried Win8, I found Metro a horrible step backward. Now I've found that I'm used to it and it's actually okay to me. I think on Tablets it's going to be really great. I have a Windows Phone 7device which is similar in concept and it's the best phone UI I've used. On Desktop I find it... Hmmm. Unneccessary, but not a problem.
I have tried to be objective on this. We've all seen cases where people just dislike something because it's different or new. So how do you get out of doing that yourself? I tried to identify the things I disliked and then consider if the principle actually held up under examination. For example, I disliked Metro because I thought it was bad for power users like me who had a tonne of different programs they would typically use and scrolling through the Metro interface looking for a particular tile rather than just clicking on the Start menu took longer.
So I went through all the programs I regularly use on my Desktop and tallied them up. Came to about 20 regular progams and a handful of obscure ones which realistically, I shouldn't be dismissing an entire interface on because every couple of weeks I would need to make an extra click or two. Now on my laptop screen which is 1366 x 768 (when are square aspect laptops going to come back into fashion?
), Metro defaults to showing four rows of five icons. So twenty programs. That matches the shortlist of programs I actually want!
And actually that is deceptive for two reasons because (a) the total is for my Desktop where the screen is much larger (1920x1200) and I'll get many more tiles by default; and (b) three columns of those tiles on my laptop are actually double-width ones. Reducing them is as simple as right-clicking and selecting smaller. That takes even my laptop up to 30 programs at the ready. So basically, I have a full-screen Start menu which is likely to have all my common programs ready there for me. I've found that they're actually pretty easy to look through and find what you want. Takes about six or seven launches of something before you're doing it automatically. The Metro screen is actually launched in the same way as the Start menu. Either move the mouse to the bottom left or tap the Windows key. So basically, I have to concede I was just prejudice at the start. I just thought that it looked dumbed down but actually it takes the same or fewer clicks to launch what I want than in Win7.
Metro is obviously more than just a Start menu, even if that's what it will be for most Desktop users at first. On a tablet I think it makes an excellent holding screen. I can tell you from WP7 that it's really nice to look down and see those clear tiles listing all sorts of information and providing an instant way to delve deeper. They're definitely onto a winner on tablet, imo. I've also taken the time to look into the development side of Metro and it's an absolute dream. Easy use of Vector graphics, revised APIs for laying out your program automatically at different resolutions and DPIs... I have to give it some points for all this because I think we're going to see some really good-looking applications for Metro. The marketplace system also gives us the positive aspects of Apple's "walled garden" without (I hope) taking away the freedom to leave that Garden (I just hope they don't go much farther down this road. They're at a nice place now, further down the road may not be so much. Windows on ARM will be skimming that "too far" zone, I suspect). So basically I see Metro being pretty cool. It doesn't take away my Desktop which was the horror I had when I first saw it. It's actually very easy and fast to flip out of Metro and back just by tapping the Windows key.
Downsides: there currently seems to be a bit of a tendency to make things full screen Metro apps without any good reason. Why on Earth my MP3 player should be a full screen thing I don't know. MS's blog say that they found most applications on a laptop spent their lives maximised when used. Hence the logic behind defaulting to that full screen look and feel. And for some things it works well. I like on my laptop the extra real estate I get with Internet Explorer for example. At least I did once I figured out how to bloody manage the different tabs. (hint: right-click on the screen to save anyone else tearing their hair out). For other things like the previously mentioned MP3 player, it's pretty silly on the Desktop to have it full screen. It runs in the background though so I suppose unless you must know which track is currently playing etc., you can just swap back to Desktop and it will do its thing. Still not convinced by that, but I can live with it. I think there's enough in Win8 to make me put up with that.
Anyway, I've promoted Win8 more than enough on these forums now! Considering most of my work is programming on Linux and I wouldn't have it any other way, I think I need to to go and start telling people how great Debian is to balance it out.
Metro. Horrible shock at first. Not bad once you're used to it. Will probably be loved by people who don't spend their lives getting worked up on forums.
EDIT: LOL! I didn't realize I'd posted in this thread already a few weeks ago. Funny reading my replies next to each other!
