Quote:
Originally Posted by aeriolewinters
there is actually a program that lets you customize the background of the start screen. Which got me thinking of MetroUI's actual potential. If Microsoft gives us full control of aspects of the start screen, then it's an actual replacement for the old Desktop environment for Windows: Which brings me to my point: Metro UI is still young, and I hope they develop it further. even if it costs them to drop the old desktop. I really think that the should look into making something really, really new for home users. much like how different 95 was from 3.11 |
It has potential, but the issues with the Metro start screen go beyond lack of customization. You're looking at an advanced tablet/smartphone interface... on a computer. The screen sizes on computers will generally be larger than on tablets (and of course, phones), and there is no touch interface. While a device like the Surface blurs the lines and might represent what the majority of devices will be like at some point in the future, that's not the case
now.
Metro is basically a bunch of widgets, with the rest of the desktop removed. It's useful, but was it the best design decision for a computer? Windows Vista offered desktop widgets, allowing a user to customize their own empty desktop space as they pleased. Mac OS X 10.4 introduced Dashboard, which was basically an overlay of pure widgets that could be called up and dismissed at any time with the press of a button. And of course, there are many bars and docks that can be used to express information.
Metro is an intriguing interface for tablets and smartphones. It makes less sense to me as a computer interface, particularly as a default interface that can't be changed. If Metro were more like OS X's Dashboard, it would have made a lot more sense to me.
I agree though, the shift that Microsoft introduced with Windows 8 is just getting started. There's a lot of potential.