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Windows 8 — Disappointing Usability for Both Novice and Power Users

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Re: Windows 8 — Disappointing Usability for Both Novice and Power Users

#221

Post by robomartin »

joelreymont wrote: post #192
robomartin wrote: post #60

I have yet to take the leap in terms of using it day-to-day. I just don't have the time to play. I had my kid install it in a small netbook we were not using just to see what it felt like. Neither one of us is interested in using it very far past boot. It's one of those "Right. Brilliant!" moments and then the notebook is closed shut and turned off. Professionally my concern has to do with wasting time and not being…

Offtopic: Can you please poke me via email or otherwise? I'd love to chat. Your profile on HN has no contact info. Thanks!

Done. Via Linkedin.

Re: Windows 8 — Disappointing Usability for Both Novice and Power Users

#222

Post by omni »

w1ntermute wrote: post #211
vibrunazo wrote: post #200

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Posting this from my Android tablet, it has no unified search for many months since it was updated after the lawsuit. Original Samsung galaxy tab 10.1 running the latest official Samsung 4.0 update. So no, not a misconception. Many Android devices don't have it because of apple.

No, still a misconception. You're not running Android, you're running a version of Android adulterated by Samsung. The latest release of stock Android has unified search built in.

Good luck explaining this to the (vast majority) of Android users that have an "adulterated" version.

Re: Windows 8 — Disappointing Usability for Both Novice and Power Users

#224

Post by rogerbinns »

cstejerean wrote: post #165
rogerbinns wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

BTW Android tried the whole unified search thing. Back in the days of hardware buttons there was even one of the four dedicated to just search. A running app could detect the button press and bring up a standardized search interface. If the search started outside an app (eg home screen) then you get the same standard search interface. Each app could register as a search provider - responding with content relevant to…

Which iOS device do you have? Search works great for me on the iPhone 5, and click on an email search result definitely takes me to the email.

iPod Touch 4G running iOS 6.

Re: Windows 8 — Disappointing Usability for Both Novice and Power Users

#225

Post by cead_ite »

potatolicious wrote: post #12

Have been using a Surface as well as a Win8 desktop for a couple of weeks now, and I have to say this is pretty accurate. When WinPhone first came out with the Metro UI I was a fan - there's a visual simplicity to it that's very appealing. After you use it for a while though the weaknesses become pretty glaring and hard to accept. It is often very hard to tell what UI elements are interactive and what are purely info…

I guess I don’t know on the Surface…

But if you have a keyboard, you can do ᴀʟᴛ + F4, or kill it in the task manager…

Re: Windows 8 — Disappointing Usability for Both Novice and Power Users

#226

Post by molmalo »

conradfr wrote: post #153
rlu wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is pinch to zoom obvious? Is left clicking obvious? Is ctrl alt delete obvious? Is spacebar to pause/resume video/music obvious? I'm no UEX expert but all of the above seem to be things that many people know how to do, yet would not seem immediately obvious at first. I am quite confident that "swiping in from the right to reveal charms/commands/options" will join the ranks of the above. It'll just take a few months o…

There is a LOT of people that don't even understand ctrl-c ctrl-v and go to the menu each time to do it.

I still use Ctrl+Insert, Shift+Insert =)

Re: Windows 8 — Disappointing Usability for Both Novice and Power Users

#227

Post by Shamanmuni »

hackinthebochs wrote: post #180
CamperBob2 wrote: post #72

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The start menu was always kind off useless No, it was not. It was nerfed in Windows 7, presumably as a way to deprecate it before Windows 8 got rid of it entirely, but it was very useful for a great many people before that. Installing ClassicShell to put the XP Start Menu back is the very first thing any power user should be doing on a new Windows 7/8 machine. If I want to type the names of programs to run them, I'll…

Come now, the start menu is a joke and always has been. Navigating multi-layered menus, where a slight misalignment makes you lose your place? Or an unsorted jumble of applications links from years of installing? You call that usable? Any power user worth his salt ditched the start menu eons ago with launchy or something similar. Even windows 7 came with a meaningful app search. Anyone clinging to the start menu as s…

It's quite usable for casual users who don't know the names of the applications and want to explore what's in the computer. KDE offers a gret solution for this; in the start menu applications are organized by category and there's a short description next to the icon explaining what it does.

If you enter a category it doesn't add a layer, it shows the applications in the same view as if you were opening a folder; and at the bottom you always have a Search bar which works great and power users can comfortably use.

So, say, you want an application to play video. You go to Applications, select the Multimedia category, and click on the icon that says "Video player".

Both Unity and Gnome3 also have solutions in which you don't have to compromise or use quirky macros to get the behaviour you want. You can have the best of both worlds. But then, as usual, many will continue bashing Linux GUIs as if they were a usability nightmare and totally inferior. C'est la vie.

Re: Windows 8 — Disappointing Usability for Both Novice and Power Users

#228

Post by jakeonthemove »

estel wrote: post #173
jakeonthemove wrote: post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But you do HAVE to use it! Start computer - Metro, Open app - Metro, Search for something - Metro, Shutdown/Restart - Metro, Windows Updates - Metro, Control Panel - Metro, switch apps - Metro, and more. It's a real PITA when you get the huge goddamn Start Menu when you want to do something simple... And even if you do reduce that to a minimum (which is possible), it's still stupid - here you are working with 4 windo…

Is it a problem that the start menu is huge? The traditional start menu has always felt like a huge usability nightmare to me and I'm nothing but glad that it's been replaced.

In my opinion, yes, it's pretty annoying. I never work in full screen, but even if I did the objects are too big and you have to move the mouse a lot more, which is a drawback on a desktop/laptop...

Re: Windows 8 — Disappointing Usability for Both Novice and Power Users

#229

Post by eddieroger »

WayneDB wrote: post #195
eddieroger wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think I did. The argument here was "well, if Apple can assume that users are going to learn a list of shortcuts, why can't Microsoft." The answer is because the keyboard shortcuts on OS X are actually shortcuts, not required for using the operating system. The gestures Microsoft has incorporated in to Win8 are the only way of doing things, whereas I can do things a few different ways on OS X. Let's stick with closi…

OS X shortcuts are actually shortcuts, except when they're not... How about Command-Tab? There's only one way to access that functionality. How do you capture a screen in OS X without the secret "shortcut" keys or the command-line? How about ejecting a secondary optical drive? Zooming in and out?

How about Command-Tab? Click on the icons in the dock.

Capture a screen? Grab.app

Eject secondary drive? Drag it to the trash can.

You got me on the zoom in/out. I don't know that one. But I could make an argument that this one is not a shortcut, but the only command, as it falls under accessibility.

Re: Windows 8 — Disappointing Usability for Both Novice and Power Users

#230

Post by marshray »

jpatte wrote: post #174
Cbasedlifeform wrote: post #2

Wow. Scathing: One of the worst aspects of Windows 8 for power users is that the product's very name has become a misnomer. "Windows" no longer supports multiple windows on the screen. Win8 does have an option to temporarily show a second area in a small part of the screen, but none of our test users were able to make this work. Also, the main UI restricts users to a single window, so the product ought to be renamed…

"Windows" no longer supports multiple windows on the screen. I don't understand how they can make such a bold claim and get away with it. That is NOT TRUE. A power user who needs multiple windows will quickly understand that using the Desktop is in order, so he can work exactly the way he was on Windows 7.

It's basically true for Windows RT, for which Microsoft has stated there will be no new Desktop apps approved for it. AFAICT, WinRT is the new officially-recommended API and support for Win32 desktop apps is legacy.
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