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The Critics Rave... for Microsoft?

nytimes.com

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Re: The Critics Rave... for Microsoft?

#11

Post by ugh »

joe_the_user wrote: post #5

I actually Microsoft UI's have been good if not the best for usability in terms of accomplishing a task over time. MS' main problem has been the "ugly on first blush" problem and even then, their interfaces have been ugly in the way an American cars, a twelve year old boy's toy hero or a supermarket tabloid are ugly. They've been flashy. lowest common denominators items that work perfectly for their intended purposes…

You are kidding, right?

One example: Have you ever actually tried to change settings or preferences in any version of Windows (for the PC)? It’s a clusterfuck and it hasn’t gotten better. The problem is not that it is ugly, the problem is that it is a pain to use.

Windows 7 has done many things right and is pretty awesome in many respects but there are important areas where its usability cannot reasonably be called good.

Re: The Critics Rave... for Microsoft?

#12

Post by [deleted] »

joe_the_user wrote: post #5

I actually Microsoft UI's have been good if not the best for usability in terms of accomplishing a task over time. MS' main problem has been the "ugly on first blush" problem and even then, their interfaces have been ugly in the way an American cars, a twelve year old boy's toy hero or a supermarket tabloid are ugly. They've been flashy. lowest common denominators items that work perfectly for their intended purposes…

[deleted]

Re: The Critics Rave... for Microsoft?

#13

Post by emmelaich »

crcsmnky wrote: post #6
vectorpush wrote: post #3

Facebook and Twitter are wired into Windows Phone Is this truly the case or are these apps just leveraging developer APIs? The former would make Windows Phone an automatic never for me.

As far as I know, just leveraging APIs to unify contact lists. If you never set them up, you're not forced to interact with them.

Yep. Some android phones (like mine) have facebook and twitter apps that cannot be uninstalled, too. Presumably by my mobile network company, not the manufacturer. I've never used them, but they do annoy with occasional update requests. Will put Cyanogen on the phone soon enough though.

Re: The Critics Rave... for Microsoft?

#14

Post by d4nt »

This is good news for Microsoft, and I really do hope they do well, but there's still a mountain to climb: tech reviewers are not the same as normal consumers and impressing them for the limited period of time it takes to write a review does not necessarily translate onto having a successful product. Here are a few challenges Microsoft still face:

1. Getting the mobile networks to take handsets running Windows Phone.

2. Training handset retailers on this new platform and promoting it enough to ensure that these handsets are actively sold to consumers.

3. Their advertising and PR must not be lame, like Microsoft advertising sometimes is.

4. The UX must be consistently slick enough over a long period of time that word of mouth among non-technical people really takes hold and the phone moves beyond the early adopter segment of the market. Phones must run for several days without a reboot. Calls must not be dropped because of crashes. UI Lockups or moments where the slick facade falls away to reveal clunky technical menus are a big no no. And the inevitable bugs must be fixed and rolled out in a timely and seamless mannor. Otherwise, when Bob from accounts notices you have a Windows Phone and asks "what's it like?" he'll sense the hesitation in your voice and choose the iPhone.

5. If things start to work out, the team will need top level executive cover to prevent in-fighting or politics from ripping the team appart or forcing an unwanted technical strategy tax (think "Windows Phone - Bing/Azure/Office Edition") from destroying the product.

6. Microsoft need to make money from these things, otherwise the project will be shelved and resourced diverted to MS Office 2020.

Re: The Critics Rave... for Microsoft?

#15

Post by anothermachine »

emmelaich wrote: post #13
crcsmnky wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As far as I know, just leveraging APIs to unify contact lists. If you never set them up, you're not forced to interact with them.

Yep. Some android phones (like mine) have facebook and twitter apps that cannot be uninstalled, too. Presumably by my mobile network company, not the manufacturer. I've never used them, but they do annoy with occasional update requests. Will put Cyanogen on the phone soon enough though.

Facebook and Twitter (and Amazon MP3) are installed by HTC/Google on the carrier-independent Nexus One, at least.

Cyanogenmod solves that problem (but introduces others, like failure to sleep properly => battery drain)

Re: The Critics Rave... for Microsoft?

#16

Post by anothermachine »

sliverstorm wrote: post #2

This is interesting, I feel like I'm starting to detect a pattern. It seems like every time Microsoft makes a product that is generally accepted to be good , they start spreading some of the team behind that product around the company as a way to try and infuse the rest of the machine with some of the new magic juice. It makes sense, but I've never really heard of it being done much in the past.

And this team-exploding is why all of Microsoft's good ideas die on the vine.

Re: The Critics Rave... for Microsoft?

#17

Post by InclinedPlane »

sliverstorm wrote: post #2

This is interesting, I feel like I'm starting to detect a pattern. It seems like every time Microsoft makes a product that is generally accepted to be good , they start spreading some of the team behind that product around the company as a way to try and infuse the rest of the machine with some of the new magic juice. It makes sense, but I've never really heard of it being done much in the past.

Sounds like just another variety of strategy tax. Sacrifice the quality of a successful project for the good of the motherland.

Re: The Critics Rave... for Microsoft?

#18

Post by Game_Ender »

ugh wrote: post #11
joe_the_user wrote: post #5

I actually Microsoft UI's have been good if not the best for usability in terms of accomplishing a task over time. MS' main problem has been the "ugly on first blush" problem and even then, their interfaces have been ugly in the way an American cars, a twelve year old boy's toy hero or a supermarket tabloid are ugly. They've been flashy. lowest common denominators items that work perfectly for their intended purposes…

You are kidding, right? One example: Have you ever actually tried to change settings or preferences in any version of Windows (for the PC)? It’s a clusterfuck and it hasn’t gotten better. The problem is not that it is ugly, the problem is that it is a pain to use. Windows 7 has done many things right and is pretty awesome in many respects but there are important areas where its usability cannot reasonably be called g…

Yep. I was installing a network printer on both XP and Windows 7 after Christmas. Those configuration dialogs have not changed in a decade, and you could scarcely call them "usable" back them.

Re: The Critics Rave... for Microsoft?

#19

Post by zmmmmm »

Microsoft won't win with WP7 until they make it in their partners interests for it to win. Google did that by giving them a say in how the operating system looked and worked and a cut of revenue from apps.

Microsoft made a nice OS but there is just no reason for either the carriers or the manufacturers to want this OS to win. Right now it is a nice option to have around to keep Google honest and that's about as far as MS partners will go to promote it. Beyond that, WP7's success is a net loss for everyone except MS with no compensating upside. Microsoft has to figure out an equation that wins for everyone like Google did, and then we'll see things happen.

Re: The Critics Rave... for Microsoft?

#20

Post by petervandijck »

nirvdrum wrote: post #9
petervandijck wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think it makes sense, a team is more than the sum of its parts.

How is it any different than hiring from outside, where ostensibly you're trying to hire people to make the team better?

You kill the magic of a successful team if you spread them out. If a team works great together, you should keep them together. The team dynamics are a lot of that success.
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