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Microsoft's Research and Strategy chief, Craig Mundie, showed off a radical new interface his company has been working on.  (Source: Microsoft via YouTube)

The new UI, which some speculate may be included in Windows 8, is built around "bubbles" of information.  (Source: Microsoft via YouTube)

Microsoft also showed off a 3D picture viewer for its smart phones and tablets.  (Source: Microsoft via YouTube)
Company also shows of 3D photo client and physics-based Surface 2 apps

In a three and a half minute video, Microsoft may have shown the world what it has in store for the eagerly awaited Windows 8.  In the video Microsoft showed a radically different interface from past versions of Windows -- even Windows 7.  

Running on Surface 2, the touch-screen successor to the original Microsoft Surface, the device accepts input from a Windows Phone 7 handset (HTC HD7).

Gone are the icons that drive Windows, OS X, and Linux operating systems of past and present.  In their place are "bubbles" that interacted with files and post streaming information off the internet.  

Bubbles are auto-generated in various categories (personal, entertainment, gaming, etc.) and can also be created by a user.  Clicking on a bubble brings up a program or interaction item.  For example clicking on a bubble for an upcoming flight will display alternate flight times with weather-based probability for delays.  Users could use the interface to switch their flight, should the desire.

It's hard to say whether the new interface will indeed be bundled with Windows 8.  That would perhaps offer an explanation of why Ballmer calls Windows 8 his company's most "risky" upcoming product.

Microsoft has already gambled big with its mobile operating system, Windows Phone 7.  Unlike Android (Google) and iOS (Apple) who use chiclet grids of apps (in Android's case with widgets tossed in the mix), WP7 offers a radically different design based on colorful animated tiles.  That design attracted Nokia to embrace WP7, essentially slotting it to become the #2 mobile operating system in the world, overnight.

With Apple looking to make its next version of OS X, Lion, greatly reinvented and more "iOS-like", Microsoft might be trying a bit of the same.  Whether the new interface shows up in Windows 8, or Windows 9, perhaps, it appears like it will dramatically alter the way we interact with our desktops and laptops.

It would definitely be "risky" to place the shown UI in Windows 8; as such an interface would take a major adjustment from users and would bring certain new hardware requirements to the table (for all its fancy animations).  But the upside is that it looked extremely innovative and could allow users to gain access to the information they want most, much faster than they can currently in Windows 7.

Mr. Mundie also showed off [video] an Image Based 3D viewing client similar to Photosynth, running on Windows Phone 7.  He also showed off key features of the current Microsoft Surface, such as its pack of fun physics-based touch apps and its ability to scan in photos.  He also showed new photo-realistic avatars.

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As long as I can disable it
By phatboye on 2/25/11, Rating: 0
RE: As long as I can disable it
By StraightCashHomey on 2/25/2011 1:48:17 PM , Rating: 5
I really like the ribbon. I actually feel more productive with it. To each his own.


RE: As long as I can disable it
By Taft12 on 2/25/2011 2:19:17 PM , Rating: 1
Well in this caes it's NOT to each his own. It's to each what MS tells you you're gonna get. That's the problem with Office 2010.


RE: As long as I can disable it
By quiksilvr on 2/25/2011 3:19:07 PM , Rating: 3
You do realize in Office 2010 you can create your own ribbon and customize to make it work for you, right? And I'm not talking about hacking or installing other software, I'm talking about full-blown create-your-own ribbon. You can even export your customizations to other computers so you won't have to adjust when you start editing elsewhere.

Do your research before you troll.


RE: As long as I can disable it
By kmmatney on 2/25/2011 5:09:44 PM , Rating: 5
I don't like the ribbon that much either. It takes up too much vertical space, which is bad when combined with 16:9 screens. It's a also a pain since I use Office 2003 at work, and Office 2007 at home. I use Office far more at work than at home, so I was pissed when I found out that Microsoft didn't have a way to change the view. I often find myself using OpenOffice at home, just because I know I can find what I need much easier.


RE: As long as I can disable it
By Mitch101 on 2/27/2011 10:07:07 AM , Rating: 2
In the upper right hand corner next to the ? for help is a button that lets you expand/minimize the ribbon - boom your screen real estate is back and only visible when you click on the tabs when your in the document the ribbon is minimized again.

When your in the ribbon the scroll wheel on the mouse cycles between the tabs.


RE: As long as I can disable it
By nikon133 on 2/27/2011 3:45:11 PM , Rating: 4
I think problem here is that you are using 8 years old software at work ;)


RE: As long as I can disable it
By mindless1 on 2/28/11, Rating: 0
RE: As long as I can disable it
By FaceMaster on 2/28/2011 6:17:57 AM , Rating: 5
quote:
Office software shouldn't need to be replaced. Ever.


You're right, it's been going downhill since Microsoft Word 5.0.

http://rpmedia.ask.com/ts?u=/wikipedia/en/thumb/a/...

Who needs new software?!


RE: As long as I can disable it
By Alexvrb on 2/28/2011 8:09:56 PM , Rating: 2
Wordperfect for DOS, baby. Thank you DOSbox!!!


RE: As long as I can disable it
By Azethoth on 3/1/2011 5:10:58 AM , Rating: 2
Wrong! It peaked with Word 3.0 which had outlining mode WITH full keyboard shortcuts for all the outline commands. Everything since then has been a loss of functionality.


RE: As long as I can disable it
By frozentundra123456 on 2/28/2011 8:23:39 AM , Rating: 5
I absolutely hate the Ribbon in Office too. It was completely unnecessary and adds nothing but a layer of complexity. I use excel for a lot of scientific graphing and the old interface is much easier to use and allowed better functionality.

Wonder how resource intensive Win 8 will be??


RE: As long as I can disable it
By tastyratz on 2/28/2011 11:55:55 AM , Rating: 3
wow, lots of people getting voted down for not loving the ribbon interface.
Guess what? I don't like it too! I find it much easier for new users to office to learn, and much easier to perform basic tasks... but instead of being buried in a menu or harder to find buttons I have to customize my toolbar for that oddball function? That is not user friendly at all!!

I like the idea of the ribbon don't get me wrong, just not the default execution.

Why no advanced button, advanced page, more functions page, etc on the ribbons?

Why not click formatting once for the usual buttons, and click it a second time for the advanced ones less commonly used?

Microsoft had an opportunity to really expand upon your options with the ribbon and make it easier for both the advanced and novice user. What used to fit on 1 "page" of tools is now spread out over a handful, yet they still took buttons away.


RE: As long as I can disable it
By HoosierEngineer5 on 2/26/11, Rating: 0
RE: As long as I can disable it
By dark matter on 2/27/2011 8:19:05 AM , Rating: 2
Hardly comparable.

Drama student are we?


By HoosierEngineer5 on 2/28/2011 8:55:24 PM , Rating: 3
Let's say 20 million folks in the US are forced to use this tool, and need to spend a half hour needlessly working on it. Also, figure $25 per hour(that's pretty cheap). A quarter billion dollars is probably chump change to a person like you.


RE: As long as I can disable it
By SPOOFE on 2/27/2011 9:38:54 PM , Rating: 3
Vote with your wallet. If it's not to your liking, don't buy it.


By HoosierEngineer5 on 2/28/2011 8:57:12 PM , Rating: 3
Sorry, it was at work, no option.


RE: As long as I can disable it
By frozentundra123456 on 2/28/2011 8:28:53 AM , Rating: 2
This only reinforces the op's point. Not only do you expect him to learn the ribbon but to learn to customise it himself. That is like shooting yourself twice instead of once and somehow that is supposed to be better.
The ribbon is not necessary. Repeat, not necessary.


RE: As long as I can disable it
By quiksilvr on 2/28/11, Rating: 0
RE: As long as I can disable it
By Samus on 2/25/2011 3:21:08 PM , Rating: 3
I still know people who revert to the "Windows 9x/2000" in Windows 7. *sigh*


RE: As long as I can disable it
By p05esto on 2/26/2011 12:05:22 AM , Rating: 1
Yes, that would be me. A web developer of 12 years. I want a fast and simple OS, I HATE all that stupid stupid eye candy and pointless UI junk that just gets in the way. All I need to do is launch programs and in Win7 they screwed up the start men so that you can't even manage a few dozen application icons without going through "all programs"...It's just terrible, built for complete morons.


RE: As long as I can disable it
By noirsoft on 2/26/2011 2:39:18 AM , Rating: 4
As a "web developer of 12 years" you haven't figured out how to uncheck "use large icons" and/or select "pin to start menu" for your favorite apps?

Of course, the proper way is to pin your most common to the taskbar, then use the recently used part of the start menu for your second tier (since it is smart enough to not put things there that are on your taskbar)

All I can see is that since you can't use your old, ineffiient way of doing things exactly the same since MS improved the Start Menu in Windows Vista, you are going to complain.

Oh, these darn automobiles! why can't they be as easy to use as my old horse buggy! I keep hitting the car on the side, and it doesn't go faster! Clearly they designed it to be slower than a horse since a horse was "too powerfiul" for people!


RE: As long as I can disable it
By JediJeb on 2/26/2011 2:15:17 PM , Rating: 3
quote:
Oh, these darn automobiles! why can't they be as easy to use as my old horse buggy! I keep hitting the car on the side, and it doesn't go faster! Clearly they designed it to be slower than a horse since a horse was "too powerfiul" for people!


I too prefer the older UI to the Vista/7 one. And when you use this example it really make me laugh when I think of the recent Top Gear episode where they are going to have a race and it takes them 5 minutes just to make adjustments in new cars for traction control, suspension response, surface conditions, ect that the new cars have added. Sometimes old and simple is better than new and simple or new and weird.

As for the Ribbon being better, why? Before I had the full menu across the top and if I clicked on say Formatting in just dropped down the list of what I needed, now you click and you get a whole new ribbon across the top and have to look through it to find what you need. I usually now disable the Ribbon and make shortcuts to the top similar to the old style menus, but when I need something a little deeper down the lists I have to open the silly ribbon and search through it to find what I need, and it is usually in a place I would never think to place it.


RE: As long as I can disable it
By tayb on 2/27/2011 12:35:11 AM , Rating: 3
You and your three friends can keep the old Windows UI. The rest of the world will move on to the greatly improved UI in Windows 7. I can't see how anyone could possibly prefer the old taskbar when confronted with the new task bar. Do you hate productivity?

Let's be honest here the only reason you don't like the ribbon is because you don't know where things are. You knew where everything was in the previous version of office and you didn't care how annoying it was to get to it because you KNEW where it was. The ribbon is a better UI. Microsoft can't and shouldn't hold back UI improvements because people like you can't adapt.


RE: As long as I can disable it
By SPOOFE on 2/27/2011 9:42:42 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Microsoft can't and shouldn't hold back UI improvements because people like you can't adapt.

But they should keep the option of reverting to different UI setups, just because that will make a more attractive product and net them better sales.


RE: As long as I can disable it
By JKflipflop98 on 2/28/2011 4:04:29 AM , Rating: 1
. . . and then you'll be right back here bitching at Microsoft about all the "worthless bloat that slows down mah PeeCeee!".


RE: As long as I can disable it
By SPOOFE on 2/28/2011 8:20:44 PM , Rating: 2
I will? What leads you to expect a dramatic shift in my behavior?


RE: As long as I can disable it
By 91TTZ on 3/1/2011 9:48:24 AM , Rating: 2
Just about everyone I know hates the ribbon. The old way was definitely better and the only reason that they changed it is because the previous 2 or 3 versions looked the same for the most part. They needed to change something to get people to buy the new product.


RE: As long as I can disable it
By dark matter on 2/27/2011 8:20:55 AM , Rating: 1
I imagine your websites still look like they did during the Geocities era as you're obviously not willing to move with the times.


RE: As long as I can disable it
By SPOOFE on 2/27/2011 9:44:18 PM , Rating: 1
Like guys that still shoot film, eh? They're not willing to move with the times. Or maybe those crusty old farts that still paint with a brush on canvas; haven't they ever heard of Photoshop? They're not willing to move with the times.


RE: As long as I can disable it
By icanhascpu on 2/28/2011 4:02:19 AM , Rating: 3
Sorry, but trying to equate your ignorance and stubborn attitude when facing superior changes in UI design to people choosing digital or analog methods of artistic tooling only shows what a troll you are.


RE: As long as I can disable it
By SPOOFE on 2/28/2011 8:22:13 PM , Rating: 2
Point
.
.
.
.
.
Your head

If the tools get the job done, why whine about the tools?


RE: As long as I can disable it
By icanhascpu on 3/23/2011 8:36:21 PM , Rating: 2
Just because a bike can get you to work, doesn't mean you have to ride it in the rain.

Point
.
.
.
.
.
Your head


By piroroadkill on 2/28/2011 5:24:07 AM , Rating: 3
You're an idiot. The old UI ISN'T FASTER.

In WINDOWS 7, THIS OLD UI IS COMPLETELY UNACCELERATED, AND IS SLOWER THAN WINDOWS XP OR 2000.

Aero is literally faster, whilst being better looking.


RE: As long as I can disable it
By really on 2/28/2011 7:32:56 PM , Rating: 2
I love comments like this. The start menu other than the icon changed from a rectangle to a circle works the same as it did in vista and xp. I have well over a dozen apps on my start menu and I don't go through "all apps". It seems to me the morons are the ones who can't adapt to small changes or think things have changed drastically when they haven't changed at all.

What's so hard to use about the ribbon in Office 2007/2010. Most of the functionality is there. Right on the bar. You want formating you click on formatting and most formatting tools are there unlike previous versions that had just massive lists which actually hide most of the functional options.You click on a picture and the bar automatically switches to the tools you need for dealing with pictures.


RE: As long as I can disable it
By SPOOFE on 2/28/2011 8:24:14 PM , Rating: 2
I love all this talk about "adapting"; as if there's only one way to accomplish everything! You adapt when there's a legitimate need; for some there is, for some there isn't, and for some it's a toss-up.


RE: As long as I can disable it
By xti on 2/25/2011 3:30:18 PM , Rating: 2
the problem with Office 2010 is that it wasn't free...otherwise, I use it, like many, day in and day out for hours on a day.


RE: As long as I can disable it
By The Imir of Groofunkistan on 2/25/2011 3:38:18 PM , Rating: 2
That's not worth saying. Every piece of software is the same. They make it, if you like it, you buy it. Is google apps any different? No, they make what they think you like. That's how making things works.


RE: As long as I can disable it
By StraightCashHomey on 2/25/2011 4:08:21 PM , Rating: 1
They should just come up with software where you write your own software. That way, it's exactly how you want it.


RE: As long as I can disable it
By StevoLincolnite on 2/25/2011 8:51:59 PM , Rating: 2
Like on a Commodore 64? Boy those were the days... Spending hours typing in code from a magazine to play a "Demo". (No demo discs.)
And when you got bored with the game, go back to it and alter it to make it do other cool stuff.

Actually scratch that, I prefer the way it stands now. o.o


RE: As long as I can disable it
By callmeroy on 3/1/2011 3:39:57 PM , Rating: 2
LOL....I remember those days...

Man I was a geek....you know how many hours I wasted away typing in programs from magazines on my ol' C64....then saving them to casette tape....then finally I got a 1541 drive 5 1/4" floppies FTW!

....damn and the kids complain today if their game has a second of lag....


RE: As long as I can disable it
By Stoanhart on 2/25/2011 6:23:05 PM , Rating: 2
Well, they can't really support both. They spend many, many millions of dollars doing extensive UI design research and user testing. What the came up with is infinitely more intuitive to most users, and they're moving forward with it. It's simply not feasible from a cost and effort point of view to support two different interfaces from now on. You're just going to have to suck it up and get used to the new UI. In time, you'll become just as productive with it as you were with the old one.


RE: As long as I can disable it
By SPOOFE on 2/27/2011 9:53:57 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Well, they can't really support both. They spend many, many millions of dollars doing extensive UI design research and user testing

Which means they already SPENT many millions of dollars doing extensive UI design research on the OLD user interfaces so there's no reason not to include them. What support is necessary? There's a decade of support history to draw upon; there's no tweaks or patches necessary for what is essentially just a skin.

It's not progress to toss out what was a perfectly workable design just because they have one that looks "fancier" or that some people ridiculously think is "infinitely more intuitive" (hint: using absurd hyperbole doesn't make up for a wimpy point). How many megabytes will they save out of a multi-gigabyte install? How difficult would it be to check/uncheck an option during install or setup, if you just plain can't stand anything less recent than 2010 existing in your glorious machine?


RE: As long as I can disable it
By 3DoubleD on 2/25/2011 1:50:13 PM , Rating: 2
Office XP, at least upgrade to Office 2003 and only be 8 years behind the times!

However, I'll agree with you in that I am also not as productive with the ribbon than I was with the traditional layout, but my prime Word/Excel years were with Office 2003. The real test would be to see how productive people are who learned with the ribbon system. Plus apparently with Office 2010 you can just customize your own ribbons... what could be better than that?

In regards to this "bubble" interface.. get real, this will never happen. The last "bubble" like interface I recall MS producing was the original Xbox system interface... look what they did with that. Plus businesses don't want crazy new ideas, they want things that get the job done and require minimal training and maintenance. If we ever move away from the current OS layout, it will be done very, very, very slowly. Think evolution, not revolution.


RE: As long as I can disable it
By callmeroy on 2/25/2011 2:06:00 PM , Rating: 2
That's just it though....when it comes to Office 2k3 (or XP) how many people really are "8 years behind the times"...

You can list all the neat features of 2010 for instance that XP or 2k3 can't do but...in all truth and honesty I really don't believe the majority of people use anything by the tried and true basics that office suites debuted many years ago.

Most people just care about sending emails (w or w/o attachments), writing letters, the ability to spell check and making a spreadsheet (and most don't even do that).

I have office 97 installed in one of my computers at home still...works fine...and I've written letters and short stories on it for years.


RE: As long as I can disable it
By 3DoubleD on 2/25/2011 2:29:16 PM , Rating: 3
The real problem is the incompatibility of .docx, .xlsx, .pptx, ect. I have a supervisor who refuses to upgrade because of what people have told him about the ribbon. He's completely corrupted 200 page documents by opening them in Office 2003, making comments, and then saving. That's even with the "patches" from Microsoft. Yes the functionality hasn't change much, but the file type has. Guess I'm the idiot for not writing such a large document in latex, but my supervisor is even less compatible with latex than .docx.


RE: As long as I can disable it
By hsew on 2/25/2011 6:40:16 PM , Rating: 2
I bet your supervior hates being incompatible with latex.


RE: As long as I can disable it
By callmeroy on 3/1/2011 3:26:42 PM , Rating: 2
don't write in .docx..problem solved.

(you can still write notations in .doc - i do it all the time)

I juse .doc and I use .pdf those are my main file formats...

oh and because I loathe paper -- I do use .xps but that has nothing to do with Office...that's native to the OS.


RE: As long as I can disable it
By RjBass on 2/25/2011 1:53:31 PM , Rating: 2
The ribbon in Office 2010 is much better in my opinion. But ya, to each his own.


RE: As long as I can disable it
By kmmatney on 2/25/2011 5:18:02 PM , Rating: 2
I started with Word 2.0, back in 1994, so spent 14 years doing all my work with the traditional menus, before buyinh Office 2007 for home use. Maybe the ribbon is potentially better, but I spent too many years with the traditional menu, so I doubt I'll ever be as productive with it. I still use Office 2003 at work everyday, making me really hate to transition to the ribbon at home. Maybe the ribbon is great, but Microsoft should have still given people a choice.


By StevoLincolnite on 2/25/2011 8:54:27 PM , Rating: 1
I'm personally happy with just using Notepad. o.o

But I find the ribbon interface for Office awesome once you have customized it to your own needs, I just don't use it all that much these days.


RE: As long as I can disable it
By bigboxes on 2/25/2011 1:51:51 PM , Rating: 5
So, what you are saying is that you fear change and are incapable of learning. I too was put off at first by "the ribbon". After a while things got easier. I even found a patch that added back the traditional drop-down menus that we are all so familiar with. Of course the more I used the new interface the easier it became. I can now find things more intuitively than I ever could with the traditional menus. Yeah, these "bubbles" look stupid, but you never know. You sound like my father who after graduating from a computer class with a top score refused to use his computer over his typewriter.


RE: As long as I can disable it
By MeesterNid on 2/25/2011 2:04:29 PM , Rating: 3
There is a vast difference in something that is intuitive and feels "natural" to use and something that is forced and makes conform your natural tendencies so that you can use it. I believe that people are talking about this thing in that context.

A shallow learning curve is almost always expected with new things, especially operating systems. But if the curve starts becoming more steep that's when people get concerned.


RE: As long as I can disable it
By CZroe on 2/25/2011 2:24:12 PM , Rating: 2
I roundly criticized anyone who disabled the XP-style start menu ten years ago but ALL TOO OFTEN it seems the MS FORGOT why they did things a certain way in the first place and make something that is less capable and markedly inferior. There is no three-finger salute to kick back to 2D when Aero has an issue, there are black screens without animations during boot up, there are invisible control boxes that don't provide the extra functionality once provided by OLE or right-clicking, and on and on.


RE: As long as I can disable it
By eskimospy on 2/25/2011 2:26:13 PM , Rating: 2
I have to say I was a doubter of the ribbon too at first, but after using it for awhile there's really no comparison, it is vastly, VASTLY superior to the old menus.

I agree that they should have kept an option available for people to use the old menus, backwards compatibility is something that anything as entrenched as office should have, but every person I know who has given the ribbon a fair shake has ended up liking it.


By frozentundra123456 on 2/28/2011 8:36:44 AM , Rating: 2
not me.


RE: As long as I can disable it
By phatboye on 2/25/2011 3:21:56 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
So, what you are saying is that you fear change and are incapable of learning.


No that is not what I am saying at all. I do not fear change in fact I thought the ribbon idea was good at first until I tried it. And I am sure as hell I am capable of learning. Just because the ribbon has worked for you doesn't mean it works well for others. That's a pretty shitty attitude you have there.

I am all for change but only when I can see a tangible benefit from that change. I've been using MS office 2007 with it's ribbon style UI since around the time it was released so yes I have had a good amount of time to become familiar with the interface. But for me it seems to make me less productive than with the old interface. That sure as hell doesn't mean I'm incapable of learning or fear change, it's simply means it does not work for me. So until MS decides to stop deciding what is best for me and allow me to revert back to the old style UI I will stick with office XP or move onto another office productivity suite that can deliver what I want from it.

Also others in this article are saying that Office 2010's ribbon is a lot better, I've yet to use office 2010 so I can't say if I like it or not at this time but once I get a chance to try it if I like it I may go and buy that instead.


RE: As long as I can disable it
By Master Kenobi (blog) on 2/25/2011 5:37:38 PM , Rating: 2
There is a fully functional 90 day trial of MS Office 2010 available for free for you to play around with.
http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/try/


RE: As long as I can disable it
By phatboye on 2/25/2011 6:28:02 PM , Rating: 2
I'll give it a shot


RE: As long as I can disable it
By DominionSeraph on 2/25/2011 5:03:50 PM , Rating: 1
Windows is an OS, not an office application.


RE: As long as I can disable it
By FaceMaster on 2/28/2011 6:30:03 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
Windows is an OS, not an office application.


No, Windows is a friend. A work colleague. A feeling. A fresh summers' breeze in an otherwise putrid, rotten-apple world... Windows is a way of life.

/end advert


RE: As long as I can disable it
By ncage on 2/25/2011 1:59:21 PM , Rating: 2
I doubt they can because of what usually constrains microsoft....businesses. Which to me is a bad thing but there isn't much me or you can do about it. Its Microsoft's bread & butter (volume license agreements). To many people at a lot of businesses would complain about this. Apple isn't constrained as much as Microsoft is because of their market. I'll be honest with you i wish windows was more skinable like windows. Thats probably the wrong term because i don't want dos/windows back. Just for windows to load a base system and you could put whatever on top of that. Kind of like what you can do with XWindows & Linux. So you can use KDE, XFCE, or whatever you want.

I really want something fresh & new from the ui perspective. I think avalon/WPF or whatever you want to call it, is a great place to start. One of the biggest problems through different iterations of windows was the ability of a bad program to lock up the UI part of windows (explorer.exe) and its old GDI/GDI+ subsystem. So if it was more skinable then buisness users could keep their old archaic Win95 type of interface and i could have something fresh & new. If you think about it. The interface of windows hasn't change that much from Win95. Maybe the search box on the start menu and little eye candy like window previews is all i can think of. Its getting a little old.


RE: As long as I can disable it
By saganhill on 2/25/2011 3:07:27 PM , Rating: 3
Change is good. Keeping an old UI just because "You're used to it" is not valid. Technology by its very nature is meant to change and evolve.


By ZachDontScare on 2/25/2011 3:32:59 PM , Rating: 1
'because you're used to it' is a very good reason not to change things. People want to be productive with their PCs. What they dont want is to invest time learning a new GUI when they had no interest in one. They want to spend their time doing other things that are more important to them. To most people, a PC is a tool, and not the center of their life.

Change just for change's sake, isnt a good idea. Remember, MS's job is not to make you more productive, its to make MS more money.


RE: As long as I can disable it
By DominionSeraph on 2/25/11, Rating: -1
RE: As long as I can disable it
By JediJeb on 2/26/2011 2:27:15 PM , Rating: 1
So why don't we switch all new cars to being steered by your feet and your speed and brakes controlled by your hands?

Sometimes change can be very disrupting and counter productive.


RE: As long as I can disable it
By DaSHinVegas on 2/26/2011 4:35:24 PM , Rating: 2
And if it is, generally a company like Microsoft would be intelligent enough not to dump all over their complete market domination by forcing crap. They are #1 for a reason, they didn't get there because they are stupid.


RE: As long as I can disable it
By SPOOFE on 2/27/2011 10:13:47 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Keeping an old UI just because "You're used to it" is not valid.

Huh? It's the most valid explanation in the world.

quote:
Technology by its very nature is meant to change and evolve.

No, technology by its very nature is meant to complement man's endeavors. This means implementations of technology can be as varied as mankind itself while still being perfectly sound.


RE: As long as I can disable it
By callmeroy on 3/1/2011 3:22:30 PM , Rating: 2
That's ridiculous...

Not wanting to change a UI that you are perfectly used to and productive on may be a perfectly valid reason not to want change for that person.

the OS (like the computer itself) is just a tool...tools do us more harm than good if they don't make us productive.

Why am I spending money on a tool to make me LESS efficient or productive?

Hence why regardless of how cool a new OS looks if its not as intuitive as the prior OS , that's NOT progress...that's regress.


RE: As long as I can disable it
By Justin Time on 2/25/2011 3:41:10 PM , Rating: 2
Office-XP !?!

That must make you popular when exchanging documents.

Go here: http://www.addintools.com/

Classic toolbar ribbon for Office-2007/10


RE: As long as I can disable it
By flyingrooster on 2/25/11, Rating: 0
RE: As long as I can disable it
By SPOOFE on 2/27/2011 10:14:58 PM , Rating: 2
Good advice, as long as the program suits your needs (it does mine :D ).


RE: As long as I can disable it
By HoosierEngineer5 on 2/26/2011 9:32:23 AM , Rating: 1
I heartily agree. After taking a trip through Microsoft's website for a half an hour (finally ended up in an infinite loop), speaking to the help desk (which couldn't), we finally stumbled on the technique. Effort burned up as friction.
Most of you are probably too young to remember when there was a new text editor every year or two. They all did the same thing, but in a different way. More effort was expended to use the tool than to do work.


RE: As long as I can disable it
By murray13 on 2/26/2011 7:47:43 PM , Rating: 2
Remember using Word and WordPerfect WITHOUT a mouse, having to learn two sets of shortcuts for everything you wanted to do? Then you had another set of shortcuts to learn for Lotus 1-2-3...

Never did get the counter-intuitive commands in edlin, had a 'edit' clone for those non-MS-Dos machines.

Those were the days, you actually got to push a button on the front of the PC to go from running at 4 to 6 to 8 Mhz, and it had a display to show you how fast it was running!

Some days I still long for the time that it was much more complex but simpler...

I do remember all this even though I'm only 43...


What the...
By morphologia on 2/25/2011 3:20:00 PM , Rating: 5
Is it just me, or is this indicative of a trend of dumbing down the personal computer? This is like the interface of one of those ditzy multimedia phones...all bright colors and pretty shapes, like it's designed to appeal to kids with 2-millisecond attention spans.

I do NOT want my computer to go from being an all-purpose information machine, to being an overpriced toy. If I wanted a glitzy doofus box I'd buy Apple.




RE: What the...
By damianrobertjones on 2/25/2011 3:26:31 PM , Rating: 5
Neither do I, BUT, standard people out there like Mum/Dad and people that like glittering things do want dumb operating systems that hold their hand. Try not to think of it from a tech point of view, more like 'ohh pretty'.


RE: What the...
By morphologia on 2/25/2011 3:34:24 PM , Rating: 5
People don't learn how to use these things properly, even at a basic level, because they don't have to...because there are those out there willing to do it for them. I'm taking about the people who actually do go out and buy a new desktop when theirs gets cluttered down with spyware and crap that they downloaded and installed themselves...just like in those stupid commercials for the computer speed-up service garbage.

How long before we're all like the folks in "WALL-E" (shudder)??

Ugh...I think I'll do some computer maintenance and then go jogging...


RE: What the...
By kyleb2112 on 2/25/2011 7:32:21 PM , Rating: 4
There's bound to be some area in your life where you're a complete noob with bad habits that would horrify an expert. My computer is pristine, but I'm not a "car guy", and if a gearhead looked over my car he'd probably find me comparably negligent. And maybe you maintain your computer AND car in tip top shape while living on a personal diet of Cheetos and Red Bull...


RE: What the...
By Omega215D on 2/26/2011 12:06:53 AM , Rating: 5
I dunno but when I buy something I try to learn as much as I can about what I'm interested in buying and then the specific model of what I'm buying. There's no reason not to learn a little about what you just bought.

A mind is a terrible thing to... a to hell with it.


RE: What the...
By vol7ron on 2/26/2011 9:00:47 AM , Rating: 2
I just don't think there's much imagination left for anything else to do with the OS.

Programmers/designers can do almost anything they want these days, but their execution is horrible.


RE: What the...
By Solandri on 2/26/2011 2:56:22 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
Neither do I, BUT, standard people out there like Mum/Dad and people that like glittering things do want dumb operating systems that hold their hand.

I think Unix/Linux has the right idea here. The base operating system functions independently from the graphical shell. Everyone is free to use the glitzy GUI or the technical GUI based on their own preference.

You give up consistency between installations, but that could be solved by just having 2 or 3 standard GUIs for people to pick from. Like how some apps have a standard mode which hides most of the options, and an advanced mode for power users. If mom&dad's PC has the glitzy bubble GUI and you need to do some maintenance work on it, you could just click an option and it would switch to the more complicated GUI you know and love.


RE: What the...
By drycrust3 on 2/26/11, Rating: 0
RE: What the...
By Rasterman on 2/25/2011 3:47:11 PM , Rating: 2
Of course its dumbing it down. But the real question is this better than what we have now? I don't care what my UI looks like or how I interact with it, I just want to get something done with it. The biggest problem with this UI is you basically have to learn a entirely new way to interact with a computer, and every website and application has be totally redesigned, this is a massive amount of work. This may be fine for someone living under a rock the last 20 years, but for 99% of the population, why the hell do we need or want to learn a new way to interact with the computer? It is irrelevant that it is easier to learn when everyone already knows how to use a computer. And there is no way it is faster or more precise than what we have now. For example take their example in the video of changing your airline flight time:

now:
open browser
log into account
change flight time with mouse
click enter

in their ui:
navigate to bubble tilting phone
assume account is logged in already, if not how do you enter your login details? a very slow phone keyboard?
tilt phone to change flight to a predetermined set of values, not very many options here, and if there are they will take a long time to navigate
accept changes

It doesn't seem like its any better to me, just a different way of doing it. Its like the iPhone, it introduced a new way of interacting with apps, which forced banks, airlines, stock traders, etc, all of these websites to create a custom interface and app for the iphone to do these things, which you can already do via the web, but since they are all forced to use this similar iphone gui and layout they are somewhat easier to use, but at the cost of not having all the options, and not working on many platforms. Any iphone app could be an extremely simple webpage and you would have the same thing. Bubbles seems to be the same to me, you wont be able to get anything serious done with bubbles, and non serious stuff is already easy to do so why even use this to begin with, my guess is because it looks pretty and is new.


RE: What the...
By Denigrate on 2/25/2011 4:18:12 PM , Rating: 2
Welcome to Idiocracy!


RE: What the...
By Camikazi on 2/25/2011 5:04:15 PM , Rating: 2
Electrolytes, it's what plants crave!


RE: What the...
By Kurz on 2/26/2011 9:00:18 AM , Rating: 2
Brawndo, It's got what plants crave!


RE: What the...
By SPOOFE on 2/27/2011 10:17:36 PM , Rating: 2
But why do they crave it?


RE: What the...
By VahnTitrio on 2/25/2011 4:58:13 PM , Rating: 2
I like my interfaces to be clean and intuitive. Unfortunately though, that often means functions that used to be easily accessible and up buried in layers of menus.


RE: What the...
By cfaalm on 2/25/2011 6:54:39 PM , Rating: 4
Who knows, you might be able to go into Expert-mode/Classic view and everything will look like W7 :-)

This looks more like a tablet OS than a desktop OS. I hope it can be toned down with a theme or so, so it doesn't look like a toy. It doesn't matter too much though when it's simply cleverly built.


RE: What the...
By Argon18 on 2/25/11, Rating: -1
RE: What the...
By DominionSeraph on 2/25/2011 8:04:21 PM , Rating: 4
Linux. Enjoy your GL Quake.


RE: What the...
By inighthawki on 2/25/2011 11:32:01 PM , Rating: 2
You seriously believe that OSX, one of the most dumbed down and simplified OS interfaces in the world to keep up to par with Apple's ultra-extreme views on the KISS principle is better for power users than Windows? Sorry but Windows provides far more access to complex tasks than OSX, which heavily buries any remotely complex tasks to keep them out of the way of the average idiot user they have.


RE: What the...
By KoolAidMan1 on 2/26/11, Rating: 0
RE: What the...
By damianrobertjones on 2/27/2011 5:20:17 AM , Rating: 3
quick, re-size that window for me....


RE: What the...
By jf79 on 2/26/2011 12:46:52 AM , Rating: 2
Way to show your ignorance...


RE: What the...
By themaster08 on 2/26/2011 3:43:15 AM , Rating: 2
Furthermore, from a company that no longer supports its rackmounted line of servers.

This looks purely like a finger-touch Media Centre-like aspect of Windows 8, where you can just choose to enter and exit, or perhaps even run on startup. Do people really think that Microsoft would throw away everything that makes Windows so great in the corporate/administrator environment?

Windows in enterprise is the very heart of Microsoft's business. Of course the classic UI will remain. Perhaps revamped, but there nonetheless.


RE: What the...
By icanhascpu on 2/28/2011 4:16:03 AM , Rating: 3
You had a point, but then you screwed it up by reverting into a 16 year old angry nerd. Yes. Apple users are idiots because they dont like overly complex UI BS in the way... wait what? Their are about a million better ways to take a jab at apple consumers and you choose one that makes you look like a moron.


RE: What the...
By Aloonatic on 2/26/2011 4:59:39 AM , Rating: 2
Grrrr, change.

"Get off my lawn you kids." *shakes fist in the air*

Where was I? Oh yeah. Things were better in my day when I was the only person who knew all the commands in DOS and everyone thought I was amezin! Then keyboard short-cuts wowed the girls in the office, now anyone can use a PC :(

Are coins getting smaller, or is it just me?


RE: What the...
By Maximilian on 2/26/2011 12:14:51 PM , Rating: 2
Looks like the stupidest idea ever, windows for babies =/


RE: What the...
By JediJeb on 2/26/2011 1:38:25 PM , Rating: 2
Right up there with MS Bob.


RE: What the...
By SPOOFE on 2/27/2011 10:19:53 PM , Rating: 2
Wasn't that two decades ago? In computer years, MS Bob was ancient Egypt.


RE: What the...
By DaSHinVegas on 2/26/2011 4:11:33 PM , Rating: 2
So what would be the difference between going from Win7 to this compared to when they went from DOS to Windows? In fact I would say that going from Dos to Windows represented far more "dumbing-down" than anything possible from here out. The demand of memory of commands and their elimination with a GUI was the single greatest "dumbing-down" possible. Further the very definition of technology is to make things easier as much as it might be cool to know DOS and as much as in 10 years you might think you were 1337 for knowing Windows but the reality is that you are just part of a bygone era and you had better get with the times or be passed by them.


RE: What the...
By Lazarus Dark on 2/26/2011 8:51:24 PM , Rating: 1
I still use Win95 style on my WinXP install. I prefer simple, stripped down UI's that allow me to get to the apps quickly and well organized. Usually I find fancy UI's just get in the way and make it more complicated to just get to my stuff. I don't even like using WMP or whatever to play music, I prefer to just browse by folders, which are organized exactly as I like and just play them directly with VLC.

I'm not going to suggest we go back to command prompt though. Mostly because I've forgotten everything I used to know. :/


Word
By damianrobertjones on 2/25/11, Rating: 0
RE: Word
By murray13 on 2/25/2011 2:25:57 PM , Rating: 3
Having a full admin account does NOT mean you will get malware. I don't know how many times people will say Apple users get less malware, learn something, Apple users are not targeted because they are only about 20% of installed computers. Beleive me if Apple had 80% market share virus' and malware would be all over the place.


RE: Word
By damianrobertjones on 2/25/11, Rating: -1
RE: Word
By morphologia on 2/25/2011 3:42:29 PM , Rating: 3
Let me guess...full-time admin and lifelong Apple worshipper?

It's entirely possible to do limited accounts in Windows, on demand. It's beyond unnecessary to force it by default, unless the entire target market is a bunch of drooling Luddites. And I don't want to get into the dirty details of a system in which the owner/user's functionality are limited by default and under the complete control of the manufacturer...

My GF has a MacBook (as well as some Win PCs) and she is totally savvy. And yet, when she makes necessary changes to her system, they are undone with the next software update...which more often than not sneaks in unnoticed. She has to go in and re-customize things that the Cupertinian Empire deemed improper.


RE: Word
By JediJeb on 2/26/2011 1:49:34 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
It's beyond unnecessary to force it by default, unless the entire target market is a bunch of drooling Luddites.


Problem is that is probably 90% of the market, people who use a computer just like they use a TV. If they can't turn it on and it does what they want without even looking at some instructions they don't want it.


RE: Word
By damianrobertjones on 2/27/2011 5:22:48 AM , Rating: 1
I really dislike apple, thanks


RE: Word
By damianrobertjones on 2/27/2011 5:27:15 AM , Rating: 1
People are DUMB. These same said people and techs advised everyone to turn OFF UAC!!

DO NOT RUN AS ADMIN.

P.s. Aplle at least gets this right by asking for root. Or so I'm led to believe as I really dislike apple.

P.P.s My friends and family run as standard users all day long and have zero issues with the password prompt when they want to do something naughty (Which they don't, as they are.... standard users)

This is how it works: (Which I'm sure you know and have tested)

When Windows starts, create two accounts
Account 1 name: Security
create a long password or something you can remember
Account 2 name: Family

Family is the account that you use all day long. Now, when you do something that can damage or drastically change the pc, you will be prompted for the SECURITY account password. Another layer to stop rubbish getting onto the pc. Quick, simple, stops 98% of the crud out there.

Now... TELL ME that's not a great idea!


RE: Word
By theapparition on 2/25/2011 4:31:41 PM , Rating: 4
Soooooo,
Without an admin acount, how does one go in and get admin rights if you did want to do something?

Please think next time before you have an idea.

MS provides every tool for the home user to establish limited user accounts. Sounds to me like the problem exists between chair and keyboard.

Next up, let's go after Ford for daring to make a car that can go over 65mph.


RE: Word
By damianrobertjones on 2/27/2011 5:25:11 AM , Rating: 2
If you don't know then why comment?

This is how it works:

When Windows starts, create two accounts
Account 1 name: Security
create a long password or something you can remember
Account 2 name: Family

Family is the account that you use all day long. Now, when you do something that can damage or drastically change the pc, you will be prompted for the SECURITY account password. Another layer to stop rubbish getting onto the pc. Quick, simple, stops 98% of the crud out there.

Now... TELL ME that's not a great idea!


RE: Word
By theapparition on 2/27/2011 2:34:05 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
If you don't know then why comment?

I do know, and that's why I posted.

You can't create or modify accounts unless at the administration level. You need that access to do what you suggested.

The idea of creating two accounts when setting up the computer (which most everyone does not do, BTW, it comes pre-installed from Dell, HP, Gateway, etc), only slightly automates what MS gives the users the capacity to do already.

While not a bad suggestion, it still does nothing to help the user who won't use the second account and instead only uses the admin login.

Education is the key, not forcing MS to handhold everyone.


RE: Word
By damianrobertjones on 2/27/2011 5:29:32 AM , Rating: 2
P.s. "Windows 8s first account creation should NOT be full admin"

Windows FIRST ACCOUNT.


RE: Word
By theapparition on 2/27/2011 2:41:25 PM , Rating: 2
So who creates the second account? You? Nope, only standard account, can't create an admin account.

The system? Great, exactly what the world needs. A default username (probably "Administrator") that has a default system generated password so malware will know exactaly how to elevate rights.

How many people do you bet never changed thier default router login. Find a Linksys router and 90% chance it's still set at Login: admin and Pass: manager (or something like that).


RE: Word
By morphologia on 2/25/2011 3:27:40 PM , Rating: 5
If cold, hard facts and stark reality can't stop Apple owners from bragging (and they haven't so far), nothing Microsoft can do will be able to.

I refuse to pay $2,500-$3,000 for a Mac when I could get a comparable Windows machine for $1,600-$1,800. It's not worth it, just to get a bland box with a pretty UI...that an 8-year-old could hack into from the other side of the world, in 5 minutes.


Widgets
By Denigrate on 2/25/2011 1:47:05 PM , Rating: 2
So basically the whole interface will be based on what is essentially widgets?




RE: Widgets
By Drag0nFire on 2/25/2011 1:55:20 PM , Rating: 2
Does anyone actually use widgets in Win7? I can't honestly find a good use for them...

If anyone has some good suggestions, I'm all ears.


RE: Widgets
By damianrobertjones on 2/25/2011 1:55:14 PM , Rating: 2
The guys in work use them all the time. Travel weather updates, currency conversion etc.


RE: Widgets
By callmeroy on 2/25/2011 2:13:41 PM , Rating: 2
At work I don't use them (oddly enough)...but on my home Win 7 64bit system I do...CPU and Mem guages I keep plastered on my primary screen's desktop...I also like the widge for Norton..very handy considering I use a norton utility at least 3 - 4 times a week to keep things clean and optimized.


RE: Widgets
By Fancarolina on 2/25/2011 1:57:10 PM , Rating: 3
I run a CPU, Network, and Drive monitor widgets (http://addgadget.com/) all of the time. Saves you having to run Task Manager. Also a plus to see drive activity when you've got silent SSDs.


RE: Widgets
By Belard on 2/25/2011 4:58:03 PM , Rating: 2
Me... Weather since I've gone Win7.... but those resource meters looks good. The included one from MS is round and cool looking, but wastes space.


RE: Widgets
By bigboxes on 2/26/2011 5:15:47 PM , Rating: 2
RE: Widgets
By saganhill on 2/25/2011 3:10:52 PM , Rating: 2
As an IT admin I use them all the time. There are network gadgets, CPU gadgets, and I love the ping gadgets that let me keep a ping going for our area branches. Its better than keeping multiple CMD windows open at the same time. I also use Unit converter gadgets.


RE: Widgets
By morphologia on 2/25/2011 3:45:38 PM , Rating: 2
I depend on the Everest system HUD widget, which comes optional when you install Everest (Ultimate version, anyway). And as a news junkie, I have a news feed running too, as well as weather. But that's all. :)


RE: Widgets
By flyingrooster on 2/25/2011 3:58:52 PM , Rating: 3
KDE 4 is all widget based. It's rather refreshing to be able to customize anything you want instead of being forced Apple style to use a specific UI. Maybe you can simulate the Windows 3.1 program manger with widgets since everyone here seems to like living in the past.


Innovation or Lack of...
By Zingam on 2/26/11, Rating: 0
RE: Innovation or Lack of...
By struzzin20 on 2/26/2011 3:16:53 AM , Rating: 2
I dont know what kind of dirty web sites you go to or what kind of things you download.

I have had Windows 7 from day one and have ZERO problems.

I also have 2 laptops same thing not one problem so dont slam something that is working perfectly for others.


RE: Innovation or Lack of...
By JediJeb on 2/26/2011 2:01:45 PM , Rating: 2
I tried BeOS back in the day and I must say it was way ahead of its time. I remember a demo of it running on I think a 486 processor and it had a cube with a different video playing on all six sides and as it turned it could display each video active at the same time and brought it around as each side came to the front. That was in maybe 1999 or 2000, couldn't do something that processor intensive using Windows for years after that.

The one peeve I have about Windows even now is how it thinks it is smarter than any user. I had to install a PCI serial port card a few years ago and every time I installed it Windows said " your mouse is not installed" Problem was it wasn't a mouse being installed and no matter how many times you tried to tell it what was actually being installed Windows insisted it knew better.


RE: Innovation or Lack of...
By ShaolinSoccer on 2/27/2011 6:13:32 AM , Rating: 2
You mean like Compiz on Linux?


RE: Innovation or Lack of...
By bigboxes on 2/26/2011 5:21:21 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Through my entire life and usage of Windows since 3.11 I've had the same experience: buy a new PC, install newer Windows - and at the end I have the same sluggish experience as on my older PC.


You're doing it wrong.


RE: Innovation or Lack of...
By espaghetti on 2/27/2011 2:51:38 AM , Rating: 2
Someone should keep this guy from buying e machines from Wal-Mart. They only put 5400rpm hard drives with 8Mg's of cache. Doood, grab some decent hardware for your next build and enjoy using a computer again.


RE: Innovation or Lack of...
By brandonicus on 2/26/2011 5:58:19 PM , Rating: 1
I kind of agree. However, I think it is more, Microsoft never stops to think that most people have slower PCs...especially the non-enthusiast crowd. Windows 7 works beautifully for me, but some off my friends had pretty bad experiences with Aero thanks to integrated graphics(the problem was slightly worse on Vista). Looking at this new concept makes me wonder what kind of graphics horsepower it will require to keep all those bubbles shiny and responsive. I can see the bubble errors now, Error:53188n8 due to your computer being awful you are allotted one bubble. No , it doesn't move.

I guess in the end though I don't care that much...I mean I will have a computer powerful enough to run it...so many tacky bubbles! ;)


Hmm... Microsoft Bob, anyone?
By 3minence on 2/25/2011 1:52:53 PM , Rating: 2
I don't really like the computer to try and decide what's going on in my life and what I think is important. I have a hard enough time with that already and a PC will only make it worse.

Based on the video, I see large touch screen TV's become critical secondary displays. You'll still need a keyboard and mouse for writing documents, spreadsheets, etc, the touch screen is nearly useless for that, But for watching videos, web browsing, information management, and stuff like, that a large multi-touch capable screen we be awesome.

What really really revolutionize input will be voice commands.




RE: Hmm... Microsoft Bob, anyone?
By saganhill on 2/25/2011 3:17:07 PM , Rating: 2
Hello Computer,Hello Computer?, Computer? Use the keyboard, Keyboard,how quaint.


By morphologia on 2/25/2011 3:21:58 PM , Rating: 2
LOL...

Or maybe just use the touchscreen. It's made of transparent aluminum, you know.


By delphinus100 on 2/27/2011 12:45:05 AM , Rating: 2
Hmmm. Imagine a room full of cubicles with users doing voice commands...

Seriously, in some places and situations it would be a true security issue to say to speak any commands or data aloud, particularly passwords.


MS history of new UI development
By mkrech on 2/25/2011 1:40:50 PM , Rating: 1
So, MS will develop this cool new UI...

ya, sort of like they did with this one huh?

http://www.dailytech.com/Microsoft+Courier+MiniTou...




RE: MS history of new UI development
By damianrobertjones on 2/25/2011 1:53:01 PM , Rating: 2
If MS made that device, oems would scream! They were never going to make it and you know that


RE: MS history of new UI development
By mkrech on 2/28/2011 11:40:08 AM , Rating: 2
I was not referring to the device.

Check out the concept UI that was created to showcase the device.

Do you think there was any reason that the concept UI could not have been developed?


User Centered Interface
By Fancarolina on 2/25/2011 2:02:34 PM , Rating: 3
I highly dislike this new interface. Many of Microsoft's interface innovations over the years have been very good. The Office Ribbon, the preview thumbnails in Windows 7, the smaller icons that stack. But this interface is too single user focused. What if I want to let someone else use my computer. I don't want all of my personal information available at the touch of a button to them. At least in the current Windows interface you can kind of hide information from prying eyes. Not everyone uses a computer solely to communicate with their contacts and schedule. That seems to be all this is good for.
A computer is used based upon applications not tasks. This is how our brain uses them now. This would be a perfect interface for a personal computer like a smartphone but not a desktop PC.




RE: User Centered Interface
By cjohnson2136 on 2/25/2011 2:14:53 PM , Rating: 2
Well i would hold off on that judgement for now because what if there are ways to do that. I think we need to just sit back and see what happens before we go throwing it in the trash because it looks "different"


Really Doubt It.
By Aikouka on 2/25/2011 3:33:28 PM , Rating: 2
I really don't see why anyone is too terribly worked up over this. As mentioned in the article, this UI was used to demonstrate Microsoft's Surface 2. Reading up on Microsoft Surface ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microsoft_Surface ) will point out that it's a completely different paradigm than your typical keyboard and mouse operated desktop PC. Excluding the portion simply about Microsoft's Surface 2 demonstration, it seems this article is simply very, very speculative at best.

Windows 8 has certainly been pushed as "risky", but we've already seen glimpses of how it is supposed to be changing the hardware model yet again. Risky isn't a term I'd shy away from using with that... we remember what happened the last time Microsoft changed a hardware model in Windows... first six months of Windows Vista ring a bell? ;)




RE: Really Doubt It.
By Da W on 2/25/2011 3:46:29 PM , Rating: 2
They want to fit it on tablets with ARM socs. Good luck with such a power hungry interface.


Tablet? Yeah. Desktop? Hell no.
By MattCoz on 2/26/2011 2:17:55 PM , Rating: 2
I could see this being the Windows 8 tablet interface, but no way I want it for my desktop interface.




By Lerianis on 3/2/2011 1:50:15 AM , Rating: 2
Agreed.... for a tablet (where you are not expecting to have full functionality) this would be a good interface. For a computer (notebook or desktop)? Hell no, it leaves out to many things that even people who aren't power users, like myself, would want to do.


Search Commands?
By TheHarvester on 2/27/2011 2:22:25 AM , Rating: 2
I just don't understand why Microsoft didn't advertise this Lab add-on more (or why, inexplicably, it wasn't bundled with Office to begin with). Also, why they have only released it for Office 2007, not 2010. Anyways, I installed it on some computers at work and everyone instantly didn't mind the ribbon anymore.

http://officelabs.com/projects/searchcommands/Page...




RE: Search Commands?
By really on 2/28/2011 7:42:55 PM , Rating: 2
Bubbles 8 !
By rolodomo on 2/25/2011 4:05:44 PM , Rating: 2
Don't call it Windows 8, call it Bubbles 8.




RELAX!
By DKantUno on 2/26/2011 1:36:55 AM , Rating: 2
It's just a UI change, not an earth-shaking cataclysm. It's pretty damn obvious this UI can NOT be useful in a whole bunch of scenarios. Forget admin tasks or tweaking the file system. How the heck could you code, or going even further down to lay users, write out a proper document on this thing? You CAN'T, and even an idiot with a mould-eaten brain could see that. So Microsoft is NOT going to shove this down everybody's throats.

What this IS for mass consumption of data and media. Kinda like the iPad. And if this does make its way to mainstream computers what I see happening is a split in the kind of computers 'everybody' uses and the kind used for serious work. Work computers are not going to die because they CAN'T be replaced by these kind of machines, and I SERIOUSLY doubt if they were ever even intended to.

Besides, Microsoft has a HUGE stake in the corporate sector liking its products and people generally using their computers for work (the main reason most of us ending up getting institutionalized to the Windows environment). So JUST relax!! It's really annoying when people get worked up over NOTHING!

So where _would_ machines like this go? To drawing rooms and other such places where putting a computer with a big-ass keyboard and wires running all out if it doesn't really make a lot of sense. Mom and dad and that little annoying sister of yours won't have to figure out the specs for the next computer they are going to buy and fiddle around with installation discs. They can just buy one of these, plunk it before the sofa and forget about it. Power users on the other hand will have their own set of (hyper-expensive) computers that they can tweak, customize and pare down to their heart's content. It's a question of balance and delivering exactly what is needed to each market segment. What the hell is a kid going to do with a terminal/command prompt staring at him, or what could an admin possibly accomplish with a thick-ass GUI? Noone is going to be ignored, because noone CAN be ignored - they are all VERY different needs, and I'm glad to see that the consumer side of things is finally being addressed. Go MS. :)




Is this a joke??
By Alphacrux on 2/26/2011 10:28:03 AM , Rating: 2
Welcome back, Microsoft Bob!




By kilkennycat on 2/26/2011 12:26:08 PM , Rating: 2
About the least intuitive computer interfaces on the planet. Made a bunch of people rich writing thick books explaining how they work - a cobbled-together set of legacy UI. Especially Microsoft Word. Seems as if Microsoft should spend their time fixing the UI on their (so-called) PRODUCTIVITY software FIRST. Since M$ makes most of their money on this software and not their OSs, my suggestion also makes financial sense. They could offer the new Office Suite UIs as individually-USER-selectable alternates, so that they do not upset any current brain-frozen users.




Microsoft Bubbles version 1.0
By DaSHinVegas on 2/26/2011 4:05:49 PM , Rating: 2
Shouldn't they then do away with the "Windows" branding as there will be no more windows? I guess you could say that WFW3.11 was the last "true" Windows that had windows interface and 95-7 are more of a tabbed OS but they were still in some way windows. In that picture with all the people it looks very much like everything is gone, the menu bar, desktop, start menu, etc. Just speculation off one pic but if it really is so revolutionary they should come up with a whole new identity.




Hypocrisy?
By DaSHinVegas on 2/26/2011 4:23:06 PM , Rating: 2
I feel like most of the posts here are by people who like technology but who are also scared of it getting better, something inherent to technology. Don't be scared of the newness people, if it's weak it will fail and you still have the status quo, if it's good it will be to your benefit.




I could get used to this
By Wererat on 2/26/2011 9:36:56 PM , Rating: 2
A grab and drag interface, a Kinect, touchscreen, or data gloves, and glasses-free 3d and I'm there (although I'd go more cyberpunk and less bubbly. Push the avatars, MS, skip contextual bubbles.)

I could very quickly throw out a keyboard with its 19th-century key layout and soap-bar 'mouse' pointing device. Yea, people are "used to" the desktop-motif UI, but they were used to command lines, floppy disks and punch cards, too.




I'm uber 1337
By sxr7171 on 2/27/2011 11:53:24 AM , Rating: 2
I'm uber 1337 cuz I use UI from the 90s.




Changes throughout history
By really on 2/28/2011 7:40:21 PM , Rating: 2
I wonder if they had these same arguments in the past. Like when they went from chiseling words on stone to being able to write on paper and cut the amount of work in half and do it in color. You know there were still people talking about how chiseling stone was better and how they hated the new way of doing things. How pens and paint brushes caused their hands to crap. Then you should have seen the debates when the printing press came out and then the carbon copy and don't get me started on the copier. Man the copier is the worst invention ever. ;^)




The Boom Box Design Esthetic
By eegake on 3/2/2011 7:36:01 PM , Rating: 2
Pile it on: fifty knobs, fifty lights, fifty cents.

There's a quiet desperation in the way portions of the public pay to embrace the same old applications in new wrappers, and an even greater one in the way firms like MSFT and APPL focus on exploiting this behavior. It will not take very much economic pressure to bring all this spinning in place to a halt; its age is showing badly.




What the?
By p05esto on 2/25/11, Rating: 0
"It seems as though my state-funded math degree has failed me. Let the lashings commence." -- DailyTech Editor-in-Chief Kristopher Kubicki











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