Five Things Apple Can Learn From Windows 8

http://appadvice.com/appnn/2011/09/microsoft-lets-developers-use-windows-8-for-tablets

by xonder • 15 years ago

10 12 15 years ago

I like the pane-based user interface. I welcome any alternative to the desktop metaphor.

bsphil• 15 years ago

Just looking at the screens I've seen, I can't help but shake my head. Mind you, I haven't seen many. Inconsistent sizes of those "desktop" boxes, no coherent organization (there's a picture here, then an icon, then the time, then a different app, then news...), and an arbitrary rainbow of colors. I'm not too big on following pre-beta release info like this because there's just not enough there to answer my questions, but I'm hoping that the desktop/laptop installations of Windows 8 will still have a more familiar organization to it.

Full disclosure, I've never owned a smartphone or tablet, so maybe I'm just not used to that sort of layout yet. I can't help but think that everything is just randomly dumped together.

VanceRefrig• 15 years ago

I really think the big thing is the idea of running apps side by side. Otherwise, I don't think apple is necessarily as far behind as this article makes it seem.

VladRussian2• 15 years ago

history repeats itself, 20+ years ago it was windows and Mac OS getting into multitasking http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mac_OS#.22Classic.22_Mac_OS_.28...

lurch_mojoff• 15 years ago

It is way too early to proclaim that history is repeating itself. 20 years ago Apple were a rudderless ship. Today they are on of the most efficiently operating computer companies out there. They have a vision, they have a solid foundation on which to build, and they have the resources to execute rapidly on that vision.

r00fus• 15 years ago

This is what I hoped the iPad would do (run multiple iPhone apps concurrently at 1x and allow inter-app drags).

However, the complexities of this are boggling and will make a nightmarish (or nonexistent) security model. It would trully be OLE, take 2 if it worked at all.

This is a year out. When Android 3.0 was previewed 6 months before release, I was amazed. Then I realized how buggy and rushed it was.

Apple sets a very high bar for quality. It will be interesting to see if either Google or Microsoft can compete.

recoiledsnake• 15 years ago

>Microsoft plans on offering one version of Windows 8 across all platforms. This is a wise decision since consumers will no longer have to decide what version (Home, Professional, Tablet) they will need for their needs.

That's wrong, the SKUs will be revealed closer to launch. What MS meant was that all the different form factors including ARM will run the full Windows OS.

There will still be Home/Professional etc. etc.

jinushaun• 15 years ago

Apple said they plan to merge iOS and OSX, but looks like MS beat them to it. Plugging my tablet to an external monitor, mouse and keyboard; that's the killer feature for me. I can have my cake and eat it too.

ewrgsdfg• 15 years ago

They beat them to it....... in 2013?

OSX and iOS are converging.

Windows8 is built for notebooks and styluses.

iPad 4 will be due when Windows 8 is being lumped on some beefy "tablet". With a tedious, over weight Office app.

Vitaly• 15 years ago

The only one of those that I'd like is multiple logins/profiles. I'd like to have a separate profile for kids. Preferably with bigger icons.

uris• 15 years ago

The visual contrast between Metro's modern look and the vulgarity of the standard Windows GUI is nauseating.

I hope Apple won't be tempted, rather, I'm sure they will not. It looks incoherent: from the the Metro UI's concept of tiles, which I dislike, to the duality of the desktop as an app. Cool for geeks, maybe, horribly confusing idea for anyone else. It's stupid to force a full fledged desktop into a tablet. Yet again, anything with a fan is not really a tablet, that's a PC.

Five Things Apple Can Learn From Windows 8

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