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I don't expect this to be of much use to the average Descent player for Descent-playing, but this might be of some interest, at least, and it gives an insight into how Microsoft decided to answer the question "how do we follow up Windows 7 in a way that anyone's going to care about?". Apparently there are more videos yet to come, but this pretty much shows what I'm sure many had already guessed - touchscreens such as tablets are one of the big foci.


In case anyone missed it, "Windows 8" (I'm using quotes because the name isn't official; it's still just a working title) is not only this vaguely WP7-like tile interface - there is still the classic shell, which I expect many or most desktop PC users will stick with since it's honestly better for keyboard-and-mouse interaction. For you folks (which is to say, most of us, myself included) it remains to be seen whether there are new features that would interest you.

After only reading your post, I thought that tile-based window managers were making a comeback.

This will probably appeal to people who want an "iPad" except with Windows or the freedom to slide your program counter over arbitrary bits.

It looks too restrictive to match the workflow of anyone who wants to get anything really done. The paradigm of desktop icons and wallpaper in the background with a customizable panel on the bottom with a menu, list of windows, various icons and applets, etc. is pretty hard to beat.

It is for productivity workers, I agree. There's a good reason why people do "real work" on a desktop machine and not an iPad, and since MS are not miracle workers, that's not going to change. It just makes the OS more versatile, if anything. Upside is, if the slate machine has USB or Bluetooth or something, you can set up a keyboard and mouse with it and use those traditional applications without having to buy a second machine for it.

That interface is very much like their Windows Phone 7 dynamic, which isn't really all that surprising.

Tile-based deskspace works well for average users, especially with touchscreens becoming more and more the norm. Heck, my 2-year-old is getting surprisingly quick with the Win7 touchscreen setup I put together for him this year.

As long the underlying Windows shell is still accessible, I say go for it. Looks like fun.

Meh.

Don't get me wrong, there is plenty of usefulness to a tiled interface, and you notice that it was easy for him to switch to the more traditional Windows interface or use both at the same time (each sharing screen space) which looks interesting but is hardly anything new.

I hope, hope, hope that better color schemes will be available. I mean, what's up with the fascination with 60's era pastels and retro style decor? Yuk! (IMPO). There are far better color combinations available.

[ Post made via iPad ]