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CowboyTeal writes:
"Windows 8 is still being disputed as either the product of a genius or a nerdy sadist but that doesn't mean Windows 9 isn't in the works. That said, how would you guys improve Windows if you could change anything about it? Has windows 8 improved or degraded your overall experience of the Windows platform? If you're not a Windows user, what features would you like to see in Windows for possible assimilation?"
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Hey, wait a minute!! I want a divorce!! ... you're not Clint Eastwood!!
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Pslytely Psycho on Sunday March 02 2014, @10:37AM
10,000% improvement, instantly.
Alex Jones lawyer inspires new TV series: CSI Moron Division.
(Score: 5, Interesting) by mrbluze on Sunday March 02 2014, @11:10AM
Considering the touch screen is apparently "here to stay", a compromise is needed. Bring back the windows 7 desktop for a start, but with multiple or a large scrollable desktop as default, maybe let the wallpaper have touch active elements, maybe allow the start bar to be larger on touch displays so it is easy to press. Get rid of Metro - it is the most inefficient and useless touch screen interface there is. Can Microsoft be so stupid as to forget who is paying their wages? It's corporations with desktops, people who create content not just consume it.
In addition, they have failed to see that touch screen computing is for mobile devices, which Windows and its ecosystem of apps is not geared for. As for the mobile device market, Microsoft has failed dismally and I can't see how a Windows 9 can change that.
Do it yourself, 'cause no one else will do it yourself.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Dunbal on Sunday March 02 2014, @01:03PM
The touch screen may be here to stay, but just like finger painting (which is also here to stay), it should be limited to its special place in kindergarten or grade school art class and not forced onto everyone for everyday tasks. People don't realize that touch screens are actually a step backwards from highly specialized and precise selection/pointing devices to, well, poking stuff about with your finger. While this has the advantage that my dog could probably use one by poking a screen with her nose, it's actually far less efficient.
Anyway I'd fix Windows 9 by re-releasing Windows 7, only with all the vulnerabilities fixed. But fat chance of that happening...
(Score: 3, Funny) by mattyk on Sunday March 02 2014, @04:56PM
> ... touch screens are actually a step backwards from highly specialized ...
> and precise selection/pointing devices
Except for multi-touch. A friend made a passing comment to me once, probably back in the '95 days, about how if you had two mice you could grab opposite corners of a window to resize it. The concept of two pointers has stuck with me for all these years. So that's what I'd add to Windows: a second mouse.
_MattyK_
(Score: 1) by tangomargarine on Monday March 03 2014, @10:07PM
I feel like we could probably emulate that functionality with a few well-placed modifier keys...some DEs already supports holding Alt and grabbing anywhere on the window to move it around. E.g., hold Window key/Super, click and drag in one of the four window quadrants to resize that corner?
"Is that really true?" "I just spent the last hour telling you to think for yourself! Didn't you hear anything I said?"
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Grishnakh on Sunday March 02 2014, @04:43PM
Touchscreens have no place on a desktop system. Look up "gorilla arm". The human body is not designed to hold its arms out extended for any length of time. Touchscreens are great on tablets or phones, and also kiosks (where you don't use them for any great length of time; think of ATMs), but not for desktop systems. They're just a bad and stupid idea.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by tirefire on Sunday March 02 2014, @05:42PM
Agree, and I think I may have it. Have Windows 9 detect if a touchscreen device is installed. If there is no touchscreen device detected, send the user to the desktop. If Windows 9 detects a touchscreen device is installed, default to Metro, and if it's the first boot for a new install, have an introductory overlay that briefly explains to the user what Metro is, what features it offers touchscreen users, and how it differs from the usual mouse-driven desktop interface. I'd like to see these options at the bottom of the screen:
[ ] Okay, take me to Metro.
[ ] Okay, take me to Metro, and make it the default.
[ ] No thanks, take me to my desktop this time.
[ ] No thanks, take me to my desktop, and don't take me to Metro again.
If Microsoft had done this from the start, I think Windows 8 would have been much better received by just about everyone. It would let "pro users" like us banish Metro permanently with one click of a button, and it would help people like grandma make an informed decision about what is best for them to use.
(Score: 1) by emg on Sunday March 02 2014, @06:18PM
But, uh, lots of laptops now come with touchscreens that I'm never going to use. Why should I be forced to use a stupid touchscreen interface that I don't want, just because the laptop manufacturer forced me to buy a touchscreen I didn't want?
And the idea of my grandmother making an informed decision whether to use Metro is just insane. She'd be on the phone to me asking what she should do, or enable Metro by mistake and then be on the phone asking how the hell she gets Windows back.
(Score: 1) by tirefire on Sunday March 02 2014, @06:42PM
Read my post again. You'd only be forced to use it ONCE, to press the button on the hypothetical Metro screen that says (in so many words), "Get this Metro shit outta my face and don't ever let me see it again". Then the system goes to the desktop and you can ignore the touch interface and use the laptop's trackpad and/or clitmouse... like God intended.
Is it really that objectionable to be required to use a touch interface once, when you're first setting up a Windows install?
(Score: 3, Interesting) by jt on Sunday March 02 2014, @01:01PM
Just giving the Start menu back would cover 80% of the problems. I don't want to be stuck with a Windows95 clone interface till the end of days; progress happens, and I like change.
However, there's a limit to anyone's patience. Most people don't actually want to use a computer; they really want to do something else and the computer is merely a means to that end. Anything that gets in their way, or is unfamiliar, is the problem. Personally, due to work I'm using Win7, WinXP, and various command shells on Linux and Solaris every day, then throw in OSX, Android and MATE for my personal stuff and I'm starting to forget how to do anything, never mind find the time to learn a whole new unintuitive interface.
(Score: 1) by Cyberdyne on Sunday March 02 2014, @09:53PM
1. Start with a copy of Windows 7
2. Change the logo.
3. Tada!! Windows 9.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by NovelUserName on Sunday March 02 2014, @11:43PM
I have a laptop-tablet hybrid thing (Lenovo Thinkpad Helix) and I think Metro has a place. I use it on occasion because my hardware works well with it, but it should not be part of the default system.
When I'm using my computer as a laptop, I want it to behave like a laptop. I don't want to drop into metro mode when I try to open an image file. I don't want to drop into metro when I hit the windows key. That said when I pull my screen off the keyboard, Metro is a nice interface.
I'd make Metro an app like paint or the remote desktop client, rather than a base part of the OS. This would let you have just a desktop when you want just a desktop. I'd also change the way you get in and out of metro mode to be either explicit or keyed to the presence of a keyboard, rather than some odd context dependent thing.
(Score: 1) by lajos on Monday March 03 2014, @01:06AM
I wouldn't go as far as "remove" it. It works pretty awesome on the wife's new shiny sony laptop with touchable screen.
Maybe just integrate it a bit better. Allow metro apps work on desktop, and it's golden.