What is going on with Windows?

Posted on Monday, February 10 2014 @ 12:07 CET by Thomas De Maesschalck
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Paul Thurrott from SuperSite for Windows takes a look at what's happening to Windows, you can read his piece over here. He talks about how the Windows 8 disaster resulted in Steven Sinofsky and his team of lieutenants getting the boot from Microsoft, and that even Steve Ballmer, Sinofsky's benefactor, was removed from office for the damage he did to what was once the most successful software franchise of all time.

In his article, Thurrott describes Sinofsky as a man with the maniacal power and force of will of a Steve Jobs, but without Jobs' innate understanding of good design.
So what does Update 1 add to the mix? This time around, Microsoft has committed what I consider to be the cardinal sin of Windows: It's a return to that age-old issue where Windows simply grew, spaghetti-like, to accommodate every silly possible need of the system's too diverse user group. Now, there are multiple ways to do different things in Metro, too. These previously consistent environment—like it or loathe it—has finally been put under the committee's knife.

Now, some people will see this as "choice," because these changes—desktop-like context menus in the Start screen, a desktop-like title bar in Metro apps, and so on—will somehow make the system more consistent for them, because they still use traditional PCs. But here's the thing. This mobile environment worked just fine with mouse and keyboard in Windows 8.0 and 8.1, and it was consistent with the touch-based interactions for which the environment was designed. Now? It's a mess.


About the Author

Thomas De Maesschalck

Thomas has been messing with computer since early childhood and firmly believes the Internet is the best thing since sliced bread. Enjoys playing with new tech, is fascinated by science, and passionate about financial markets. When not behind a computer, he can be found with running shoes on or lifting heavy weights in the weight room.



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