"Unfortunately, visually simple appearance does not result in ease of use, as the vast literature in academic journals on human-computer interaction and human factors demonstrates."
This lines up with my own anecdotal experience, but isn't something I've read about. Can anyone suggest further reading on this research?
> - The edges of the screen are still wasted on the useless unsymmetric tab switching gestures.
No idea, if it's the same case for you, but I've had trouble with it being unsymetric (edge in from the right works but not the left) and later realized this is caused by Smart Statusbar, and not a bug of Chrome itself.
The only apps that are limited to being exclusively available through the store are formerly-known-as-Metro apps which are generally more similar to iPad apps than OS X apps in functionality and emphasis on touch. The comparison is complicated because Microsoft's POV is that one OS can compete in both sectors, but no move has been made to close down the desktop on Windows 8, and it is as open as ever.
Full disclosure: I work at MS, my words are mine only.
Long rationalisations are not easily conveyed to a public which is used to one liners.
"You can no longer install games on windows 8 except through the windows store."
vs
"Some versions of windows 8, which come under the bracket of windows RT but will still be referred to as windows 8, will not allow you to load specific metro apps without buying them through the windows store, but desktop programs will be run and installed as normal. The famous people in the news complaining about Microsoft locking down windows are wrong."
Full disclosure: I could be wrong in the exact details of the second statement, it's just what I've gleaned thus far from reading comments about it.
Exactly, by default the metro app labelled as desktop feels more like the equivalent of the command prompt in earlier version of Windows than an actual desktop... a power user/administration feature that is shamefully pushed off to the side by the OS hoping you won't notice it.
The easiest way to launch a new instance of the application is to hold down the Shift key while launching. Don't remember how I stumbled upon this, but it works for both the taskbar and the start screen launchers.
No, this sort of blindly pro-Apple bull shit is what's wrong with current conversation around Apple. Are we supposed to roll over and shut up because the almighty Gods at Apple decided this was the best way to do? This notion that we should get down on our knees and pray (or otherwise please) the overlords is just wrong-- is it really so crazy to assume that Cook & co. could make a mistake? Yes-- large, publicly traded corporations generally look into many options, accurately predict the outcomes of each, and then make an educated decision that is likely to have the best outcome-- but that doesn't make them infallible. Questioning Apple isn't hubris-- it's human.
Tangential: Why do I as a developer have to assume that users don't want what I want? Is it so wrong to think that a user might want to be able to see and evaluate 5 different apps at a time instead of 1? The past couple of years in tech have been spent wondering how to simplify UI for the sake of the user, to the point where we can't even trust them to have settings-- we need to know what's best for them before they log on to our websites or launch our apps, but is that really valid? It's easy to imagine that in 1983 when Microsoft Word was first announced, people needed total simplicity-- these "personal computer" things (probably a fad) were brand new and only available to the elite-- but this is the twenty first century and we have a whole generation of digital natives who will ask Google for an answer before they get in the shower-- and they're users too.
It's equally fair to say that there is a lot of blindly anti-Apple articles that make the front page here.
"Are we supposed to roll over and shut up because the almighty Gods at Apple decided this was the best way to do?"
No. But by the same token claiming something s broken within hours of it's release and without any measurable data is hyperbolic and at this stage in the game somewhat OTT. Much the same is true with mapping. As another poster has said, don'rt buy their products, or if you are developer, don't develop for the platform. Of course multinationals make mistakes. It's far too early to claim that this is the case.
"...this is the twenty first century and we have a whole generation of digital natives who will ask Google for an answer before they get in the shower-- and they're users too." And I'm willing to bet that they are still not representative of the majority of end users. It's not as if these users aren't catered for either - Android is an excellent mobile OS that is far more friendly to the end user that wants that level of control. No, the biggest issue we have now is the over inflated sense of entitlement that the many on the internet seem to have.
This lines up with my own anecdotal experience, but isn't something I've read about. Can anyone suggest further reading on this research?