A first look at the Windows 8 user interface

Brian Ambrozy 2 Jun, 2011 at 2:39am ET Article published in Tech

Since Windows 95, the core user interface that we have all come to at least know, if not necessarily love, has remained essentially the same. If one were able to go back in time to 1995 and bring a copy of Windows 7 with them, an average PC user back then would be able to operate the computer.

If one were to bring Windows 8 back to 1995, however, it would seem almost wholly alien to them, at least based on the first official video that Microsoft has released showing off the new interface.

First, the concept of a touch-optimized interface is relatively new. Second, the concept of sliding “tiles” in a Windows OS is new. Windows 8 looks more like WebOS than, say, Windows XP. A 1995 user would have no idea that touchscreens were a standard and that a GUI would or should be optimized for that.

At any rate, discuss:

This video almost begs the question: Are tablets and smartphones truly the end of the standard “PC” era? Will the keyboard and mouse go the way of the dodo? Should this OS even be called Windows?

I think it’s beautiful. I can’t wait.

Comments

2 Jun 2011 ~ 7:47am Tim Meh. It looks nice, but there are clear problems. Like how do you keep the screen clean? Even if your hands are always clean you will get fingerprints and smudges and streaks on the screen. And how are you supposed to play Starcraft 2 with this new touch thing?

The keyboard and mouse aren't going anywhere.

Just because the engineers COULD make a computer run entirely from a touch screen doesn't mean that everyone will change. Why is a touch screen seemingly so great? How is touching the screen better than point and click? What if you meant to drag an icon on the touch screen but it thinks you meant to click it, and it opens and then you have to stop and close it and try to resume what you were doing?
2 Jun 2011 ~ 9:15am Thrax 10:1 says this is only the tablet interface. I know Anand and other sources are saying that it's the PC interface, but I sincerely doubt that it is or--at the very least--isn't completely optional.
2 Jun 2011 ~ 10:08am Cliff_Forster Where is the innovation?
2 Jun 2011 ~ 10:22am kryyst the touch aspect is for devices that support it. On a pc you use the mouse same as normal. It's just them playing catchup with the interface, however this is just an add-on which means this portion looks like a bandage solution so that MS can play in the game and that it's not an OS designed around that kind of UI core experience.

Which right now has me thinking Windows 8 is more like Windows 7+
2 Jun 2011 ~ 10:24am BuddyJ I don't think touch screens will replace keyboards and mice for business productivity. They're great for casual use or simple single-focus tasks. They blow for multitasking.
2 Jun 2011 ~ 11:21am vinsanity0723 I could be wrong but doesn't Microsoft want to implement kinect with this OS? That could make that UI viable for a desktop.
2 Jun 2011 ~ 11:23am Thrax Hello RSI.
2 Jun 2011 ~ 11:51am Snarkasm Showing it alongside the regular Windows apps really illustrates how big of a divide this is. I can imagine this functionality being something like an interactive lock screen, but I personally don't expect to be using it in real time alongside my traditional applications. I'm your traditional power user, though. Might just be me. It certainly is pretty, though.
2 Jun 2011 ~ 1:56pm Canti Pretty much what Snark said.
2 Jun 2011 ~ 11:30pm Komete It's just a somewhat evolved welcome screen geared towards the things most user do. All the good ol windows functions is behind it.

It could be real interesting going from your win8 phone to tablet and then pc, all while having a seamless experience. Even better if all 3 could share data effortlessly. I hope MS gets this right. I'd hate to see win8 become the next vista.
3 Jun 2011 ~ 9:35am Tim If Microsoft gives 8 a good beta test trial period like they did for 7 it should be good when it comes out.
3 Jun 2011 ~ 9:36am d3k0y I got a feeling I will be on Windows7 for a long time.
3 Jun 2011 ~ 11:42am Butters I don't have plans to buy the a touch screen, but I am looking foward to try out the CTP when available.
3 Jun 2011 ~ 2:51pm drasnor It's cool. Linux stands ready to welcome you all with open arms to use whatever interface you like. I'm looking at you, Android users.
3 Jun 2011 ~ 3:01pm fatcat

drasnor wrote:

It's cool. Linux stands ready to welcome you all with open arms to use whatever interface you like. I'm looking at you, Android users.

Linux will be a viable OS when it has Steam, just saying
3 Jun 2011 ~ 3:31pm Tushon

fatcat wrote:

Linux will be a viable OS when it has Steam and decent video drivers, just saying

FTFY, unless there has been a bunch of progress in the regard of which I am not aware
3 Jun 2011 ~ 3:45pm Kwitko

Thrax wrote:

10:1 says this is only the tablet interface.

^ This. Is it possible they've got different UIs for desktop and tablet? Maybe they're forking off the tablet version. If the desktop UI is relatively the same as it is now, no need to show it. However, I would think there would need to be some elements in common between the two.