Windows 8 “Groups”

Published on March 14, 2012 By Draginol In Personal Computing

In Windows 8, you can create a column of tiles in it and label the tile. This is Microsoft’s idea of a “group”.

Here’s a couple of videos showing off the pain:

Windows 7: The Start Menu

and…

Windows 8: The Start “page”:

And a follow-up to show you about column headers (what Microsoft is calling groups):

Now, I’ve gotten a lot of email from people saying that I’m “obviously” a Microsoft hater or an “Apple zealot”. This is obviously a change from the traditional charge that I’m an Apple basher and a Microsoft apologist.

So let me be clear: My livelihood depends on the success of Microsoft Windows. It is the only platform I write for. I have a vested (i.e. not emotional) interest in the success of Windows. I’ve been a Microsoft MVP for years, have worked with Microsoft on many different projects over the years. And Windows 8 is very good, technologically, under the hood. The problem is strictly with the insanity that is the Windows 8 user experience and that if unaddressed will result in a lot of people migrating.

I don’t think that many people in 2012 realize how close we are to the next phase computing. It’s not tablets vs. desktops. It’s decoupled computing. It’s AirPlay vs. WiDi. That’s the next battle and it’s one that Microsoft could very lose if they splinter their developer and user base.

Comments (Page 2)

pacov

on Mar 15, 2012

Brad - seriously, just capitalize on M$ acting like jackasses. Anyone with a brain can see that the UI of this OS is designed for folks with touchscreens. That M$ can't hire a person with enough foresight to shutdown the "super group" (read - closed sighted morons) means that anyone with the wherewithal to fix their mess before they do gets money. Personally, I'd love if they were willing to accept the most basic logic... hire some folks that haven't used the OS and are desktop users and see if they LOVE IT. The reality is that the testers will think its a POS. Shame that M$ can't afford the $13 an hour for a week to hire like 5 testers to sample their amazing tech. Strange world. Side note - Isolated HALF WITS! Anyway, your company can make money off this by following up with common sense solutions. Windows 8 could be a huge win for SD. That said - I'm normally an early adopter of M$ products (starting all they way back with dos and moving forward). Unless I see change from M$, they won't get my money and this OS will be the new Windows ME. I'm about to buy 1 share of M$ stock just so I can go to the stock holders meeting and tear the asshats that allowed said "super group" to continue in their moronic pursuits.

Can't tell you how disappointed in MS that their leadership is so abysmal at this point.

JcRabbit

on Mar 16, 2012

Where some see a problem, others see an opportunity.

The problem, Pacov, is not on capitalizing on other people's mistakes. The problem is when other people's mistakes and/or intentions are so serious they can bring down your company too. Brad has already been through that with IBM's OS/2.

Windows 8 is not about Metro. Windows 8 is about Microsoft wanting to kill the Desktop so it can start anew, but this time controlling the destiny of everyone else and profiting from it at 30% a pop: they want to turn the Windows Store into an App Store, but they can't do that until you can't sell your stuff except through them.

If they can accomplish that, they will be making money not only from their own software but from *everyone else's* too!

Better yet, they will be controlling the market from top to down, they will be the only ones providing the tools for building Metro apps, they will decide what - and who - goes and doesn't go into the Windows store, and they will be profiting directly from the success and hard work of others.

In other words, they saw what Apple did and they want to become like Apple.

They can't do this while Desktop apps are the standard, because desktop apps are based on an 'open' architecture. Developers of desktop apps don't depend directly on Microsoft (other than Windows), they can buy their tools from anyone they want and they can sell them through anyone they want, or even directly to the end user.

So, Microsoft is calling the Desktop 'legacy' now, and their intention is to kill it. Destroy it, rip out it's blessed little heart. That''s why they are practically forcing people to move to Metro by removing the Start Button, etc...

The problem is that by doing it this way they are making it obvious to everyone that they don't care how many businesses and lives get destroyed in the process. They weren't like this in the past, but in recent years they've done it with classic VB vs. Dot NET and they're doing it again with Silverlight vs. HTML5. Now they are even doing it to the user's themselves with this Desktop vs Metro thing.

As an end user you might think this 'lives getting destroyed' statement is an exaggeration, but it really isn't. There are many thousands of developers whose businesses and lives (and the lives of their families) depend on Microsoft technology not changing overnight. They invested thousands of hours acquiring the know-how on certain technologies, know-how that is at the base of the very existence of their companies. They trusted Microsoft when Microsoft told them that the technology they invested so much time - and their lives! - on was the future.

Well, it's now obvious to everyone that Microsoft's 'vision of the future' can change in the blink of an eye, since they are neither innovators nor do they have a clear well defined path. These days Microsoft goes after everything that shines, changing directions all the time, and damn the consequences to those left behind.

They weren't always like that, there was a time when backwards compatibility was critical to Microsoft. Remember Active Desktop? Active Desktop was a flop from the word Go, yet Microsoft supported it until Windows Vista, at which point Active Desktop had already died of old age. Remember how long Windows kept support for 16 bit Win3.x applications? Etc...

This was the old school Microsoft, represented by responsible developers like Raymond Chen. Unfortunately at some point the 'let's start everything from scratch' faction at Microsoft won and they are now running the show - and bringing the company to the ground, in my opinion. Much, I'm sure, to the chagrin of many people within Microsoft itself.

Uvah

on Mar 16, 2012

So did Microstuff shoot itself in the foot before or after sticking it in its mouth. Or does it matter.

tazgecko

on Mar 16, 2012

JcRabbit

reply 17

StevenRLynchAbundanceThatIAM

on Mar 16, 2012

Cliche no 1,000,001 but oh so true:

Oh how the mighty have fallen.

pacov

on Mar 16, 2012

JcRabbit

reply 17

Quicksilver007

on Mar 16, 2012

JcRabbit

reply 17

Where some see a problem, others see an opportunity.

The problem, Pacov, is not on capitalizing on other people's mistakes. The problem is when other people's mistakes and/or intentions are so serious they can bring down your company too. Brad has already been through that with IBM's OS/2.

Windows 8 is not about Metro. Windows 8 is about Microsoft wanting to kill the Desktop so it can start anew, but this time controlling the destiny of everyone else and profiting from it at 30% a pop: they want to turn the Windows Store into an App Store, but they can't do that until you can't sell your stuff except through them.

If they can accomplish that, they will be making money not only from their own software but from *everyone else's* too!

Better yet, they will be controlling the market from top to down, they will be the only ones providing the tools for building Metro apps, they will decide what - and who - goes and doesn't go into the Windows store, and they will be profiting directly from the success and hard work of others.

In other words, they saw what Apple did and they want to become like Apple.

They can't do this while Desktop apps are the standard, because desktop apps are based on an 'open' architecture. Developers of desktop apps don't depend directly on Microsoft (other than Windows), they can buy their tools from anyone they want and they can sell them through anyone they want, or even directly to the end user.

So, Microsoft is calling the Desktop 'legacy' now, and their intention is to kill it. Destroy it, rip out it's blessed little heart. That''s why they are practically forcing people to move to Metro by removing the Start Button, etc...

The problem is that by doing it this way they are making it obvious to everyone that they don't care how many businesses and lives get destroyed in the process. They weren't like this in the past, but in recent years they've done it with classic VB vs. Dot NET and they're doing it again with Silverlight vs. HTML5. Now they are even doing it to the user's themselves with this Desktop vs Metro thing.

As an end user you might think this 'lives getting destroyed' statement is an exaggeration, but it really isn't. There are many thousands of developers whose businesses and lives (and the lives of their families) depend on Microsoft technology not changing overnight. They invested thousands of hours acquiring the know-how on certain technologies, know-how that is at the base of the very existence of their companies. They trusted Microsoft when Microsoft told them that the technology they invested so much time - and their lives! - on was the future.

Well, it's now obvious to everyone that Microsoft's 'vision of the future' can change in the blink of an eye, since they are neither innovators nor do they have a clear well defined path. These days Microsoft goes after everything that shines, changing directions all the time, and damn the consequences to those left behind.

They weren't always like that, there was a time when backwards compatibility was critical to Microsoft. Remember Active Desktop? Active Desktop was a flop from the word Go, yet Microsoft supported it until Windows Vista, at which point Active Desktop had already died of old age. Remember how long Windows kept support for 16 bit Win3.x applications? Etc...

This was the old school Microsoft, represented by responsible developers like Raymond Chen. Unfortunately at some point the 'let's start everything from scratch' faction at Microsoft won and they are now running the show - and bringing the company to the ground, in my opinion. Much, I'm sure, to the chagrin of many people within Microsoft itself.

Nice recap Jorge!

c242

on Mar 16, 2012

Nice totally unneccesary fullquote.

Other than that : Nice post, Jorge.

YuhongBao

on Mar 23, 2012

The problem is when other people's mistakes and/or intentions are so serious they can bring down your company too. Brad has already been through that with MS/IBM's OS/2."

FTFY, with MS mostly to blame IMO. (Look up "MS OS/2 2.0" and "Microsoft Munchkins") But that is a different topic of course.

DanDaBear

on Mar 23, 2012

Or could it be that since iOS and OS X are merging into one OS for both desktops and iPads, MS thinks that is the way to go?

We'll have to start calling them AppleSoft!

JoDa

on Mar 23, 2012

I think the only workable solution is obvious and easy to implement. I think MS WILL allow the start menu back.

seanw3

on Mar 23, 2012

Let's hope that Microsoft realizes that the only way anyone will ever buy that (P)OS is if they stop supporting Win7. They should make Win8 mandatory, since they apparently see the OS as infallible. That is the only case where Stardock would make more money off designing a good interface for the OS. I kind of hope they do this. On day one of release they should announce to the world that no further updates will be made for any previous OS's. Then secretly they should hire some virus makers to release swarms of trojans into the environment, which can only be stopped with the new security features present in Win8. The transition will be hard, but it will be necessary!

You could make millions on fixing the problems. And then billions on fixing the problems their updates add to the already broken system!

And you thought I learned nothing from Soviet history class.

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