If not the ipad then what instead?

[rocketpig]

Rainbird said:

rocketpig said:

Rainbird said:

@ rocketpig

How does Metro add an extra step to the equation?

Because you're flipping back to Metro instead of MS moving more toward a Dock system like OS X (which they already have to an extent in the tray or whatever it's call but it's not as good for multitasking, particularly if you have 2-3 windows open in each program). I don't want to have to bounce back to Metro to find the software/whatever I'm looking for. It should be on the desktop.

Really, I just don't see the point. When I'm working, I'm flying back and forth between Photoshop, Illustrator, Chrome, Sparrow (Gmail client), Tweetdeck, and Evernote, with the occasional stop by iTunes to change what's playing. What does Metro do to make my life easier? Nothing, really. It seems superfluous. Why on Earth do I want a second UI in my operating system? At least in OS X, Launch Pad (which is a more spartan version of Metro, really), I can ignore the second UI if it doesn't work for me. With Win8, MS is shoving Metro down our throats and in its current iteration, I don't feel it's ready for prime time on desktops.

Looking at all this from a pure desktop point of view, then yeah, the new Metro start screen will seem odd or out of place to some. But Microsoft's policy on this whole ordeal is that touch users are now as high a priority as mouse and keyboard users, and for touch, both the old start menu and a tray/docking system would be unacceptable.

Microsoft's solution is to replace the start menu with something that may not be much of an upgrade for mouse users, but makes a world of difference to touch users. I personally think the new start screen works really well (as a mouse user) and I rather enjoy using it, but having the tray-thing is still important, which is why it's still here; Microsoft knows it's important to power users.

But while mouse users aren't getting a huge upgrade, keyboard users are going to thrive on W8. Microsoft has littered W8 with keyboard shortcuts, so navigating your system should be getting a whole lot easier from that point of view. Unless you prefer command line navigation, in which case you're back to only having a small upgrade.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking Metro as a touch interface at all. I think it's a great tablet interface. I simply don't like it for standard desktop work and after seeing it in action, it's pretty easy to see why Apple has kept OS X and iOS at arm's length from one another. Right now, the two interfaces don't play well together, though I think Apple is on to something with their Magic Mouse/trackpad gestures for the desktop. Once you get used to using the surface of a mouse as a second input level for gesturing, you feel really slighted and out of sorts when you're using a traditional mouse.