Thurrott and evolution of Windows Phone

Pronk

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Anyone else seen this?

Thurrott wants Windows Phone 8 start screen to scroll horizontally | WMPoweruser

Now, putting my cards on the table, I think Thurrott is a poor writer anyway. He blatantly writes troll pieces designed to annoy (and get hits from) Apple fans, Android fans, PS3 fans, Wii fans - basically, any Microsoft tech gets the easiest of easy rides and everything else gets raked over the coals. He's like a ****** given the ultimate reward - being paid to write ****** articles - and his idea of being objective is buying a competitor's product to slate it.

However, I think he outdoes himself here by simply not getting what makes WP7 good at all - elegance and simplicity. If MS made WP8 into basically Windows 8 as he suggests, I'd ditch it like it was on fire. I don't even have 30 apps on my phone, and I'd have to scroll through screens and screens of stuff to find what I want. What works on a tablet/on a desktop doesn't work on a smaller screen because it's a smaller screen.

Would you want what he thinks is the way to go?
 

thed

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I think the whole thing is based on a flawed premise. He says that vertical "scrolling is far less common on Windows Phone than is horizontal scrolling" which I don't think is true. Sure, you do a lot of short, quick horizontal swipes to move through pivots and panoramas, but scrolling through actual lists is always done vertically. And with good reason: it's much easier (for me at least) to swipe my thumbs vertically than it is to swipe horizontally.

So the whole thing really doesn't make any sense to me. Maybe it would work on a tablet, where you're generally using your index finger and the tablet is resting on a surface. But on a phone where you're holding it in one hand and using your thumbs? No way I would want that.

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1jaxstate1

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There's another thread on how he likes to troll for clicks . He's a jackass IMO. not too long ago he was saying there's no way MS will have mango out out before 2012.

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foosball

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Last edited:

Forgewizard

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Hang on a bit. Did you peek at the you tube vid? It reminds me of the palm pre's launcher pages. Which actually were pretty handy.

What bothers me is his wish to make all apps automatically pin to the start screen. This I would not want. I like the ability to pin frequently used apps and leave the "minor" apps in the list. Its no big deal to tap the search icon and locate the app I need. (although universal search would be ideal).

Being as I use *new groups to segregate my apps according to my headings (similar to how I set up the old palm pre launcher pages) all this new concept would do is change my vertical scroll to horizontal. Which in reality is no harder for my thumb.

I do like his idea of getting the start screen to orient according to the handset. The palm pre did NOT do that. I often leave my Arrive's keyboard open, which changes the screen orientation in everything so far EXCEPT for the start screen. Its awkward reading selections sideways. Granted only 2 rows of tiles would be visible in each orientation. But I find I use landscape more often than portrait; so not having to turn the phone just is smoother.

And smooth is what WP is all about - right?
 

Rallicat

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I read allot of Paul's articles, and listen to the Windows weekly podcast - its a great source of information on what's happening with Microsoft's consumer products. If you're looking for unbiased opinion on non-MS products? Might be better to try elsewhere!

I read the article and saw the mockups, granted they are bad, but I doubt Paul is trying to set himself up as a UI designer here, just throwing out an some ideas.

Some people /do/ have lots of apps, and might indeed want to pin quite a few things to the start screen and build some categories for that.

Don't get me wrong, I think there's nothing wrong with keeping the current start screen - its clean and simple. It doesn't hurt however to throw a few ideas around.
 

aubreyq

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Not sure I like it, but hey, different strokes for different folks. I would like a notification screen to the left of the Start screen, like some people have mentioned in other threads.
 

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