Screen blank space at the top

[spaulagain]

The majority of the world is not people working for Fortune 500 companies my friend. They are small businesses with 5, 10, 20 employees. Those are who we cater too. They are buying computers over the internet from Dell or they have a computer tech they hire locally to manage their small setup of 1 server and 5 or 6 pc's. Nothing BS about that. That's the real world. Believe it or not, but these people buying new computers because their pc just broke are not enjoying this new "pretty" design. it's made for a touch screen experience. Not enough business software available for the metro side so you spend most of your time back on the desktop side. Unfortunately the start button was removed in Microsoft's wisdom. It's creating a cottage industry from companies like StarDock.com and others who are making good money hacking into Win8 to add the start button back. You can call it BS, but I just call them like I see them. Not anyone's punk ****** or troll.

The start button is still there. Its right there in the corner and shows a preview of the Start Screen when you hover over it. And the Windows key works wonderfully too. My Dad thought as you did about the Start button. After less then a week of using it, he didn't care because it worked just as well without it.

My company is less than a hundred people, the company I used to work for was less than 10. I know the majority of people don't work in Fortune 500 companies. That's the point!!!! They are consumers.

Apple came out with a brand new UI when they launched the iPhone, did that stop people from using it? No. Infact, consumers ran to it. You are always going to have some minority of people that want the old and use the hack. But those aren't the ones driving the industry, they're the ones dragging it down.

I'm not a ******, or a troll. In fact I used to hate MS for their boring and horrible UIs. So how does that fit into your equation?

 

[Spicymikey]

I have no equation my friend. Just being honest and offering an honest "in the trenches" viewpoint. I hope you're right and I'm wrong because my livelihood depends on Microsoft's platform succeeding. So far, the Win8 sales have been a bit disappointing and the Win Phone has been way underperforming since it was introduced. This reworked design is much better and I've tried to promote it with friends and business associates but so far the enthusiasm for this new UI just isn't there. Unfortunately, more and more of my customers are moving to Mac/iPAD/iPhone setups for their small businesses. This is hurting the potential market for my software and I'm frustrated like many WIndows based software companies.

Microsoft just sat on their hands for too long and didn't see the mobile market dominance coming. Their smartphone market share has ticked up a tad but Microsoft will probably need to do everything perfect over the next 3 years AND get lucky and have Apple and Google make a big mistake to be a major player at this point. In short, theirs a chance they can pull it off, but it's no guarantee. This 2.0 design is good and the merging of their PC and phone business with a common UI is gong to give them a fighting chance. Not trying to split hairs here on small stuff like this UI design "flaw", but I can't help think it's too little too late. They need to move faster. They need to dazzle and innovate. So far the general user community isn't overly impressed from what I've seen.

 

[wpn00b]

Let's not even start talking about this metro design on the desktop and business environment. As far as desktops are concerned this Windows 8 UI is a disaster. My company develops Windows business productivity software. Of all my customers I've spoken too so far who have upgraded to Win8 on their PC's they hate it. Some have reverted back to WIn7

I totally understand this part...I like it on the desktop, but the trackpad controls seem tacked on. It is much more difficult to use this interface on a deskto than a smartphone. But that ease of use will probably come with time. With that said... I'm not sure if your reply was in response to my post, but if so I wasn't talking about that type of desktop. When I said "Also, imagine working on an IRL desktop/table..." I meant a desk/table...something you set your coffee mug on. I was just drawing a comparison between working on a desk with room to shift things around as opposed to a cluttered desk/workspace and how clean this UI with the extra space is and how easy it is to roam the screen vs static fields of icons.

Your points are valid., but I just wanted to clear that up since I feel I accidentally triggered a response regarding a "Windows Desktop" instead of a "real" desktop.

 

[Spicymikey]

Yes I misunderstood you. This new UI is great for phones and tablets. It's a clear productivity gain for the user. Aside from the minor (very minor) complaint I had about wasting space, I like the latest iteration of WP OS. The thread has gone off on a tangent. Sorry, I'm partially to blame. Since this is a WP forum, I'll drop that discussion. Hopefully Microsoft will just see the distinction between power user, developer, accountant, etc. type users versus someone holding a tablet reading the news or interacting with customers in an open space. One size does not fit all.

Back to the "negative space". Not against it at all, just want more control over it. In fact, I'd like to see MS add a "spacer" concept so we can make clear distinctions and visually better group tiles. Taking it a step further, I'd like them to create a "master" tile concept like they have with the Xbox or Office tile. All the games can be accessed by first pressing the Games tile and then get a sub presentation of available games. Wouldn't it be great if the user could create their own "Games" type tile and title it whatever they want and place whatever they want inside. So much they could do to make this a killer UI. But they are moving so damn slow. Took them forever to realize the gutter idea was a loser and remove it. World moves too fast to react like that.

 

[wpn00b]

The thread has gone off on a tangent. Sorry, I'm partially to blame.

I'll get back on topic as well. Sorry about that!

 

[wpn00b]

Ok, now this is where it becomes constructive. Why there is not a simple OPTION to include the space or not is beyond me. I've seen people create those "title": tiles where it is solely there to label the tiles grouped beneath(not within it, but just underneath) it, but that just makes the homescreen super long and personally I'd like it as simple as possible... I minimize my scrolling as well.

I like the "master tile" idea. If I'm not mistaken, it's basically a "Hub" as they call it on Windows Phone right? People is a Hub and Office and Games are similar so I guess that's the way it should work. We should have the ability to create local Hubs on our device and call it whatever we want and associate whatever app to that Hub maybe.

 

[Spicymikey]

Funny, I am using those "title" tiles now myself to help me organize and group things. Using that app called MyTiles. But it's clunky and awkward to use and this sort of thing should already be baked into the UI. Microsoft should take it further and give us that ability to create hubs as you mentioned. Doesn't have to be elaborate, but at least the ability to group things in a attractive presentation. Sort of like iPhones folders but hopefully something must better conceived and implemented.

This is not Version 1.0 for this WP OS. It's maturing way too slow. But that's typical of a large corp run by a bean counter like Balmer. With Jobs gone now I'm sure Apple will return back to it's unexciting self again from the 90's when it almost lost complete relevancy. Microsoft should only hope so for its survival. They sat on their hands for the last 10 years and let the enemy forces advance right up to the city gates (to use a military analogy). So instead of crushing them out in the open, years ago, they are now forced into hand to hand combat to fight for their homeland (core customers)

 

[soaringthor]

Let's not even start talking about this metro design on the desktop and business environment. As far as desktops are concerned this Windows 8 UI is a disaster. My company develops Windows business productivity software. Of all my customers I've spoken too so far who have upgraded to Win8 on their PC's they hate it. Some have reverted back to WIn7. The decision to get rid of the start button is killing the productivity. The emphasis on "space" and touchscreen doesn't resonate with someone trying to get a job done fast and efficiently.

They're doing it wrong. Go to the start screen, type Word, and press Enter. Word opens. Go to the start screen, type Chara and press Enter. Character Map is opened in a heart beat... bet most consumers don't even know where that's hidden in the Start Menu. Type in IP Address and click on Settings - a link to View Network Connections is the result.

Wow... talk about productivity & efficiency!

 

[Spicymikey]

I agree. The global search feature that allows you to zero in on apps, settings, and files by typing text is very nice. A welcome feature. But it doesn't REPLACE a visual hierarchy menu system for many people, like was offered prior to Win 8. This is especially true if you have HUNDREDS of programs to access. Type searching is only going to work if you remember the name of what you want. Seems simple for a 20 year old, but it's not user friendly for the masses. Being able to group and list items as YOU want is very desirable. Again, the big colorful tiles that you can point at is great for a touchscreen tablet or phone. That is perfect for the average American. Just doesn't transfer well into all situations. I'm guessing they will need to do something with SP1 that adds back in a menu system on the desktop side.

 

[holtie43]

I didn't read through all of this so apologies if someone has pointed it out already, but the wasted black space at the top of the screen is simply a through back to the windows phone 7 days, if you recall there was an arrow pointing to the right of the screen at the top of the live tile home screen indicating that the installed app list was off to the right. i seem to recall that it was located slightly above the first row of tiles so some black space needed to be left for it. it seems like when they added the extra column of tiles and got rid of the arrow they didn't remove the space reserved for it.
or maybe its there so that when a toast notification is displayed, it has a space to be shown in, rather then covering up the top live tile.

 

[Joshua Jackson]

Messes wiith my OCD and I have to nudge the screen up to make it display the full 7 after I press the windows button

I did the exact same thing on my 928.
I even posted an thread about it.
Hehehe...
JJ