Longhorn to feature flashy interface

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XP UI Ditched

I don't think they **quite** understand it yet. XP's UI was okay
(bit garish in the default) and even made the "Start Menu" a bit
less of a mess. But it didn't ADD much, sure the Start button was
more visible (being green) but one you'd found it you didn't
NEED it to be pointed out (it doesn't move after all). Some
elements "light up" when the mouse if over them (a nice touch)
but there is nothing compelling.

Now deploying XP is like this: I can't replace ALL the desktops at
once (it's just not practical) and anyway there is unlikely to be a
compelling business reason to do so. So I'm going to deploy in
"batches" THIS is how the real world works. No Microsoft have
made this a little easier for me, I can make XP look just like W2K,
users won't be confused (and the new Start Menu is confusing
first time you see it) so what am I going to do? Make everything
in XP look as much like W2K as possible, "Theme", Desktop
Icons, Start Menu everything. Not because the old one is better,
but because the new one doesn't ADD enough to be worth the
pain (it doesn't actually ADD much at all).

Longhorn is going to have this problem MUCH worse, because
I'll get different UIs on different classes of PC! This is a logistical
nightmare, and I can see that fancy new UI being throttled back
to W2K everywhere for the same reasons as XP was.

If Microsoft are the be believed then the new UI is a major
benefit of the new OS, so if that's going to patchy, (where there
are a lot of desktops of various specifications) why do I want to
move from W2K (or XP if I got that far)? Now I don't know what
Microsoft can actually do here, but it does seem to blunt the new
OS.

Given this background WHY are Microsoft so UI fixated?

Now some people will tell you it's all about controlling
multiplatforms (Windows EVERYWHERE). But I can't see this, is a
desktop computer CAN'T COPE this the "full on" UI then a PDA or
a wrist watch won't! Microsoft made THIS mistake before, WinCE
had a desktop UI that didn't fit that form factor, the Windows UI
is utterly unsuitable for devices that AREN'T PCs. Take an
example from the UI master. Did Apple mimic OSX on the iPod?
Of course not, they developed a new UI suitable to the limited
size and function of that device, and the iPod is actually usable
with a small screen and a big library of songs (this is actually
quite a neat trick - just trying imagining iPod with a more PC or
Mac-like UI).

This "triple" UI could well be Longhorn's Achilles Heel.

Posted by: Jeremy Chappell   Posted on: 05/07/04 You are currently: a Guest | Members login | Terms of Use

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