“The problem with Windows 8 and Metro finally became clear to me when I was confronted by a wall of tiles and was lost,” John C. Dvorak writes for PC Magazine. “The sameness made it impossible to find anything. Why anyone would revert to vague and homogeneous tiles from highly identifiable icons is beyond my comprehension. Perhaps someone thinks it’s more artsy.”
“People sense something is wrong. The miserable sales of the Phone 7 products reflect the user sensitivity,” Dvorak writes. “So what does Microsoft do? It pushes the same bad idea to the new OS. Win 8 will be a huge disappointment if Microsoft insists that these metro tiles are a good idea.”
“When you look at your desktop screen, how do you find the program you are looking for? You look for distinctive icons using your human ability to recognize patterns. It’s what we do best,” Dvorak writes. “We are so good at this that we can identify an upside down icon. Mac takes the icon approach to interesting and useful extremes. Even document icons are miniature and identifiable shrunken images of the title page. This is extremely useful.”
Dvorak writes, “It dawned on me that, while artistically interesting, the Microsoft wall of tiles presents a navigational dilemma. It’s an out-and-out hindrance. As a user interface, it’s actually a disaster. It’s also a disaster for the Phone 7 phones.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: This might be John’s record for staying on his meds.
BTW, we came to a similar conclusion back in February 2010, when we wrote regarding Windows Phone ’07: Apple offers “a better-designed UI that doesn’t continuously destroy users’ visual memory.”
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Reader “NixoN” for the heads up.]
Related article:
Dvorak: High-end niche apps drive market to iPhone, the one platform users and developers can trust – August 31, 2011
To MDN:
I’d love to see all your takes summarized in one post 😀
PC users are accustomed to keeping the old because because the new brings them too many problems.
Mac users embrace the next upgrade. PC users fear the next upgrade. I’ve assisted both platforms. The typical PC user says: “No…I don’t think I want the new Windows ________ upgrade, do I have to upgrade?” Then I visit someone with a Mac and it’s “So how soon I upgrade? Is it out yet?” BIG difference. Fear and dread vs. anticipation and joy.
I’ve probably created 100 happy switchers to Mac by convincing the PC victim that they DO have the power to stop the fear and dread any time they want to. Just take a deep breath and switch platforms. Now my switchers e-mailing me with “Can I upgrade to Lion now, please?”
Exactly what I said the moment I saw it on the phone. Totally confusing and one dimensional… that is some achievement.
Lets not praise Dvorak too fast. In a recent posting he said this,,, “With the market the way it is, I think people would go nuts over a branded Apple television.”
The man just spouts. Period. Maybe one day a mouse will be an acceptable computer input source for him. LOL
en