Discussion over Windows 8 Tweaks after User Feedback

Windows 8 developer preview generated a large amount of excitement across the globe with its release. Though it’s much-vaunted “Metro UI” was considered Marvelous, the final release has been postponed to a year as Microsoft has started to discuss Windows 8
tweaks after user feedback.

In a tremendous detailed blog post, the senior program manager of Windows 8 core experience team, Maria Dukhon discussed upcoming changes to the Windows 8 start screen, apps screen and replacement of Windows 7 jump lists in Windows 8. Though Windows revolved around the start screen for 16 years, in Windows 8, the start menu ceases to exist. The personalization of start screen (the replacement of start menu) is what Microsoft wants to make a great experience to its users. One of the promises of start screen is that it is the user’s personal space to host the applications that they love. But still some users still felt that the new start screen is less efficient than the start menu. The program manager comforted them saying that their design choice meant that there is only a short period before people discover a new feature, but once they do, they see a huge efficiency gain.

Based on the feedback, one of the things that will be done to get to All Programs faster is by taking the user directly to the application screen when he clicks search in the desktop. Another thing that will be done is increasing the number of rows of tiles that can be seen on large monitors so that even more favorite apps can be kept closer to the mouse and they can be launched faster than before. The main intention is to build on a unique transparency in building windows and to bring the user inside the development of the project. Dukhon also said that the new redesign improves, “the scalability of your system and gives you confidence about what is on it at any given time.”

Jump Lists

Some users made a public demand for jump lists, a feature in Windows 7 which allows you to navigate to a specific file. A blog commentator said, “The beauty of jump files is not only that you can ‘pin files’ but also keeps track of recently used files. That saves a lot of time, which the start screen still misses.” Though some users want this feature to be added to the Metro-style smart screen interface, Microsoft is still reluctant to do that as they feel that start menu jump lists are used half as often those of a task bar . They instead rely on secondary tiles. These tiles allow you to create a quick launch icon to a specific part of application such as a playlist in media player or a best friend’s profile page on Facebook.

Finally Windows 8 will have hundreds of features. For instance it supports NFC (Near field communication) and Hyper-V, the virtualization suite, which is now a common standard feature in non-sever versions of Windows 8.