Microsoft "Metro"



  • Someone I work with was complaining about something called "Microsoft Metro" this morning, and it really caught my attention. "What's that?" I remember thinking. "Is that the musical sound of someone whining that I hear?"



    My curiosity was aroused, and I began a really thoughtful inquiry into this new "Microsoft Metro." I was even heard to wonder aloud, "Is Metro sexual?" As the world leaders in mental self-abuse, it might make sense for Microsoft to move up to the real thing.



    So, I investigated a bit further, and it turns out that Microsoft Metro is basically an exercise in design. It's essentially just art. And the obvious question this presents is, "why is Microsoft trying to sell me art?"



    After all, it's not as if Robert Maplethorpe tries to hector me into purchasing business consulting services. (There was that one time, but I'm pretty sure he was on Mescaline.)



    Then it occurred to me that perhaps Robert Maplethorpe and his ilk should sell consulting services. Don't you care whether your file formats, ER diagrams, etc. are aesthetically balanced? Wouldn't you like them to include veiled statements about the ugliness of Postmodernism and the military / industrial complex?



    At present, I'm planning a few artistic forays, but only very hesitantly. One must be very careful that "performance art" is not misinterpreted as trespassing, aggressive behavior, etcetera. Sadly, the world may simply not be ready for really avante-garde , Maplethorpe-style art involving operating systems. I mean, I am, but how many people could that really translate out to? Maybe 2.5 million at most?



  • What the hell did I just read?

    Who in the world is Robert Maplethorpe?

    And most importantly, what am I going to have for lunch tomorrow?



  • You're not funny.



  • Explorer is there as an app just like Finder is an app on OS X. Unfortunately they'll probably be getting rid of your favorite XP green hillside theme.



  • Metro is a newish (it has been around for a little bit) UI/UX Paradigm. The basic intent is that a Metro application will be accessible on any device from a Phone to a Tablet to a DeskTop. If you have looked at the Windows 8 preview (or even read anything about Windows 8) then you should have heard of Metro.

    It is definately generating some controversy being applie to desktop computing; strong opinions on both sides.

     As a side note the Robert Maplethorpe reference is quite apropo, while Metro is not "black and white" it is a much more subdued UI than many others. This is based on research that foun "rich" (aka colorful) UI's actually distracted from a persons ability to recognize, and focus on the important data..



  • "Metro" is the 2011 version of Microsoft Bob.



  • @El_Heffe said:

    "Metro" is the 2011 version of Microsoft Bob.

    I think you just won the thread.



  •  Yeah that's great, I totally bought a 28" monitor at 2560 X 1600 so I could look at a cell phone screen.

    Seriously, the hell with this.  First thing I'm doing when I'm forced to upgrade is figuring out how to break that.



  • @TheCPUWizard said:

    The basic intent is that a Metro application will be accessible on any device from a Phone to a Tablet to a DeskTop.

    I seem to recall X Windows being described similarly...



  • @bridget99 said:

    Robert Ma[b]p[/b]plethorpe
    FTFY, not that anybody cares.



  • @Kittemon said:

    @TheCPUWizard said:

    The basic intent is that a Metro application will be accessible on any device from a Phone to a Tablet to a DeskTop.

    I seem to recall X Windows being described similarly...

     

    +1

    Although... "X Windows" (I'm assuming you mean *nix GUIs in general here, since X Windows by itself seems very specific) has a UI that's good for PCs and bad for tablets and is mostly used on PCs...

    From what I've seen, Metro has a UI that's good for tablets and bad for PCs, and will be mostly used on PCs.

     



  • @immibis said:

    @Kittemon said:

    @TheCPUWizard said:

    The basic intent is that a Metro application will be accessible on any device from a Phone to a Tablet to a DeskTop.

    I seem to recall X Windows being described similarly...

     

    +1

    Although... "X Windows" (I'm assuming you mean *nix GUIs in general here, since X Windows by itself seems very specific) has a UI that's good for PCs and bad for tablets and is mostly used on PCs...

    From what I've seen, Metro has a UI that's good for tablets and bad for PCs, and will be mostly used on PCs.

     

    X Window System is just the graphics server and associated client libraries and has no GUI by itself. There are numerous desktop environments built on top of it, including Gnome, KDE, XFCE and LXDE. The window system itself is indeed used for PCs, tablets and cell phones, and in many cases even the same widget toolkits (which are an intermediate layer between the window system and applications), but I've yet to see a case where the same application with the same UI code would work well across all three.



  • @TheCPUWizard said:

    while Metro is not "black and white" it is a much more subdued UI than many others. This is based on research that foun "rich" (aka colorful) UI's actually distracted from a persons ability to recognize, and focus on the important data..

    Can you please point me at that research? I have been arguing that point for years (ever since Windows XP CircusColorEdition came out), and would absolutely love some backup when people tell me I'm a dinosaur because I think functionality and clarity are more important than pretty colors.



  • @RobFreundlich said:

    @TheCPUWizard said:
    while Metro is not "black and white" it is a much more subdued UI than many others. This is based on research that foun "rich" (aka colorful) UI's actually distracted from a persons ability to recognize, and focus on the important data..

     

    Can you please point me at that research? I have been arguing that point for years (ever since Windows XP CircusColorEdition came out), and would absolutely love some backup when people tell me I'm a dinosaur because I think functionality and clarity are more important than pretty colors.

     

     

    Yes, this is why i turn off aero etc, no matter how long i have tried to live with it.

     



  • @cdietrich said:

    Explorer is there as an app just like Finder is an app on OS X. Unfortunately they'll probably be getting rid of your favorite XP green hillside theme.

    I cam across the link describing the history of that wallpaper which also shows the current view of the same theme.



  • I wonder what would be the reaction if this was pushed by Apple.

    AFAIK you can disable this, is a theme optimized for touch imput devices like tablets, smartphones, etc.

    You people whine too much, if windows 8 is as good as windows 7 then you should be able to make it look almost the same as venerable xp.  The only reason we hid that is because for the most part people cling to much to the old UI without giving new things a chance.

    But for the most part, everything you people complain about, ribbons, taskbars, etc, etc, can be turn to the way  it was in older system, it only requires some work, the documentation is there so... channel your inner Linux user and fix it yourself, or pay for some program to do it for you

    PS:  This was true, at least until W7 without the service pack, I don't recall if this was removed after that but I don't think so.



  • @serguey123 said:

    You people whine too much, if windows 8 is as good as windows 7 then you should be able to make it look almost the same as venerable xp.
    At least in the current developer preview, there's no more "Windows Classic" theme, and while you can get something similar by selecting one of the high-contrast themes, it's not the same (not to mention that enabling a high contrast theme disables wallpaper and changes a ton of icons to simpler versions).



  • @bridget99 said:

    Someone I work with was complaining about something called "Microsoft Metro" this morning, and it really caught my attention
     

    Small wonder.  Under the principle of "anagrams don't lie", Microsoft Metro =

    • moist comforter
    • motto for crimes
    • most erotic form
    • riot comforts me
    • tore from sitcom
    • trimmer of coots
    • force mom to stir

     

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