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No. It's an M11X r2 And Windows 8 is fast, and fun. And with a touchpad most of the touch controls work. It's not as awkward and pointless as actually using a mouse. That's just me though. I'll be getting Windows 8. Although. I was a big fan of Vista when it came out too and used it clear till Windows 7. I hated XP with a passion. So much so that I used Ubuntu for a long time.
I had this idea a few days ago while using Windows 8. I hate the start screen. I hate how it's full screen and covers everything you're doing. I hate how you can't click anywhere to close the start menu. I hate how when you run a search, it breaks the search into 3 categories which must be manually clicked through.
Windows 8 has a fly-in metro panel that flies in from the right and covers a small portion of the screen. This panel appears when you want to view your network connections, or when you click the "settings" button in the charm bar. Here's a picture:
I've always been a fan of small fly-in menus. While talking about how much I hate Windows 8's UI problems in IRC, I suggested possibly bringing back the start menu as a fly-in panel. I got to work in Photoshop, and came up with this:
The idea is that it offers you the features of metro including live tiles and full Start customization, but without the intrusiveness. The start panel would be accessed from the start button or Windows key. The tiles would be the same exact tiles that are on your main start screen (http://i.imgur.com/ir35x.jpg), but instead of the columns being arranged side-by-side, they would be stacked on top of each other. Since the panel only takes up a small section of the screen, you can easily click away to close it, and it doesn't cover anything you may be working on. The tiles are also touchscreen friendly, just as much as a smart phone or the normal start screen. The only thing I haven't thought of is a quick way to get from the start menu to the full start screen.
One feature I LOVE about Windows 7 is the ability to launch programs just by typing their name into the search. Windows 8 improves this by making the search faster, however it also is a problem. The problem, as I mentioned, is that the search results are broken up into 3 categories now: apps, settings, and files. If you need to get to an applet in the control panel, such as UAC or Printers, it used to be as simple as typing "UAC" and pressing enter. In Windows 8, you need to click on "Settings" first, then you can click on the item you want. It's an extra step, but for giving directions or everyday tasks, it's a real pain.
Since I love the search and I use it most often, I don't want it filling up the screen either. Just like in the main start screen, typing will initiate a search. However, this search would be like the Windows 7 search. It would search apps first, then if no apps are found it searches settings, and finally it searches files. The exact number of search results would depend on the screen resolution and final UI tweaks, of course. However, in Windows 7, only 3 items from both programs and settings are displayed in the search, so I followed the same pattern here. Limiting the results to 3 items each is very reasonable, since the vast majority of the time you will want the top result. If no apps are found, it would default to the top item under settings, so there would be no need to click on any search categories. Simply typing "UAC" and pressing enter would work. Also, clicking "see all x results" would bring you to the full screen search results.
What do you guys think?
http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs70/i/20...pp-d39ckxz.png
My desktop from before my previous new computer fried. I would love if they did that. Make the bar on the side essentially an uber-version of Windows Phone that can control settings and launch programs and leave the bar on the bottom for window management.
Wait a minute...that's Unity isn't it...
Windows 8 has the ugliest whore of a UI I have ever fucking seen.
even windows vista is better than this shit
All I can say is thank god I'm a Mac user. The fact I can say one of the killer features OSX has over W8 is that we have a dock with icons on it, and when you click those icons it brings you to whatever app you click on is just sad....
I LOVE HATING THINGS
HATING THINGS MAKES ME LOOK SO COOL
You guys never said what you thought about my UI changes...
I'm wondering if I should even bring more attention to it on like reddit or some windows circlejerk site.
I still need to know how you think the start menu and start screen should be brought up, though.
