Proctele apps in the App Store

Proctele apps in the App Store
Click the picture to see Proctele apps in Apple's App Store

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Pretty Windows 8

Windows 8 is now available in a "Consumer Preview" version. To stay nice and safe, Microsoft warns that this version isn't actually for everyone.
The Windows 8 screen looks much like the screen of a Nokia Windows phone. It begs to be touched, but it works fine with mouse and keyboard too. Touch is not new for Windows 8. It was already there in Windows 7 though I guess few knew about it. It didn't look like a touch operating system, as Apple has defined it for us. There weren't many notebook PCs that offered touch either, since touch isn't a notebook feature. It requires the screen to be right under your fingers and not  several inches away, like it is on a notebook. Windows 8 is an invitation to PC-producers to enter the pad-market.
Windows 8 is all about apps. The Windows Store is Microsoft's equivalent of Apple's App Store. The buttons on the screen are apps. The document-centric approach to operating systems is out! I couldn't agree more. Interacting with a document has to be a nice experience. The user must not be scared away by a minimalist user interface, or an over-done user interface. It should be up to the user to choose how he wants to create or interact with a document. He can do so by choosing an app he finds attractive. The move away from document-centricity is a major step forwards for user friendly IT.
The Cloud is part of Windows 8, or perhaps rather: Windows has entered The Cloud. That's good and I guess Microsoft's hope is that Windows is finally moving on to more user friendly computing devices than the PC, which never really became friendly enough to users. I hope it succeeds, because I do want to have a choice between at least two equally attractive devices the next time I buy a mobile phone. iPhone shouldn't be allowed to be the single most attractive mobile device, and neither should the iPad.
Rumor has it that Windows 8 will be released in Q4 of this year. I hope upgrading from Windows 7 will be made an attractive choice.

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