So I was up till late last night watching the Windows 10 Preview Event.
My initial reactions are very positive. Microsoft has packed in a whole lot. And while some of it is truly WOW, the other stuff is…well…expected from an OS release that is so important to Microsoft as a whole.
I was absolutely blown away by the Windows Holographic stuff. I’ll show the demo to my Minecraft-crazy kids later today and I am sure they’ll go ballistic. By the way, this in the same week that Google decided to slow down its efforts on Google Glass, makes it very significant.
I like it when Microsoft backs themselves.
The second bit I loved was Xbox One games streaming. This is truly fantastic for someone like me. My Xbox lies in my TV/ Sitting Room but soon with Windows 10, I can continue to play games on my desktop, laptop or tablet from anywhere in the home. Phil Spencer demo-ed this feature on my current favourite game, Forza Horizon 2! In addition, two or more players can now play multiplayer Xbox One games with just one console in the home. SUPER! Money saved right there.
And of course there was Cortana everywhere, AND improved apps for email and photos…plus other enhancements to the Action Center…you know, the stuff you would expect. I’ll write separately on Cortana but suffice it to say that in a country like ours where you live in cities crammed with people, it is unlikely that any of us will be afforded the silence and privacy of blaring instructions to a phone without anyone listening in. But that’s just me. I could be wrong. (FYI: I’ve tried Cortana on my Lumia 920 even though its not launched in our region, India.)
Curiously, the one thing we never heard anything about was Android apps running on Windows 10. And I suspect we won’t this year, as Microsoft goes all guns blazing promoting Universal Apps.
I am sure Windows 10 will sell well. It deserves to. I will have it running on all my devices as soon as it’s out.
But, some of my concerns about its overall look remain.
Microsoft now fancies itself so much as THE productivity company that it feels compelled to design everything to look like Office & OneDrive. Flat and minimalistic. Segoe UI and Tiles. Function before form. Modern UI is fantastic when you are in the apps. But does it need to be everywhere in the OS?
As I said in an earlier article which you can read here, Microsoft can pack in all the great functionality that it wants to in Windows 10, but if it doesn’t look and feel premium, it potentially loses a huge new base of would-be customers who still walk into Apple stores and walk out with MacBook’s and iPhones.
I’ve tried, just as recently as this morning, to enter the above feedback into the Windows 10 Insider program but I can’t just find the appropriate place for it. Its not a calendar issue, nor a start screen/task-switching issue. Its more macro. Its about creating a premium look and feel. About making it look gorgeous.
In the meantime, I’ve offered some ideas in an earlier post. Create a SECOND option. Put in the bells & whistles. Give it a premium feel with 3D, rich gradients, textures, icons & buttery-smooth animations. In this second option, restrict the metro stuff to remain inside and within the productivity apps. So, while the OS can be made to look and feel glossy, when I click on Office or OneDrive I get the same Modern, flat UI that I love and see today.
If you were to present the argument that the two opposing designs would not match each other…i.e. the switch between premium and flat would be visually jarring, I could conversely present the case of the Xbox One where the flat dashboard UI allows you to launch games which have their own distinct and unique splash screens and rich graphical experiences.
Microsoft: you owe it to yourself because since Vista/Win 7/Aero/Flip3D, you’ve totally abandoned premium, glossy, transparent, shadows, gradients…What if you were to engage a few of your designers to evolve a version of the Windows 10 UI in the opposite direction of what it currently is? Present it as a new build to the Windows Insiders. Dump it if it doesn’t click. But at least give it a try.
In conclusion, let me add a word or two about personal tastes.
For some, the idea of a perfect wrist-watch is a dark-grey digital fitness-band lookalike. For others it could be a gold-rimmed analog dial with a tan-leather strap. They both do the same job i.e. tell the time. But why force everyone to go the way of the former? Some of us still prefer the tactile look and feel of colours, materials & texture
But, well done Microsoft. Its good to see you getting your mojo back.
Winstrider 