Leaked Windows 9 screenshots show a work still in progress

Internet Explorer 12 is claimed to feature a new Chrome-like look.

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[jdale]

xWidget[/url]":1ehib0ju]While I like the flat UI elements, I think this might be going too far. I can't tell how big any of these buttons are and if I weren't familiar with the general interface it might take me far too long to realize those are even buttons...

There's a general move towards typography as design, and completely uncued text links in place of buttons. I think it's a very bad idea, for the reason you mention. I have overlooked functions on my phone (Windows Phone) exactly because I couldn't tell they were links. In some cases I even tried clicking them but got no response for whatever reason (maybe even fat fingers) which really threw me off.

Having all the text be the same color, same font, and often the same size also removes all the visual cues you use as visual landmarks. Flat, two-color buttons and icons only contribute to this.

In short, I think the war on skeumorphism has gone too far. I don't need fake notepads and leather stitching, but I do want buttons with visible borders. I'd settle for a choice of themes, some of which make the borders visible and some of which do not.

 

[jdale]

Static and Noise[/url]":1bzwxm92]

drfisheye[/url]":1bzwxm92]If IE finally gets good add-ons and tabs above the address bar, I'd consider switching from Chrome.

Okay, I gotta ask: why do you want the tab bar above the address bar? Tabs being directly connected to the "content" window makes sense to me (though my tab bar is placed below it, not above). But separating the tab bar from the content window with the address bar... It makes no sense to me, but you seem to consider it crucial. I am very honestly asking you why?

I prefer the tab bar below the address bar as well. Visually, it creates a clearer distinction between the tabs and the page if everything below the tab changes when you click a new tab. Also, I click the tabs much more often than the address bar, so it's convenient to have it closer to the content (which also gets clicked).

In FF, if you use the bookmarks toolbar, and have the address bar below the tabs, the bookmarks toolbar also appears below the tabs, which makes no sense.

 

[jdale]

Dark Empath[/url]":1uaklk0q]

Static and Noise[/url]":1uaklk0q]

digitaljoel[/url]":1uaklk0q]At first glance it reminded me of Windows 3.1 for some reason.

Windows 3.1 had far more depth and colour.

If memory serves me correctly, back in 1994 I was able to run Win3.1 in either 640x480 with 16 million colours, or 1024x768 with 256 colours (Tseng Labs ET4000 video card with 1MB of RAM!).

I generally ran in 1024x768. So no, my Windows 3.1 didn't have more colour

(Definitely more depth, though.)

16,777,216 colors doesn't mean much for the UI if 16,777,212 of them are unused.

 

[jdale]

Dark Empath[/url]":3ud0d64c]

SomeRandomGuy[/url]":3ud0d64c]Metro is actually touch and keyboard optimized. Seriously. In Metro, just start typing to search -- it'll pull up apps, docs, settings, web sites. It's ... stupidly awesome. Otherwise, alt-tab to switch apps, alt-f4 to close them and so on. It's fast once you get it. And it's much faster to find an app or a lost doc with the new search than drilling through nested folders in either Explorer or the Start menu.

All of which applies to both Vista and Win7 as well. If you were already using your computer properly before, Win8 made absolutely no difference to how you worked.

As soon as you tell people there is one right way to use their computer (e.g. keyboard) and the other ways are wrong (e.g. mouse), your UI has failed. If the OS is meant to be used by a wide variety of people with a wide variety of skill levels for a wide variety of tasks -- and I would argue Windows is -- it needs to work in a variety of ways.