User Reactions to Windows 8
- Nov 27, 2012 8:34 AM EST
- [num] Comments
Over the past month, I've observed a number of "civilians" (typical users who aren't bloggers, journalists, or IT employees) using Windows 8. I must say, I've been intrigued by their reactions.
On the biggest question of the new user interface, people have mixed feelings. About half really like the new tiled look, and one particularly likes the way it brings together his "personal flow" information including mail, social networks, appointments, and news. He found the streaming tile thumbnails very informative and talked about using the new interface for tablet-style consumption and the old interface for content creation. Another user found the new look to be great for casual browsing and accessing personal information, but not good for business purposes. One called it a "major disaster." He found the Live Tiles mostly futile and the difference between the new look and standard desktop applications very jarring.
Just about everyone agreed it takes some adjustment and that in a corporate environment, it will require training and customization.
The touch capabilities have generally gotten a much better reaction. People like being able to use touch, even in desktop or laptop mode, particularly to scroll and zoom in Internet and reading applications. (That tracks with my experiences, as I find myself constantly using touch to scroll through pages in IE or Firefox.) However, most of those who tried were underwhelmed by the touch capabilities in Office 2013, saying it was still too hard to use the menus and select content accurately. They prefer the mouse, and in one case, keyboard shortcuts. (Some did, though, like the new charting features in Excel.)
Overall, some like the concept of one operating system and UI that can be used across the spectrum of devices, and many like the concept of a hybrid tablet, like the Surface.
Many people talked about the "steep learning curve"—how switching among programs and windows is more complicated, how the shortcuts seem to have changed, and how grating the interface can be. They are concerned that the cost of training in a business environment might outweigh any business benefit, especially in a desktop setting.
I always expected this would be a version of Windows that would skip the enterprise desktop and laptop market, and these reactions just confirm that for me.