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Explorer with Ribbon

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Deozaan:
The direction* just doesnt make sense to me what with the default screen these days being 16:9

* pun not initially intended, but if it were vertical I'd consider trying it
-tomos (August 30, 2011, 07:44 AM)
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Yeah, they're aware of that:

As this data shows, widescreen formats (those with a resolution ratio > 1.3) have become the standard. Of the top 20 screen resolutions, 17 of them are widescreen formats and they account for 83% of the total Windows 7 PC base.  This should make sense to everyone because the majority of PCs are laptops and almost all laptops are wide screen.  The two common standard resolutions are almost exclusively desktop PCs.  We had a lot of good discussion about display resolution in Engineering Windows 7 and likely this will be an interesting topic again.

Knowing this, we investigated a number of options for using widescreen formats more effectively with the goal that the total vertical space available for content was the same after we added the ribbon as it had been in Windows 7.

This approach gives you a new Details pane that is much easier to read, makes better use of widescreen formats, and preserves screen real estate for the main file/folder pane. The exact number of lines might vary a bit from PC to PC depending on what add-ins you have, but for the out-of-the-box configuration running full screen at 1366 X 768, you can actually fit two more lines on the screen than you could in Windows 7.
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(emphasis added by me)

Lashiec:
Wow, couldn't they make it more cluttered? Look at the two versions shown side by side in Deozaan's post, Windows 8 shot is really scary. It's like they tried to compensate the size reduction in the status bar by dumping everything on the toolbar. Maybe app is doing some consulting for them? :D. And what's up with that red "Library Tools" button? Is that intended to be a part of the UI?

Is really worth all this effort to force the user to do things the Microsoft way? Because without more data from them, one gets the impression that the user gets the job done with hotkeys and the context menu, but Microsoft wants everyone to use the toolbar! And if not, is the average user really making such heavy use of Explorer to the point he is going to appreciate the new design? I assume the power user is already using 3rd party alternatives, which are superior.

I hope for the sanity of Explorer users this is a preliminary version, because Microsoft can show me all the telemetry data they want, but between this and the pointless additions to the copy dialog, looks like they're stumbling again in the UI front, when many of their recent products suggested they finally 'got it', including Windows 8 own tablet UI, and the statements done by a certain retired religious figure no longer applied ;)

One more thing: http://i.imgur.com/Cp9jx.png. Yeah <_<

P.S.: I use xplorer² and don't have any intention to abandon it. So much for the tantrum :P

Stoic Joker:
Is really worth all this effort to force the user to do things the Microsoft way? Because without more data from them, one gets the impression that the user gets the job done with hotkeys and the context menu, but Microsoft wants everyone to use the toolbar! And if not, is the average user really making such heavy use of Explorer to the point he is going to appreciate the new design? I assume the power user is already using 3rd party alternatives, which are superior.-Lashiec (August 30, 2011, 06:37 PM)
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Dismal first impressions aside ... Perhaps this is to be a tablet friendly design move. Hotkeys and right clicks basically blow on a tablet with an on screen keyboard. But large-ish clearly marked buttons should be easier to hit/work with.

Just thinking out loud - Don't shoot me.  :D

Lashiec:
;D

Well, that would make sense, though it would mean that Microsoft really doesn't get how tablets should operate. The 'ghetto', as some people now affectionately call the Windows desktop metaphor shouldn't really be available for tablet users. If we want the computer to be an appliance, some restrictions should be in place, and this is one of them. Having traditional Windows available at a flick spells all kind of trouble, and tablets should be free of maintenance and system murking as much as possible. Mind you, this is all with the average user in mind, it doesn't hurt to provide some kind of official "jailbreaking" to power users. Plus it's a mishmash of things that feels completely out of place.

Then again, during the tablet UI demo Sinofsky said the tablets should at least use an antivirus, so...

zridling:
And yet more critiques, with links:
http://techcrunch.com/2011/08/30/we-need-an-invert-selection-button/
____________________
"...there’s an undertone to the post: Microsoft is nervous. They’re posting these screenshots now so they can get feedback. To me, this suggests that while Microsoft is confident that they did their homework, they’re not actually confident in the product itself. Nor should they be, given the reaction."

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