The ability to boot to the desktop is a fairly obvious request, I know. And given that Microsoft is clearly pushing towards a future in which the desktop is eventually phased out, you may believe that this particular change can be safely ignored. I couldn’t disagree more.
Yes, Windows 8 represents an amazing transition from PCs to devices, but Windows 8 is designed for PCs and devices. And unless something unexpected happens, most Windows 8 installs will occur on traditional (non-touch) PCs or on traditional PC form factors that also happen to have touch screens. As such, most Windows 8 users will in fact spend most of their time—in some cases, virtually all of their time—in the desktop environment. Why punish your own customers, Microsoft?
Now, I’m not calling for the return of the Start button or the classic Start menu. Far from it: The new Start screen may not be ideal on the traditional PC form factors that everyone actually uses, but it’s at least consistent and it does work. And those who do use the desktop exclusively or nearly so are certainly well served by tasking app pinning.
But I think Windows 8 users deserve more than a cheap Registry key hack. I think Windows 8, modern and intelligent OS that it is, should do the work. And when you first boot into Windows 8, and the Start screen appears, you should see something like the following:
If this were a touch-screen device—not a traditional PC—this message could be changed to note that, or it could simply not appear, since users of such devices will probably want the Metro interfaces by default.
You should also be able to choose between the Start screen and the desktop in PC Settings at any time.
Yup. And maybe disable by default the lock screen on any device that isn't touch-capable. It makes no sense on such hardware.
ReplyDeleteWhy does the lock screen make no sense on a traditional PC? Locking a Windows PC (using WinKey+L) has always been a good security feature to protect your PC while you are away, for example. Now, IMO the lock screen in Windows 8 is just a more beautiful version of the login screen in previous Windows version.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Or just make it more useful all around, like in Windows Phone 8. Right now its just a massive picture with a small amount of important data... I wish I could put more on there!
ReplyDeleteMe personally, I think booting to the Start Screen is just fine - I prefer it. If you need ultra-easy quick access to the Desktop, just put your Desktop tile in the upper-left corner and it's a simple Enter key away.
ReplyDeleteI see. And where you do "discover" that you can that?
ReplyDeleteWindows should work the way you want it to, not some arbitrary way.
Completely agree. I always thought the brief "tutorial" they show you about moving the mouse to the corners was incomplete because it was a consumer preview. I was surprised to see the retail release was just as vague. They hardly tell you anything. I had to go out of my way (read this site) to learn all the shortcuts and tricks. No way the casual user will do that.
ReplyDelete