Linked by Thom Holwerda on Wed 6th Jun 2012 19:24 UTC
One tiny thing I wanted to mention about Windows 8: ever noticed how context menus in Metro appear above the mouse cursor instead of underneath? I'm assuming this is done because of finger input (by opening above, your finger and hand doesn't cover the menu), but with a mouse, it's just plain weird. Fun little detail though - shows you how much thought has gone into the touch aspect of Windows 8.
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Member since:2009-07-18
- This is only for Metro Styled context menus. Win32 rendered ones are the same
You completely miss my point that Microsoft is pushing towards Metro everywhere.
- Metro Style guidelines dictate that most frequently used items are near the bottom (opposite of Win32)
That's the thing. It dictates stuff that's stupid from a workstation point of view. If they did it the smart way, they would just show the menu upside down above the event in "touchscreen mode", and show it normally in "classic mode". But support both modes.
- Metro Style guidelines dictate that a Context Menu contain no more than six (6) menu items.
Same thing. It's about Metro dictating things that are good for tablet use and utterly stupid for workstation use.
Member since:2005-11-29
You completely miss my point that Microsoft is pushing towards Metro everywhere.
Yes, but that being bad is predicated on Metro being inherently bad everywhere. My post argued that it wasn't, because it was no inefficient for the Mouse to hit its target Menu Item.
You failed to address this, so I'll state it again:
How is it terrible, if the mouse has to travel the exact same distance?
That's the thing. It dictates stuff that's stupid from a workstation point of view.
How is it stupid?
If they did it the smart way, they would just show the menu upside down above the event in "touchscreen mode", and show it normally in "classic mode". But support both modes.
Why? I don't get the benefit except adding confusion by having it be upsidedown for one circumstance, and rightsideup for another circumstance.
I'm sure you're aware Mouse, Pen, and Touch can be used simultaneously right?
So you'd run into this situation:
Mouse only setups show the Context Menu rightsideup.
Touch only setups show the Context Menu upsidedown
Touch screen laptops show the context menu upsidedown, EXCEPT when used with a Mouse which shows them rightsideup?
You see how this quickly gets confusing? As opposed to simply following a UI guideline.
Input in Windows 8 is unified because of a joint effort between the API and the UI design.
Same thing. It's about Metro dictating things that are good for tablet use and utterly stupid for workstation use.
I don't think striving for simplification is stupid. Being able to express complex ideas in simple terms is a user experience gift. As simple as needed, but no simpler.
Metro forces you to think about different ways of presenting data. You can't just shove 20 options in a context menu, or throw a datagrid every time you want tabular data in your LOB app.
All you do is delegate the responsibility of synthesizing data to the end user, which is the exact opposite of what user experience people want to do.
Think a little bit more about exposing data. Metro has powerful contextual tools (Context Menu, App Bars, Semantic Zoom, etc.) which can take complicated sets of information and display them in less dense formats.
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Member since:
2005-11-29
Let me make a few things clear:
- This is only for Metro Styled context menus. Win32 rendered ones are the same
- Metro Style guidelines dictate that most frequently used items are near the bottom (opposite of Win32)
- Metro Style guidelines dictate that a Context Menu contain no more than six (6) menu items.
Since this is true, your mouse travels the same distance it otherwise would have with a Win32 context menus.