Will W8 cause us grief?

Some of us are not normal people (but then again, we are Imperial students). We live on the bleeding edge of technology where we thrive on using the latest and greatest of gadgets and software. We readily consume new technology and are willing to learn and adapt. In case of an interface paradigm change, it’s probably true, more often than not, that after a short period of lower productivity whilst getting used to the new UI, it will become second nature. We are also prepared to deal with rough edges in the latest software and we grow acclimatised to their quirks and oddities.

The general user is not like this. And this is why Windows 8 is probably going to cause us, the more “techy” folks, more grief than it’s worth

Windows 8 is probably going to cause us, the more “techy” folks, more grief than it’s worth

when it’s released today. Windows 8 comes with a whole new set of user interface (UI) paradigm and design known as Modern UI (formerly known as Metro). It is obvious that Microsoft had the touch screen user in mind when it was designing the new UI: the gestures and the hot corners all make sense when you think of them in terms of touch. It takes time to discover and get used to the new paradigm. But not everyone like such radical changes, especially if they have a learning curve that affect productivity and remove familiarity.

So now that Windows 8 is in the wild, you might start to get calls for help when these users stumble upon Windows 8 for the first time. You will get pleas to give tutorials on how to use Windows 8. You’re going to get swamped with questions

You will get pleas to give tutorials on how to use Windows 8. You’re going to get swamped with questions

asking where they could find a certain feature that existed in a now-removed place. It’s bad enough if you are a first time user walking around the terra incognita of Windows 8 and trying to get used to it, it’s worse if you have been using Windows 8 for some time and you still don’t know where to find something.

While we are, perhaps, willing to forgo any misgivings we have about Microsoft for making the changes to the UI once we have adapted to it, users are probably not as willing. In fact, they might be unwilling to change their mindset or even try to adapt. Perhaps this is because we have seen worse when we used the beta versions and that what is in the final product is actually way better than it was, though probably still unacceptable to the general user.

I’ll admit: these are hypothetical scenarios. Whilst I have personally only used the consumer preview that was released months ago, Microsoft has, apparently, made some improvements to the UI since then. But since they have not made any major change to the UI paradigm, I am almost certain that these scenarios will happen once people get their hands on Windows 8. Technology journalists and some users have already had their share of some of these scenarios using the release version of Windows 8. Time will tell. Until then, I’m off to be the technical support that I have always been amongst my friends.