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Windows 8 Previewed At D9

Posted by Soulskill on from the somebody-got-their-tablet-in-my-pc dept.

theodp writes "Mum's still the word on a shipping date for its new OS for laptops, desktops, and tablets ('touch slates' in MS-speak), but Microsoft on Wednesday gave the world a first look at the touch-friendly 'Windows 8' user interface, which sports a live tile-based Start screen reminiscent of the company's Windows Phone 7 interface. Also prominent in the demo was a large 'Store' tile, suggesting that Microsoft plans to offer Windows apps through a marketplace. A Microsoft video offers an overview of the interface, showcasing Win 8's multi-tasking capabilities and some other interesting features, including a virtual keyboard that can be switched from full-screen to a more ergonomic split-screen thumbs layout."

40 of 330 comments (clear)

  1. I lost count... by Fishead · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I lost count, are we supposed to hate this one?

    It will be interesting to see how this is to use on a desktop computer with a proper mouse. I object to being told that desktop computers are going out of style, and I personally despise majour interface changes (Office ribbon, I'm looking at you!)

    Will the "store" be locked in place like it is on my vendor locked cell phone? Kuz that'd be sweet.

    1. Re:I lost count... by mwvdlee · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Well... it kinda feels like the new Gnome and Unity interfaces, which everybody hates... I feel pretty confident pre-hating this one before it's released.

      FWIW, the way files are managed looks really easy... if you have a few dozen neatly organized files. In practice I think this particular part of the interface will be a total mess.

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    2. Re:I lost count... by uncanny · · Score: 4, Informative

      According to an update in TFA, that WP7-like tile interface is non-optional.

      So I think we should rejoice, because if it continues to be non-optional, it will effectively kill Windows on the Desktop in favour of systems that actually allow their users to, you know, *do* stuff with their computer.

      keep reading

      . As shown in the Microsoft video below, users will be able to switch to a more traditional Windows desktop,

    3. Re:I lost count... by mastermind7373 · · Score: 2

      Yes, you can switch...after every bootup, because this is the default interface at bootup. Not to mention switching applications without using the taskbar will bring back this...hideous contraption. What would posses them to use such a garish color scheme. That is FAR too minimalistic, kinda like modern art...unsettling...

    4. Re:I lost count... by Enderandrew · · Score: 2

      I hate having this as the default UI, but there are a lot of people who like the Metro look.

      On the Zune it had darker colors, but this is pretty close to what you see on Windows Mobile 7 right now.

      --
      http://blindscribblings.com - Tasty pop-culture in conceptual fashion.
    5. Re:I lost count... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

      No it's not, that's the default interface at bootup for a TABLET. On a desktop or laptop, you'll get the standard interface unless you configure the OS otherwise. It's just like using Windows Media Center on Windows 7.

    6. Re:I lost count... by FreonTrip · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The circumvention method will probably amount to another registry hack-a-thon that treats the new UI as a speedbump to be swerved around, published online and ready for use well before the blighted thing's release. Everything old is new again - I'm so tired of fighting Microsoft's sad attempts to commune with the zeitgeist upon every new OS release. If it weren't for Netflix and video games I'd never run Windows outside a VM again.

    7. Re:I lost count... by oakgrove · · Score: 4, Insightful

      there are a lot of people who like the Metro look.

      If people like it, why aren't the devices featuring it selling?

      --
      The soylentnews experiment has been a dismal failure.
    8. Re:I lost count... by Missing.Matter · · Score: 2

      Xbox features the metro UI. That said I don't think the reason Zune never took off was because of the UI. Lack of marketing, US only markplace, limited international availability, competition with the most popular MP3 player on the planet, and a shift away from MP3 players toward phones all contributed more heavily. I know it's selection bias to say everyone who owns a Zune loves it, but iPod users I've shown my Zune to had 0 complaints about the UI and were very impressed by it.

      As for Windows Phone 7, it too has stiff competition and is entering the race later than the other players. Again, general concerns are missing features, lack of international availability, and US centric marketplace. A lot of this is changing with the mango release. Remenber, this platform is only 7 months old. Android was nothing to write home about at the same age.

      I think in general what I've found is positive feedback from people who have actually used a metro UI, trepidation from people who have only seen pictures (since part of the draw of the UI is how kinetic it is), and dislike from people who are predisposed to dislike anything from MS anyway.

    9. Re:I lost count... by oakgrove · · Score: 2

      The difference is that they never had a touch interface before.

      What difference does it make if the third party stuff is written for mouse and keyboard? There are tons of older programs that people use that will never be rewritten at all be it for touch, Windows ARM or what have you. For the stuff still being developed, e.g., Photoshop, Quicken, etc., Windows tablets are going to have to actually, you know, sell before efforts are made to adapt the UI of those applications for it. The questions remains though, how will Windows tablets sell if it's no fun running applications on it? Maybe it will work out. Or maybe millions of people will just keep buying iPads. What do you think?

      --
      The soylentnews experiment has been a dismal failure.
    10. Re:I lost count... by ColdWetDog · · Score: 2

      While I share your general sentiments, this may not be all that relevant anymore. Instead of a monolithic 'application', like Word, Excel or Photoshop you will have a core API and various UIs that pop up depending on your hardware. If you're running Photoshop in a small tablet, you will get a small subset of uncoordinated mess that is the underlying Photoshop code. You might be able to select pictures, tag them (actually that's Bridge, but the concept is the same), change a few things but not necessarily be able to crank through a 95 layer 2 GB panorama. Save it, go to your real computer, run the big stuff.

      You're seeing this with the iPad now in it's early stage. Photoshop express, iWork for the iPad (iHate that stupid nomenclature) etc. It's really having consistent data file structures and an easy way to share the data. Standards and networks for the win!

      --
      Faster! Faster! Faster would be better!
    11. Re:I lost count... by Aqualung812 · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Windows 7 shares no code with 6.5, which was a constant evolution of Windows CE.
      Frankly, they should have called it something completely different. It isn't a version bump, it is a totally different OS. Nothing from 6.5 can run on 7.

      --
      Grammer Nazis - I mod you "troll" unless you actually add something on-topic. Yes, I know I have mispellings in my sig.
    12. Re:I lost count... by lymond01 · · Score: 2

      I'm waiting for the Microsoft Office Tablet Edition ($80) to be installed next to Microsoft Office Desktop Edition Professional ($230) -- one using a touch interface in App format, the other the more traditional GUI.

      Should be fun and expensive.

    13. Re:I lost count... by fyngyrz · · Score: 2

      Speaking as an early adopter iPad and iPod user, [Windows 8 / tablet] looks pretty good to me. It seems quite fast (though that'll depend on the hardware that hits the streets), it runs regular windows apps if I understand it right, which is a *huge* plus over the iPad, which does *not* run OSX apps; and it looks, dare I say it, intuitive (at the OS level.. individual programs vary, just as they do under OSX.) Part of the win formula -- for me -- will be backwards compatibility. I have a whole suite of windows apps that were written to perform well in smaller, slower environments; if they still run under Windows 8, that'll be terrific. If not... well, that would be a killer.

      At this point, I'd be willing to give Windows 8 a shot, based on what I saw in the video. It'd be lovely to have a tablet with a filesystem, the ability to talk to USB devices, generally more up to the standards of what a laptop/nettop can do. I'm hoping the hardware will have more RAM than the iPad; that's another key to performance Apple hasn't gotten right yet... I still have to restart the iPad from time to time just to get some apps to work, and the "multitasking" (cough) is pitiful.

      It'll be interesting to see what Apple puts on the table with IOS 5, too... next week?

      --
      I've fallen off your lawn, and I can't get up.
    14. Re:I lost count... by Omestes · · Score: 2

      I have an odd feeling that the '10s will be considered the dark days of interface design. Between Ubiquity, Gnome 3, Windows 8, and OS X Lion, I have very little hope for the GUI. Have we really reached the time when KDE is the best GUI out there? It seems to be the only one not ripping out features in order to bring the bad parts of Tablet computing to the standard, traditional desktop.

      My 24" non-touch monitor is not good for a tablet interface. Gestures, and other tablet conventions, don't translate well to tradional desktops. If my monitor was touch capable, it might be slightly better, though I would still have to do tedious frame dragging, which might be nice on a 10" screen, but would be somewhat arduous on a 24" one. It also doesn't work as well because I use my 24" desktop screen to do work, meaning having multiple applications open at one, rapidly switching between them, and having one or two open in the background for reference for the ones in the foreground. This is the desktop convention, it is very different than the tablet convention, which is about play, and focusing on one task at a time. This also doesn't wash very well on my smaller, conventional, laptop screen. It is absolutely horrendous for my 50" HTPC screen (though the tile interface might be nice on my TV, media box).

      There was a very good reason that various devices had different interfaces. Various devices have different styles of use, both by their physical limitations and their purpose. Thus they have different GUIs to support their varioius use styles, and highlight their strengths. For some reason we decided this was a bad thing, and when about converting high use objects (desktops and laptops, bona fide PCs) to paradigms for low use objects (phones, tablets, and net tops).

      This is somewhat ironic because the low use computers have gotten MORE useful. But for some reason the dumbed down GUI must be contagious.

      Another thing; who actually CARES ABOUT TABLETS? Yes, they have marketing buzz, yes people consider them sexy. But how many people translated this PR department generated buzz to an actual purchase? How many people do you know that actually owns a tablet? I know one person, and their iPad largely sits forgotten since their phone does everything it does, but is actually portable and they have it with them by default. Who sits around on their PC pondering, "damn I wish this had a dumbed down tablet interface... because tablets are cool."?

      Yet another thing; all of these new GUIs have something in common... developer arrogance. Old-style PC interfaces were generalists, and allowed you do do tasks in multiple ways. The new ones all decided that multi-tasking is passe, and we should be focusing on one task at a time. That is all well and fine, but PC GUIs have had the "maximize" button for some time to allow for that type of work-flow. Removing features so we can work in a way that pleases modern, buzz-addicted, developers is arrogant.

      I don't care how sexy you think the iPad is, I don't want to use it. I don't want its interface. I don't want to work like someone at Apple (or Microsoft, or Gnome, or Canonical) wants me to. I want to work like I want to, no matter how that chaffs a developer's ass.

      How the hell did the ugly, bastard Window's step-child GUI become the best? KDE was a laughing stock, but now its all there is (and the various Gnome 2 look a likes) for those of use who want a normal interface.

      Also, radical change is not a good thing, especially radical change for the sake of radical change.

      Its sad, Windows 7 almost gave me hope for Microsoft, it was the only OS they developed that I was looking forward to, and genuinely like using. Apparently it was a fluke.

      Sorry for the rant, appearenly I have nothing better to do.

      --
      A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government. -edward abbey
    15. Re:I lost count... by Foofoobar · · Score: 2

      In all seriousness, between lockin and the inability to own my media I purchased, I'm debating going completely back to a Linux laptop and just VM'ing the others I need. Apple hates Java, Windows hates everything that wasn't created (or owned) by Microsoft and everyone is trying to do venor lockin now... even UBUNTU!!! I'm just going to install Debian and tell everyone else to get bent. This is beginning to piss me off.

      --
      This is my sig. There are many like it but this one is mine.
    16. Re:I lost count... by shadowthunder · · Score: 2

      Amazingly enough, I legitimately do prefer the ribbon to 2003's menus.

      I'll give you the Mailings tab, but I think the other things you mentioned are in their proper places.

      It makes sense that the Tables tab only shows up when you're working with tables, as the only table-related command that you could possibly need access to when your cursor's not on top of a table is to create a new one. Therefore, you need a jumping point to create a table which you can edit; thus, the insert command is categorized under a permanent tab. There's no need for "insert table" to be in the Table tab, as you'll never have any reason to create a table within the table you currently have selected.

      The References tab could work similarly - "insert" under the Insert tab, with the rest popping up later - but unlike Tables, Pictures, and any other of those fleeting tabs, you don't need a specific object type in order for any of the other grouped commands to be of any use; you just need text. As long as you have something typed, you have the potential need to insert a footnote, generate a table of contents, or save a citation, so we've now established the References tab as a permanent tab. I suppose it's a bit of a toss-up whether "insert footnote" belongs more directly under the action or the subject, but it's honestly not terribly difficult or inconveniencing either way. I never once found it weird that it was under "References" rather than "Insert", and I doubt I'd have given it a second thought were it the other way around. You spent five minutes because you didn't bother to read the button's label? I'm afraid I can't offer you any sympathy, as it was directly to the left of "Insert Endnote", rather than below it.

      Yes, I found Office 2007 a huge breath of fresh air over 2000 and 2003, and 2010 improved further, I thought.
      So now, seeing as I'm not tongue-in-cheek, open fire!

  2. Full circle by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ...and we're back to the Windows 1.0 tiled window interface. Touch sensitivity corresponds to ye good ol' light pen interface.

    Only took 30+ yrs to dump all progress, or is that bloat? No, the bloat is still there.

    1. Re:Full circle by Viol8 · · Score: 2

      "Have you looked at any phone or tablet interfaces recently"

      You ever looked at how people use PCs in offices? Hint - they don't prod at the screen with their fingers. This is supposed to be a general purpose OS , not one purely designed for the Oooh Shiny! trendy crowd with their $1000 tablets and skinny lattes.

  3. Runs on everything by mwvdlee · · Score: 4, Insightful

    You've got to love this quote from TFA:

    “This is the new version of Windows. It’s going to run on laptops, it’s going to run on desktops, it’s going to run on PCs with mouse and keyboard, it’s going to run on everything,”

    Which is basically saying:

    “This is the new version of Windows. It’s going to run on PCs with trackpad and keyboard, it’s going to run on PCs with mouse and keyboard, it’s going to run on PCs with mouse and keyboard, it’s going to run on PCs with mouse and keyboard,”

    I have no doubt it'll also run on mobiles, tablets, TV's and indeed pretty much everything, but they might have thought about that sentence a bit more.

    --
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    1. Re:Runs on everything by UnknowingFool · · Score: 2

      Well it may not be the exact same version as Windows 8 for ARM will likely have different code than Windows 8 for x86-64. At best, it will appear to function the same whether on tablet or desktop. I can't see how they are going to make all third party software will be the same.

      --
      Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
  4. Phone UIs everywhere by David+Gerard · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I was interested to see that the Engadget story is filled with pretty much the same complaints about this new Windows interface that the Linux world is making about GNOME 3 and Ubuntu Unity - that is, people (e.g. me, I'll note) are annoyed at the prospect of the desktop as they know it being made into a big phone.

    --
    http://rocknerd.co.uk
    1. Re:Phone UIs everywhere by PhrostyMcByte · · Score: 2

      With Windows Phone 7, Microsoft showed everyone that they finally get it. One UI doesn't work everywhere. If this UI is used for normal desktop PCs, I guess it will disprove that.

      They haven't said so yet, but I'm going to bet this will be a completely optional shell. Similar to Windows Media Center, it will be there but won't be forced and probably not enabled by default on desktops.

      As a tablet interface, I think this looks pretty slick. The ability to run non-tablet apps could prove useful for power users, too.

  5. Very good for computer novices. by master_p · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I think that this kind of interface is very good for computer novices. I've seen many computer-illiterate people to struggle with the WIMP interface; this interface feels a lot more natural to them.

    I hope they have a button to take the glitz away though, since Windows is also heavily used by professionals.

    1. Re:Very good for computer novices. by Ziran · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I think that this kind of interface is very good for computer novices. I've seen many computer-illiterate people to struggle with the WIMP interface; this interface feels a lot more natural to them.

      I don't see this as very good for novices. I'd hate to have to give phone support for people using this UI.

  6. Re:Nice by imamac · · Score: 2

    I think that's supposed to be a selling point--that traditional applications work just like people are used to.

  7. Adding Comments... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    "Adding comments has been disabled for this video."
    "Ratings have been disabled for this video."

    ...pussies

  8. Re:Windows Chimera... by Arlet · · Score: 3, Insightful

    On the other hand, the version of Office he showed isn't going to work on a small screen. Some consistency would be nice.

  9. Deja Moo by lennier1 · · Score: 4, Insightful

    So, we're back to the Vista days where the old version will retain a huge market share because the new one is such a piece of shit?

  10. Pretty but not productive by Enderandrew · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I don't want to touch my monitor on my desktop and get fingerprints all over it. This is great for tablets and phones, but making this the default UI for your desktop is nothing short of asinine.

    This is a pretty interface, but most real work will require skipping this whole Start grid and going to the desktop tile. Why force hundreds of millions of PC users to jump through extra hoops to perform the same tasks? Wait, Vista did that as well, and they refused to revert any of those usability regressions with Windows 7.

    A pretty interface isn't necessarily a productive one.

    And Windows 8 ARM might as well be dead on arrival given that it can't run x86 apps.

    --
    http://blindscribblings.com - Tasty pop-culture in conceptual fashion.
  11. First Unity, now Windows... by Bloodwine77 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The idiot generation seems to be the target of the new OS UIs.

    I guess menus are hard.

    I am a cynical person, but even I didn't see the day where the desktop would be treated as oversized mobile devices with respect to interface and functionality.

    I think there is too much hype behind the desktop-is-dying phenomenon.

    It looks like they will provide optional toggle to switch to a more traditional desktop ... for now.

    I think Microsoft is seriously underestimating how this is going to hurt their upgrade sales in the corporate world. It is hard enough to get people off of XP to 7, I can't imagine what this will do for people resisting upgrading from Windows 7. Of course Microsoft will pull, "Latest version of X only works on Windows 8 or higher shenanigans", to try to force people to upgrade.

    1. Re:First Unity, now Windows... by FreonTrip · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The desktop isn't dying - the market's mature, but people are still replacing their desktops. Because the market's founded on a manic pace of consumption and disposal - remember the late '90s? - the fact that it isn't growing at the velocity of the lifestyle appliance / portable tablet and phone market sector means that people are panicking. I can picture a business strategy meeting where someone says, "People are buying smart phones and tablets. Because this is a growth market and they are computing devices, it therefore follows that usability paradigms applicable to those devices will be EVEN BETTER on other devices!" Unfortunately, this isn't so - not by any stretch of the imagination - and I think we're in for a bumpy ride as Gnome, Microsoft, and other people in The Biz* realize that "one interface for all" doesn't actually fit.

      * Yes, even the sainted Apple. Trying to converge iOS and OS X isn't going to go anywhere that's good for UI flexibility or getting under the hood, let me tell you.

  12. fluff by PJ6 · · Score: 2

    This is a reaction to the iPad. It's designed for my Mom.

    That's OK as long as they don't nerf up everything else.

  13. Windows 8, codename... by uglyduckling · · Score: 2

    Windows 8, project codename "D.E.R.I.V.A.T.I.V.E.". I've been scanning the video, looking for something - anything - that they've actually invented. About the only thing I can see is the 'snapping' thing, which looks like an absolutely terrible way of having two windows next to each other. It also seems like it's a layer on top of Windows with the crufty Windows 7 desktop underneath. If this is to have any chance of success, they will need to ditch the traditional Windows GUI and have Old Windows programs run in a compatibility layer, otherwise this new UI will be ignored by the majority of developers and users, and it will become nothing more than a fullscreen Side Bar.

  14. Windows 8 must be good by kelemvor4 · · Score: 2

    Millions of usenet downloaders can't all be wrong!

  15. Actually, I'm impressed... by itsdapead · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I don't want to touch my monitor on my desktop and get fingerprints all over it. This is great for tablets and phones, but making this the default UI for your desktop is nothing short of asinine.

    I can't see any reason why the interface shouldn't work with a mouse or with gestures on a decent size (MacBook-style) trackpad. Its probably easier to take a touch-centric interface and map it on to mouse actions than it would be to make a mouse-centric interface usable with touch.

    This is a pretty interface, but most real work will require skipping this whole Start grid and going to the desktop tile.

    More likely, they'll go to the Word tile or the Excel tile - and by the time Win8 launches there will probably be an "Office 201x" suite that integrates properly with the tile-based interface, so you'll get a nice "preview" tile. My experience is that non-techie Windows users don't use the desktop much anyway, and live in full-screened Office apps (Unlike OS X, Windows' existing MDI structure promotes this style of working).

    Also, its pretty clear that the focus of Win 8 is to win back ground from Apple and Google in the consumer PC/laptop/mobile market - the corporates will be using Win 7 (if not XP) for the forseeable future. MS may have come to the point where it is sensible to "fork" personal and corporate product lines to prevent the corporate demand for endless legacy support hindering their efforts in the consumer/mobile/small biz market while Apple and Google eat their lunch.

    Both MS and Apple (with OS X Lion) seem to think this is the way the wind is blowing - if they're right then expect, 3-5 years down the line, to see the old-fangled desktop relegated to the same sort of "power users only" status as the current Command Line/Terminal.

    And Windows 8 ARM might as well be dead on arrival given that it can't run x86 apps.

    Windows 8 ARM will, initially, be for tablets, mobile devices and ultraportables only. Most tablets and mobiles already run on ARM and are doing quite nicely without being able to run x86 apps. For one thing, the issues moot because most "legacy" x86 apps were never designed for touch interfaces and small screens and would be unusably clunky. Win8 ARM should be able to run .NET bytecode apps and will almost certainly be accompanied by "official" versions of Word/Excel/Powerpoint/Outlook which would be seen by some buyers as an end-of-argument advantage over iOS/Android: MS's domination of office software is just as significant as its OS near-monopoly.

    Basically, I want to hate this due to its lack of a fruity logo and MS being Teh Evils, but it actually looks rather interesting and, while its clearly taken some cues from iOS and Android there seems to be a lot of original thinking, too. The big question is what is the perfomance on tablets going to be like when every "icon" is actually an Android-style "widget" requiring continuous updates from its App, and will it still grind to a halt with a borked registry after a few months of use? If only this was running on top of a proper *nix system instead of a CP/M emulator written by VMS engineers I might be sold.

    --
    In a survey of 100 programmers, 111111 thought that duck-typing was a good idea.
  16. We develop WPF / Silverlight applications by Chitlenz · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I like the Metro style MS has going on here, but there seems to be a lot of concern in the .NET community that they are tossing the "traditional" developers overboard to chase HTML5 over Js. We have been working with WPF/XAML/C# for the last year, and it's not even entirely baked yet, so I just don't understand why they feel the need to start bolting new shit onto it. They SERIOUSLY need to fix VS2010 before doing anything radical like this, or who the hell is going to develop for this thing... and with what? Right now, XAML is non-debuggable, takes twice as much time as forms did to develop with, is SLOW, doesn't deploy well, is incomplete (even after you add all the codeplex add-ons and toolkits), and WPF and Silverlight are nowhere near as "interchangable" as MS marketing wants everyone to believe. And javascript/HTML? Apparently we should all throw out VS2010 and start working with Eclipse?

    I guess Apple has them so scared that they are in danger of hopping on trends to try to catch up, and that's going to be a MAJOR PROBLEM if they screw all the .NET developers along the way.

    I mean, look, touch is cool and all, and we have been able to make some really cool interfaces on early windows tablets, but I have to agree with Enderandrew above that turning the OS into a giant phone is a bad idea. Sheesh, one would think that MS, one of the largest software shops IN THE WORLD, could do both at the same time, but it appears not ....

    Consequently... fingerprints are a huge problem for us (we make medical workstations where smudges can screw up diagnostic quality), so I wonder if anyone is out there working on a smudge-less touch interface? Maybe self-cleaning? Too much to hope for?...

    --
    Imagination is the silver lining of Intelligence.
  17. Re:Excel by gtall · · Score: 2

    Yes, it would be natural until you find yourself continually cleaning the screen to get the oily residue off. I have a policy in my office, you can point at the screen but if you touch it, I will break one of your fingers, you get to decide which one.

  18. This, people! The Tile UI is for Tablets! by Jon.Laslow · · Score: 2

    If I only had mod points... Seriously, do some reading - the tile UI isn't for desktop computers or normal laptops. Those users will get a slightly updated Aero UI by default.

  19. Great, I've got Gorilla Arm just looking at it. by The+Archon+V2.0 · · Score: 2
    http://www.catb.org/jargon/html/G/gorilla-arm.html

    gorilla arm: n.
    The side-effect that destroyed touch-screens as a mainstream input technology despite a promising start in the early 1980s. It seems the designers of all those spiffy touch-menu systems failed to notice that humans aren't designed to hold their arms in front of their faces making small motions. After more than a very few selections, the arm begins to feel sore, cramped, and oversized - the operator looks like a gorilla while using the touch screen and feels like one afterwards. This is now considered a classic cautionary tale to human-factors designers; "Remember the gorilla arm!" is shorthand for "How is this going to fly in real use?