Slashdot Mirror
Microsoft Demos Metro UI For Enterprise Apps
An anonymous reader writes "Microsoft has demoed a working prototype of Microsoft Dynamics GP (an ERP package) running on Windows 8, with a full Metro UI. This is the first example of an enterprise app for the Windows 8 metro 'wall.' The one hour keynote is available online behind a short registration form ... (demos start around 40 minutes in). Screenshots available at source."
I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not.
Or embrace this as an good time to invest that consultant money in switching to another platform.
This actually looks nice for a prototype! The data is well laid out. This is probably the first app that convinced me that Metro might work out in the end.
So it turns your zillion dollar ERP system into a Web 2.0-style interactive infographic that makes USA Today look information-dense?
If enough companies ignore it and continue putting out normal applications instead, Microsoft will have to deal with that. Metro isn't the sun, it's not inevitable if the market outright rejects it.
-- "So they told me that using the download page to download something was not something they anticipated." - Bill Gates
It might. PlaysForSure went away, Zune went away, various of those Live services went away. I even have the marketing slogan!
"Ride the Metro to see the Vistas out the Windows with Me!"
They can fix all their branding in one sentence!
Uh oh, I think I just found a new sig for a week.
My first Journal Entry ever, in 8 years! http://slashdot.org/journal/365947/aphelion-scifi-fantasy-horror-poetry-webzine
So was this the one where Metro froze to the point they had to use the extra tablet. I know this is just beta, but entering data is not an experimental feature. It is not like were playing Angry Birds. I hope that these things are cheap enough so firms can purchase a Redundant Array of Tablet Devices. Can't imagine what will happen when one freezes at a sales meeting, though.
"She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
My smart money says is will reside in the land of Microsoft Bob and Clippy...
I am a developer working for an ISV selling third-party enhancements to MS Dynamics NAV (formerly called Navision). My bosses are at Convergence right now.
I certainly hope that MS doesn't roll this shite out to the rest of the "Dynamics" family. They have already hamstrung layout and created ridiculous UI faux-pas-es enough with their "Role Tailored Client" (tell me WHO else makes the default for deleting records be "YES"?!?!?).
This is just hideous. And I fear it is a-comin', like the shark in Jaws....
Not really. Apple didn't have to deal with PowerPC applications. They told the market to deal with it. Could Microsoft do this? Yes. Should they? Yes. Not saying I like Metro, I don't. But at some point, the get-off-my-lawn folks need to get over themselves, it's not 1995 anymore and a weak Microsoft stuck supporting multiple UIs isn't good for business.
I8-D
Not really. Apple didn't have to deal with PowerPC applications. They told the market to deal with it. Could Microsoft do this? Yes. Should they? Yes.
Why would anyone choose to run Windows if it didn't run their Windows apps?
Windows lives and dies on backward compatibility. Metrosexual is the best thing they've done in years... for people selling other operating systems.
As someone who dabbles in UI design, I've seen us go from orthogonal by necessity, to round by revolt, and now we're back to orthogonal again. How much of this is a passing fad. Never mind that the damn tiles UI is more about wasting space than putting display space to good use. I predict the DPIs will go higher the panels bigger, just to accommodate this lousy aesthetic.
Microsoft shouldn't be in the position to push aesthetics anymore. At one point they needed to push usability, but this goes far beyond that, resulting in something less usable. I rather like the special effects for movies, which I find are logical and innovative. At most Mocrosoft should support some skinning interface the way Qt apps do so that the USER or VENDOR gets to force their design on something. Given that MS still has lousy fixed-geometry windows all over in Windows 7, I vote no confidence in MS to deliver anything really usable.
Windows Phone will fail (sorry Nokia) and Win 8 will fail. It's not your call anymore Microsoft. And what you are pushing is too different. Remember the XP backlash of GREEN start button and RED [X]? That at least could be argued as usability enhancements. Now Metro goes the other way and decreases usability.
Slashdot's rate-of-post filter: Preventing you from posting too many great ideas at once.
Not really. Apple didn't have to deal with PowerPC applications. They told the market to deal with it. Could Microsoft do this? Yes. Should they? Yes. Not saying I like Metro, I don't. But at some point, the get-off-my-lawn folks need to get over themselves, it's not 1995 anymore and a weak Microsoft stuck supporting multiple UIs isn't good for business.
Actually, Apple provided several tools to ease that transition (hell, it HAD to!)
Fantastic JIT Compiling built into the OS, that worked SO well that Apple themselves left parts of the Finder and other OS pieces-parts as 68k code for several OS revisions.
"Fat Binaries", which like the later "Universal Binaries", allowed developers to package both 68k and PPC code in the same application bundle, with the OS seamlessly choosing the correct version to use.
I thought I'd give Metro a try, and while this UI makes sense for a tablet, it's complete CRAP for a keyboard and mouse (let alone trackball). Gestures have never worked for the desktop, and a UI that offers ZERO visual cues tot he user is beyond useless.
I'm baffled that Microsoft has essentially tossed decades of research into the trash in favor of a Tablet-centric UI. There is a reason why we have desktops and tablets... they are considerably different in form and function. Unifying the interface is an incredibly stupid move.
Mark my words, Windows 8 will be shunned worse than Vista on the desktop.
Sadly, Microsoft will probably consider it a success when it sells millions in the tablet and phone market.
Who is selling other OSs? Apple will only sell you an OS with a 2k hardware dongle. Linux is free.
Um, Macs start at $600.
And anyone who thinks a Mac mini with a dual-core 2.3GHz i5 isn't powerful enough for the secretary, sales, accounting, doctor's office, boss' office, production manager's office, factory-floor, web-designer, code developer (not everyone compiles OSes or gigantic games), et frickin' cetera, and even some light "server" applications is simply delusional.
Period.
My smart money says is will reside in the land of Microsoft Bob and Clippy...
What did Bob and Clippy do to deserve Metro?
Any insufficiently advanced magic is indistinguishable from technology.
Why would I want this on a tablet?
Remember there will be two types of Win 8 Metro tablets: ARM and Intel
The ARM tablet will have metro apps, a web browser and Office. No compatibility with almost 30 years of DOS/Windows software and from the looks of it, will not be able to join a domain. That is the low end tablet market. Where it will have to compete with $200 Kindle Fires and Color Nooks. It does not offer any real advantages there once you figure out it SUCKS trying to use Office on touchpad
The INTEL tablet will keep the Metro interface but add app compatibility and the ability to join a domain. However, at this point, you are now in the price range of an iPad. Again, once people figure out doing any real work on one of this things is "suboptimal" there is not much reason to not for an iPad which has 3 years of maturity and a 100,000 app head start.
The whole thing is baffling. The are betting the whole farm on getting people to switch to a version of Windows where they will purchase everything though an app store where Microsoft will make something off of every purchase.
vi +
Metro is not a better metaphor for someone using a mouse and keyboard with multiple 23 inch monitors.
Saying give them a break because it may be a little rough on their first try is like saying give the doctor a break the first time he tries curing cancer by shooting the patient. There is no use in trying to improve the wrong approach. It will still remain a FAIL.
To launch by October, they will have to RTM (Release to Manufacturing) sometime in July. That gives them 4 months to fix it. Please note we are currently running the only Beta version that Microsoft is making. There are things they will try to change, that they may still get wrong because they have not been beta tested. At this point you can pretty much be looking for the changes that will be made in the first Service Pack.
I think this is all about getting everyone to an interface that looks like an iPhone and selling all software through the "Microsoft Store" where they get a small slice of every transaction. That means Metro stays up front and the "trying to get work done with a mouse and keyboard on my desktop" stuff remains a second class citizen. I predict a lot of people will still be running Windows 7 in 2015.
vi +
Microsoft tried this with Vista, and it flopped. The reasons were totally different of course (personally, I had no problem with the UI style on Vista, and think it was better than 7), but WindowsMe and Vista prove that MS doesn't always get its way. If the users don't like it, they simply don't upgrade. Customers don't care about what's "good for business", they want products that work well for them. They're already ignoring MS on phones and switching to Apple and Google en masse, so they might just be ready to switch away from MS on the desktop soon too.