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Did Metro UX Elements Come From a 2009 Demo?
First time accepted submitter oso2k writes "In 2009, as reported by gizmag, Robert Clayton Miller proposed a UI that borrowed from familiar iPhone gestures and translated them to a multi-tasking data-input rich desktop UI. It would seem, however, Microsoft was paying attention. Elements in Miller's design seem to have been lifted for Metro UI, such as dynamic sized widgets (tiles in Metro UI) on the home screen, swipes alternate between open, fullscreened apps, left tap for the app context menu, right tap for the system context menu. And in Miller's video at [5:41], it would seem Microsoft used the same or nearly the same font [4:30]." It's interesting to spot resemblances here, but how many UI ideas don't have more than one inventor?
You've only mentioned style and appearance. This is about the function of the UI.
Con10uum: Every window should be always open and you just scroll left to right between them. Dynamically scaling each window with pinch/zoom.
Windows 8: Only 1 or 2 apps should ever be open and you swap the one currently on the screen.
Functional comparison: Fingers are involved in both gestures. Functionally completely different windowing philosophy.
Con10uum: You should click a button off to the left side of the screen to bring up the app context menu.
Windows 8: You swipe from the bottom of the screen.
Functional comparison: Both acknowledge the fact that applications have menus and provide a means of accessing said menu.
Con10uum: You should click a button off to the right side of the screen to open the launcher.
Windows 8: You should swipe from the side of the screen to reveal an onscreen button to open the launcher. You also reveal global actions such as sharing or printing the current page.
Functional comparison: Both involve clicking on the right area of the screen. Seeing as there are only 3 usable sides to a touchscreen it's a stretch to say that this was a rip-off. Especially since Microsoft's explanation of "It's where your thumb is when you hold a tablet" is a perfectly good rationale and makes more sense than "because some web video that nobody saw put it there."
Con10uum has no equivalent to Microsoft's global sharing button. In Con10uum that would be part of the application's file menu and would be in a different menu.
Con10uum: Desktop widgets.
Windows 8: No desktop in Metro. The launcher icons though can display extended information.
Functional Comparison: Widgets have been around for decades. Every customized windows theme included an RSS/News widget on the desktop. It's just "what you do". But functionally a widget and a metro tile are completely different. A widget is an enhanced part of the desktop and was in Windows Vista as part of the OS for years before Con10uum. A tile though serves dual purposes as primarily an icon but a secondary duty as a widget.