Lucky for Microsoft and Windows 8 users that "switching to a browser that works" is as easy as touching... and flipping over to Desktop IE 10.
IE10 on the desktop will still fully support Flash and other plug-ins. It's only when hosted by the Metro UI that plugins will be disabled. And switching between, from Metro to Desktop is pretty quick and simple (if a bit jarring visually).
Interesting that you left out WP7 from your list of innovative new OSs... it's certainly more innovative than Android, which is basically an iOS "me-too!" UI, only tooled for nerds and customizers (where as iOS is "one size fits all monotony" and is actually starting to seem a little stale already).
Dude, you're talking about a KEYBOARD SHORT-CUT. You're already at the keyboard. And "Alt" is the standard windows way of accessing menus and controls, and has been since the dawn of Windows. Alt-F would activate the File menu, for example. ALT should be part of every Windows users's knowledge. It's fundamental. Like "knowing" what that little yellow candy dot is on windows in OS X. Or "knowing" what those little glowy dots are under the icons in the dock on OS X. There are just a few basic things you need to know. ALT is one of them. And it's universal. And useful.
So no, not a fail. It's consistent, and has been so for decades.
The ribbon is every bit as browsable as a menu bar. In fact, every assertion you make is simple and obviously false (as pointed out in other messages in this thread).
Again, your ignorance of something doesn't mean it doesn't exist, and your incompetence with something doesn't mean it's hard to use or badly designed.
Your ignorance of something doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
See up there at the top? By default there's typically a save ("diskette") icon, and probably undo/redo. Just right-click one of those buttons and customize it to your heart's content from the context menu.
You can even move that quick access toolbar from the menu bar to below the ribbon, and minimize the ribbon, all from that menu.
Or you can go to the Excel "Options" menu, and select "Customize".
Dude. They moved the info panel from the bottom to the side, so you STILL have that info in Windows 8.
And if you disable the info panel in Win7, keep in mind you can minimize ("auto-hide") the Ribbon in Windows 8.
End result: YOU STILL HAVE MORE SPACE.
And you don't lose the info panel stuff, because it's over on the right, taking advantage of the wide-screen format. (but you can turn that off too if you want).
Still wrong. Complaints still not valid. Much whining without substance.
Clearly you have never used Windows before, so I have to wonder why you're complaining so much. Alt has always been the key to get access to the menus from the keyboard. It works the same for the Ribbon. All your complaints are simply invalid whining because you've never taken a moment to get familiar with it. You reject it not because it's bad, or "unintuitive", or difficult... but because it's different. That's all.
True enough, but then if that's the case, is it really a burden, at least more so than Windows 7's Explorer? You either already know the keyboard short-cut, or the right-click context menu (in which case you've lost nothing), or you're going to have to poke around for it anyway, and since it's just once in a rare while, have you really lost that much? At least, have you lost enough to make the advantages of the rest of the ribbon and customizable tool bar "not worth it"?
I think there's a lot of complaining about apocryphal "what ifs" that really aren't going to be an issue for most people, even power users... all while ignoring the significant improvements made over Windows 7 Explorer. In other words, a lot of cringing from "its' different!" without any real world experience that hey, it's not bad at all.
You are free to hide the ribbon, and you're free to create your own customized toolbar (via the "quick access toolbar"). The work isn't useless, that I can see. And you have more options to configure things the way you want. So why are you exactly complaining?
The "tool bar" (not really that) in Windows 7 wasn't customizable.
Are you actully complaining that they made all the most common and useful functions available on the Ribbon (just a fancy toolbar to begin with) and have now given you the ability to fully customize your own toolbar as you see fit?
And my post isn't just about people whining. My post is about people whining about things that are simply not true. It's really annoying. Virtualy NONE of the points made against the Ribbon have any real merit, beyond the subjective taste-based "it's ugly".
If you had BOTHERED to read the actually article, you'd realize that there is MORE vertical space for the list of files in Windows 8 Explorer WITH the Ribbon, than in Windows 7 Explorer, without it. AND you can collapse the Ribbon, so that there is still MORE vertical space available.
Um... yes, it tells you exactly what the short cut keys are.
Hold down the alt key. Now look at the ribbon. It shows you exactly what keys to hit in order to get the function you want. You can switch tabs and hit any control with a keypress, and it hand-holds you all the way through.
How can you have been using this months or years without knowing this? I'm not sure. It's right there before your eyes, and works very similarly to how the old system did it, with Alt key highlighting (via underline) the hot key to press, or activating the menu control. It's not like it's a completely foreign concept.
So, your "main complaint" is completely without merit. What's your next complaint? Perhaps I can help you out there too.
Well, except that there is MORE vertical screen space allotted to the file list in Windows 8 Explorer than in Windows 7 Explorer. Which you'd know if you bothered to read the article, which you clearly didn't.
Never mind that the Ribbon can be hidden ('auto hide' as well, appearing only when you want/need it). Never mind you can customize the "quick access" toolbar with any command there is, in any way you want, for one click access to any feature you use frequently enough to warrent it.
I'm still waiting for ANYONE to come up with an actual, valid objection to these changes. Virtually every single post on here bitching and whining about it clearly didn't read the article, as they bitch and whine about things that simply are not the case.
Well, it's not like the up arrow brings any new functionality... you've always had the ability to "navigate to parent".
The only two things the up arrow does brings you is familiarity (I always used the up-arrow in XP), and a consistent target to hit (the location doesn't change). Currently you just click the parent folder in the "address bar", and voila. But that 'target' is in a different location depending on how deep you are, and how long the folder names are. But you have the added ability to be able to jump back several parents with one click, instead of hitting up arrow multiple times.
It seems, in every way, to be a step forwards as compared to the Windows 7 Explorer. More customizable, more features available and discoverable, better handling of file conflicts when doing bulk moves/copies, etc.
They didn't remove more vertical space. They added more vertical space. You can see MORE files in the file list in Windows 8 Explorer than in Windows 7 Explorer.
In fact, they designed this UI with wide-screen in mind, to more effectively use the width of the screen, and to provide more vertical space for the actual file list.
So, your whiny complaining post is completely without merit.
Win8 Explorer shows MORE files in the list than Win7 Explorer. There is MORE vertical space available for the file display. So by your own standards, Win8's Explorer is better than Win7's.
And you can still right-click whatever you want. So you've lost nothing.
In addition, the UI is much more customizable than Win7's Explorer. You can add commonly used (but burried) commands to the quick-access bar for one-click access, as well as minimize the ribbon so it works more like a menu and stays out of your way (no "accidents") if you won't want it or need it.
I think you're jumping to conclusions based on little or no evidence.
The article goes in to rather serious detail about the advantages and the whys and hows of the Ribbon in Explorer.
Really, I only see improvements. Where do you see anything that isn't an improvement? More functional than Win7's Explorer, more vertical screen space than Win7's Explorer, more customizability than Win7's Explorer, and more touch-friendly than Win7's Explorer.
How do you get "no advantages and a few disadvantages"? I'd love for you to list out these alleged disadvantages, and explain why you think there are no advantages. It might help you to actually read the full article first.
If there's something you use frequently that isn't on the home tab, you can just add it to the "Quick Access" bar... a custom list of any of the ribbon commands you want to put there. It's then one click away at all times, period.
Or you can just lear the key press for it, and use that.
Really, there's a ton of whining about the Ribbon that I see from people that strikes me as nothing more or less than someone whining about how ignorant they are about the Ribbon or how to use it.
Most people I've known who "hate" it stop hating it after I sit down with them for five minutes and just show them how to use it and make it work like they want it to. It's really not that tough, and the only reason they didn't figure it out themselves is that they were so dead-set on just HATING it because it wasn't exactly like they were used to.
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Windows 8 is being released because Microsoft wants and needs a response to the iPad. That is all.
Lucky for Microsoft and Windows 8 users that "switching to a browser that works" is as easy as touching... and flipping over to Desktop IE 10.
IE10 on the desktop will still fully support Flash and other plug-ins. It's only when hosted by the Metro UI that plugins will be disabled. And switching between, from Metro to Desktop is pretty quick and simple (if a bit jarring visually).
Untrue.
Windows 8 users won't suffer... at least not on platforms where Flash Plugins are available.
Because the no-Flash only applies to the Metro UI. One touch will flip the page over to the Desktop version of IE, and flash will run there just fine.
Interesting that you left out WP7 from your list of innovative new OSs ... it's certainly more innovative than Android, which is basically an iOS "me-too!" UI, only tooled for nerds and customizers (where as iOS is "one size fits all monotony" and is actually starting to seem a little stale already).
The HTML5/CSS apps will. Others will likely require little more than a recompile.
Dude, you're talking about a KEYBOARD SHORT-CUT. You're already at the keyboard. And "Alt" is the standard windows way of accessing menus and controls, and has been since the dawn of Windows. Alt-F would activate the File menu, for example. ALT should be part of every Windows users's knowledge. It's fundamental. Like "knowing" what that little yellow candy dot is on windows in OS X. Or "knowing" what those little glowy dots are under the icons in the dock on OS X. There are just a few basic things you need to know. ALT is one of them. And it's universal. And useful.
So no, not a fail. It's consistent, and has been so for decades.
But if you do that, then you can also hide the Ribbon, and get back to Windows 8 having more space.
Apples to Apples... except on Windows 8, you still have the information in that bottom bar available to the side. So it's still a win.
No, because if you don't WANT to see the ribbon, you just hide it. It's suddenly no longer dominating the top of your windows.
Again, your complaint is without merit.
The ribbon is every bit as browsable as a menu bar. In fact, every assertion you make is simple and obviously false (as pointed out in other messages in this thread).
Again, your ignorance of something doesn't mean it doesn't exist, and your incompetence with something doesn't mean it's hard to use or badly designed.
Your ignorance of something doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
See up there at the top? By default there's typically a save ("diskette") icon, and probably undo/redo. Just right-click one of those buttons and customize it to your heart's content from the context menu.
You can even move that quick access toolbar from the menu bar to below the ribbon, and minimize the ribbon, all from that menu.
Or you can go to the Excel "Options" menu, and select "Customize".
There are multiple ways to get there.
Sorry, but you're wrong.
Dude. They moved the info panel from the bottom to the side, so you STILL have that info in Windows 8.
And if you disable the info panel in Win7, keep in mind you can minimize ("auto-hide") the Ribbon in Windows 8.
End result: YOU STILL HAVE MORE SPACE.
And you don't lose the info panel stuff, because it's over on the right, taking advantage of the wide-screen format. (but you can turn that off too if you want).
Still wrong. Complaints still not valid. Much whining without substance.
Clearly you have never used Windows before, so I have to wonder why you're complaining so much. Alt has always been the key to get access to the menus from the keyboard. It works the same for the Ribbon. All your complaints are simply invalid whining because you've never taken a moment to get familiar with it. You reject it not because it's bad, or "unintuitive", or difficult... but because it's different. That's all.
And that's kind of sad.
True enough, but then if that's the case, is it really a burden, at least more so than Windows 7's Explorer? You either already know the keyboard short-cut, or the right-click context menu (in which case you've lost nothing), or you're going to have to poke around for it anyway, and since it's just once in a rare while, have you really lost that much? At least, have you lost enough to make the advantages of the rest of the ribbon and customizable tool bar "not worth it"?
I think there's a lot of complaining about apocryphal "what ifs" that really aren't going to be an issue for most people, even power users... all while ignoring the significant improvements made over Windows 7 Explorer. In other words, a lot of cringing from "its' different!" without any real world experience that hey, it's not bad at all.
You are free to hide the ribbon, and you're free to create your own customized toolbar (via the "quick access toolbar"). The work isn't useless, that I can see. And you have more options to configure things the way you want. So why are you exactly complaining?
The "tool bar" (not really that) in Windows 7 wasn't customizable.
Are you actully complaining that they made all the most common and useful functions available on the Ribbon (just a fancy toolbar to begin with) and have now given you the ability to fully customize your own toolbar as you see fit?
And my post isn't just about people whining. My post is about people whining about things that are simply not true. It's really annoying. Virtualy NONE of the points made against the Ribbon have any real merit, beyond the subjective taste-based "it's ugly".
If you had BOTHERED to read the actually article, you'd realize that there is MORE vertical space for the list of files in Windows 8 Explorer WITH the Ribbon, than in Windows 7 Explorer, without it. AND you can collapse the Ribbon, so that there is still MORE vertical space available.
Your complaint is without merit.
Um... yes, it tells you exactly what the short cut keys are.
Hold down the alt key. Now look at the ribbon. It shows you exactly what keys to hit in order to get the function you want. You can switch tabs and hit any control with a keypress, and it hand-holds you all the way through.
How can you have been using this months or years without knowing this? I'm not sure. It's right there before your eyes, and works very similarly to how the old system did it, with Alt key highlighting (via underline) the hot key to press, or activating the menu control. It's not like it's a completely foreign concept.
So, your "main complaint" is completely without merit. What's your next complaint? Perhaps I can help you out there too.
Well, except that there is MORE vertical screen space allotted to the file list in Windows 8 Explorer than in Windows 7 Explorer. Which you'd know if you bothered to read the article, which you clearly didn't.
Never mind that the Ribbon can be hidden ('auto hide' as well, appearing only when you want/need it). Never mind you can customize the "quick access" toolbar with any command there is, in any way you want, for one click access to any feature you use frequently enough to warrent it.
I'm still waiting for ANYONE to come up with an actual, valid objection to these changes. Virtually every single post on here bitching and whining about it clearly didn't read the article, as they bitch and whine about things that simply are not the case.
Like you just did.
Well, it's not like the up arrow brings any new functionality... you've always had the ability to "navigate to parent".
The only two things the up arrow does brings you is familiarity (I always used the up-arrow in XP), and a consistent target to hit (the location doesn't change). Currently you just click the parent folder in the "address bar", and voila. But that 'target' is in a different location depending on how deep you are, and how long the folder names are. But you have the added ability to be able to jump back several parents with one click, instead of hitting up arrow multiple times.
In what way is it a step backwards?
It seems, in every way, to be a step forwards as compared to the Windows 7 Explorer. More customizable, more features available and discoverable, better handling of file conflicts when doing bulk moves/copies, etc.
You need to RTFA.
They didn't remove more vertical space. They added more vertical space. You can see MORE files in the file list in Windows 8 Explorer than in Windows 7 Explorer.
In fact, they designed this UI with wide-screen in mind, to more effectively use the width of the screen, and to provide more vertical space for the actual file list.
So, your whiny complaining post is completely without merit.
Win8 Explorer shows MORE files in the list than Win7 Explorer. There is MORE vertical space available for the file display. So by your own standards, Win8's Explorer is better than Win7's.
And you can still right-click whatever you want. So you've lost nothing.
In addition, the UI is much more customizable than Win7's Explorer. You can add commonly used (but burried) commands to the quick-access bar for one-click access, as well as minimize the ribbon so it works more like a menu and stays out of your way (no "accidents") if you won't want it or need it.
So what exactly are you complaining about again?
I think you're jumping to conclusions based on little or no evidence.
The article goes in to rather serious detail about the advantages and the whys and hows of the Ribbon in Explorer.
Really, I only see improvements. Where do you see anything that isn't an improvement? More functional than Win7's Explorer, more vertical screen space than Win7's Explorer, more customizability than Win7's Explorer, and more touch-friendly than Win7's Explorer.
How do you get "no advantages and a few disadvantages"? I'd love for you to list out these alleged disadvantages, and explain why you think there are no advantages. It might help you to actually read the full article first.
If there's something you use frequently that isn't on the home tab, you can just add it to the "Quick Access" bar... a custom list of any of the ribbon commands you want to put there. It's then one click away at all times, period.
Or you can just lear the key press for it, and use that.
Really, there's a ton of whining about the Ribbon that I see from people that strikes me as nothing more or less than someone whining about how ignorant they are about the Ribbon or how to use it.
Most people I've known who "hate" it stop hating it after I sit down with them for five minutes and just show them how to use it and make it work like they want it to. It's really not that tough, and the only reason they didn't figure it out themselves is that they were so dead-set on just HATING it because it wasn't exactly like they were used to.