As smartphones and tablets are becoming more web agile, desktop computing (laptops included) is left for the more intensive tasks.
This leaves the traditional OS’s in an interesting situation. More and more users are become accustomed to simple interfaces, touch-screens and one-purposed applications. They’re not only becoming more accustomed to it, they like it!
So, what will Apple and Microsoft do?
It looks as though Microsoft is attempting to make desktop computing more like mobile computing, as they develop Windows 8:
[tentblogger-youtube osa1ZXZaaWM]
It almost feels like we’re moving backwards. In the video, you could see some flashes of traditional Windows, so perhaps there will be two different flavors or views built in.
Of course, as much as a touch screen monitor looks cool, I think monitors will be forced to adapt. Try holding your arms up for a while, as if your monitor was a touch screen. Tiring, isn’t it?
The idea of merging interfaces is a good one.
Imagine, Mac or Windows, going from your smartphone, tablet and desktop, and essentially having the same interface?
Nice, right? Think of all the apps that currently come in all flavors – Wunderlist, Evernote, etc – and how nice it is for these apps to sync and always be at your finger tips. Taking that concept of integration and flow and applying it to a foundational OS, would be incredible.
I believe that is one of the many strong selling points that Apple has. All of their UI’s have a similar look and feel, giving users that constant feeling of being “home.” It looks like, however, Microsoft is taking that one step further and making all UI’s uniform. We could see Windows Mobile, Windows Tablet and Windows Home turn into one standalone OS: Windows 8.
What do you think about a uniform UI across all platforms?
[via 9 to 5 Mac | HT: Jared Erickson | Image via Com Pixel]
Jonathan Gardner says
While some consumers may want uniform UIs, I really can’t see the companies who make the OSs ever going for it. Uniformity is pretty much the bane of innovation, which is the driving force behind whether or not a company make it or not.
Eric Dye says
Interesting … thanks for sharing man!
Antoine RJ Wright says
Well, computing moved mobile, but UIs don’t always scale. In my time doing front-end fun and dealing with mobile, it takes a lot of time and more than the normal system-level thinking to create a UI that scales down from a larger screen behavior to a smaller one. Scaling up is possible, but usually, the consideration has to be taken not just for task changes (scanning an email versus replying with several media items added to reply as an example), but also the addition of input accessories. That is much harder, and tends to be th more fun way of trying not so much to build a UI that scales, but one that adapts.
Eric Dye says
Great insights – thanks!
BenJPickett says
While I like Windows 7…. …..A lot, I don’t know what to think about this. According to other information I’ve read Windows 7 will be included as a VM, this is a large change to the over all office environment. From the home office to the enterprise workspace, desks are not designed for touch screens; they are built to keep things at a natural distance of a couple feet. Re-organizing this will be a large chore for most people and desk manufacturers.
On the other hand, a unified OS appearance and feel will be a great to help people get to work wherever they are. The similarities encourage productivity and flow, meaning you only have to adapt to a single platform. Further more this is already very similar to what’s in place on Windows Phone 7, which does get good reviews, if this works on a desktop sized platform the Metro interface could be a good ticket for MS. Only time will tell at this point.
Eric Dye says
I agree on every point.
Antoine RJ Wright says
Probably something worth adding to this discussion, here is an interview and listing of how Netflix approaches UI design across multiple devices. I think this is probably the best route, even of it ends up seeming less reusable (adaptive design versus shared UI): http://www.uie.com/brainsparks/2011/06/07/multi-device-design-netflix/