Windows 8.x and the future of the desktop

Posted by Firefly7475 on January 7, 2013 04:09 am 31

Where I'm coming from...

I've seen a lot of concepts around how to fit the metro and traditional desktop UI's together and all of them, I believe, have one fundamental flaw... they have used the desktop as a starting point and tried to merge metro into it.

My position on the desktop is that I believe the features of the desktop are a requirement for a lot of productive workflows, however I don't have any specific attachment to the desktop as it exists today.

I also see metro as the "new" Windows that Microsoft are moving toward.

With that in mind I think the logical step for Microsoft is not to merge metro into the desktop, nor to remove the metro environment or the desktop completely, but to enhance the metro UI with the functionality that users require from the desktop.

An example...

Keep in mind I've got no talent at all with graphics (I did this in Paint.Net!) and considerable work could be done to make this idea flow better.

As usual, click for a closer look.

Let's start off with the Windows 8 we know and love. Bcmh9_medium

Step 1

An option for a smaller Task Switcher is added, as well as the ability to "pin" the Task Switcher. Hgmoy_medium

If the task switcher is pinned it would be visible regardless of the app that is running. Vmoy3_medium

Step 2

Launching a "desktop" app would make it appear on the Task Switcher (in the same way it appears in the Task Bar on the desktop now) on the metro UI. Desktop apps would launch in full screen by default. 5agla_medium

"Restoring" the desktop app would pull it off full screen view, leaving the metro UI wallpaper visible in the background. 5rk2v_medium

Once a desktop app has been taken down from full screen, window management works in much the same way as it does on the traditional desktop. D4qoh_medium

Step 3

Mousing over a desktop app in the Task Switcher gives a similar "available Windows" popup you get from the Task Bar. Y4vpm_medium

A final note

My idea isn't so much to replace the desktop (I think the desktop will continue to be available for years to come) but to move more and varied workflows into the "new" Windows.