14 DAY TRIAL // Windows 8 is considered a confusing operating system, mostly because of the new GUI that requires users to switch between the “Modern” and desktop modes.
It turns out, however, that Windows 8’s first interface was a bit less confusing, as it comprised some more eye-candy elements that seemed a lot easier and intuitive to use.
These mockups have been revealed by Jensen Harris, director of Program Management for the Windows User Experience Team, during a UX Week 2012 presentation and are supposed to provide a glimpse into the project that was once called “Pocahontas.”
While that’s clearly a funny name for an operating system developed by Microsoft, it actually served as the foundation for what the company calls the most important product in its history since Windows 95.
Unsurprisingly, Jakob Nielsen, a user interface design expert, said in an article that Windows 8 is actually “a monster that terrorizes poor office workers and strangles their productivity.”
“Although Win8 has usability issues on tablets, there's nothing that a modest redesign can't fix. In fact, usability could be substantially improved by revising the application guidelines to emphasize restrained use of active tiles, higher information density, better visibility of key features, and many other usability guidelines we've already discovered in testing other tablets,” he said.
“I understand why Microsoft likes the marketing message of ‘One Windows, Everywhere.’ But this strategy is wrong for users.”
This isn’t the first time when Windows 8 is described as a confusing working environment, as users apparently miss the Start Menu a lot more than Microsoft ever expected.
CEO Steve Ballmer has emphasized in an interview in October that Microsoft had absolutely no intention to bring back the Start Menu back in Windows 8, “as users already have an entire Start Screen” to help them launch apps and access their files.
