Windows 8, Metro UI and Visual Studio 11

Windows 8:

Windows 8 is Microsoft’s next generation Operating System that has been completely rebuilt from the ground up and is primarily aimed at touch enabled desktop / laptop and tablet devices. It still provides the ability to work using a mouse but to take full advantage of the Metro style interface, a touch device is required. Windows 8 also provides the regular desktop interface which feels and functions very similar to the familiar Windows 7 desktop.

The Metro interface is different from the regular desktop in many ways.  The main theme is that of pages (like browsers) with square and/or rectangular tile which have the ability to provide Live information pertinent to the specific app it belongs to. Apps are launched by touching/clicking the tiles and only the app active in the forefront is functional, other apps that have lost focus go into a suspend status, which is actually a snapshot view of the app from the moment it lost  focus. Switching to a suspended app resumes the app from the very same point it was suspended at and the current app goes into suspended mode. Apps are not normally permitted to function in the background and there are other very strict requirements for getting an app certified, including the ability to launch within 15 seconds, otherwise the app is kicked off. The App function in full screen modes and the other mode is the snapped mode which snaps the app to the left or right edge of the screen and this is the only way to have two apps active simultaneously. Due to very stringent design specifications for Metro apps, the Windows 8 OS performs very efficiently of various devices and the user experience does not suffer on less powered CPUs on Tablets compared to the laptops or desktops.

Metro Interface:

The Metro Interface is composed of Live and/or Dead Tiles in square or rectangular shapes. The inspiration behind this UI is the road or guidance signs in a Metro city/location. For examples signs in a subway station or an airport which provide relevant information at a glance in a precise manner. This was first introduced on Windows Phone 7+ devices and same concept has been upgraded for larger screens. Having used Windows Phone for about 5 months, I am familiar with the MUI and have developed a liking for it based on the productivity improvement. The Live Tiles provide upto date information and one can delve deeper into the information if desired. I have also used the Windows 8 Metro UI on my laptop and although it isn’t a touch screen, but even with a mouse it works very well. It takes a week or so to discover the functionality and also to get used to the paradigm shift from the GUI to MUI, but once I discovered the ins and outs, and used it for a few weeks, it becomes a much more enjoyable experience, especially when I have the same UI on my phone and hopefully on my next tablet. It does take some effort initially to continue using and learning the MUI, but that’s a very short  and shallow learning curve and very quickly one would start realizing the benefit of shifting from traditional GUI to MUI.

Visual Studio 11:

Metro Apps Development: The IDE (Integrated Development Environment) for developing Metro style Apps is Visual Studio 11 on a Windows * device. VS 11 on other versions of Windows do not have the ability to develop Metro Apps at this time. Several prebuilt templates are available to get started quickly with most of the functionalities built-in. Until now most of the developers have focused on using the templates and app using the Metro UI in a more creative way may start cropping up soon. One thing to keep in mind is that MUI is primarily a touch enabled UI and designers/developers are encouraged to keep that in mind when coming up with ideas for MUI apps. Most of the current apps being developed in Metro style are more for information consumption and not information/data manipulation. Next version of Office suite is supposed to have a MUI mode and that would provide guidance to developers/designers on developing such content development apps. The potential is there and is pretty huge so the early developers of such apps would certainly have the first market advantage. Due to the strict design and performance specifications by Microsoft, the developers do not have the freedom to go about designing apps to do whatever they want to, and that should in fact serve as a positive move towards a more stable and efficient experience.