Prepare your apps for Windows 8 and beyond

we are waiting ...

First, you guys from MS should have considered the UI style of Android and iOS. Metro UI is a failure. I have a good taste in UI and after years of working as a developer, this is the only time that I can say Microsoft have failed. Take a look at Grid OS, its far better than Metro UI. I will only continue using .NET and Visual Studio for office projects, but for Tablet and Mobile developments, NOT A CHANCE, OR ONLY IF IT IS REQUIRED BY OUR PROJECT, OR IF THE TABLET/PHONE that is going to be used runs on windows. I am not in the business industry but I can see no future for windows in Tablet and Smart Phones. I believe that statement explains allot why I'll shift. Yes WP7 has a market but a portion only. I haven't been to other countries to check what other people are using, but with just a single look at Metro UI, these questions rumble on my mind 1."have you guys planned for this? Really?", 2."was there even a study done for Metro UI?". 3."do you guys even thought if metro UI will stand against Android or Apple's iOS?". I have defended Microsoft for years, now i think its time to abandon ship. Even us developers need to consider the effect of our code (each line) in a project, but why a company like MS deployed something like Metro UI? You think its the future? NO ITS NOT. For this, my suggestion would be, redesign the look of Windows 8, take a look at Android, iOS, and Grid OS and start from there. My colleague, even told me, "I think that was my work 10 years ago by just looking at Metro UI, its like a <table><tr><td style='backgroud-color:aqua;color:white;'>non-sense</td><tr><td style='backgroud-color:orange;color:white;'>non-sense</td></tr></table>". See the effect of Metro UI?

Second. Why remove Silverlight? Again the question "I thought MS wanted rapid application development, have you compared the development time for js/html5 against silverlight?" If the hindrance is the acceptance of the public, "why not market it like there is no tomorrow? for sure some folks would agree who can then persuade some folks of his folks. etc."

I have a work to do, i don't want to explain any further. I hope you guys will wake up, bring back the momentum, dont put silverlight in the trash, its like removing the 5th gear. Or have you imagined what its like to be in a F1 race and you're on a 4 wheel truck? I thought Silverlight is the future, but its not. If I was MS right now, the situation is like this "Hey Google and Apple, lets play, i'll bring a baseball bat and you 2 bring a samurai."

@John Constantine: I like the Metro User Interface that is great to use and see.  Metro U.I. is clean and clear.  You are stuck in the bad User Interface world of crApple and some Android portable devices.  Get with it!

@John Constantine:  I seriously doubt your credentials if you really believe Android has a better unified UI  than Metro, and wish to remain in the desktop UI. Metro and the unified integration offered in WP7 with the fluid responsive experience is far superior to the legacy Peck and Poke iOS and Android environments.   Metro with Live Tiles with the option to implement across HTML5/ JS for reach, and can still develop in XAML/C# option for Windows.  Choice without compromise.  Apple and Google are not offering anything as bold as Microsoft with OSX  and Chrome for the desktops. Touch will be in the workplace desktops, not just consumer Tablets.

Took a 30 minute look at Metro and got bored already. I don't know about you guys but do you really believe a developer would be comfortable with Metro? Yes MS's move was bold, but they haven't learned from the sales of WP7. MS should have implemented its UI like the Grid OS "FOR TABLETS". With Metro, you have to scroll to the end if your program's shortcut is at the last tile or if its in the last group. There is not even an option for grouping programs in a single tile. Maybe it was better if there was a grouping in a single tile. I would suggest taking a look at Grid OS's Grid 10. Keep Metro for normal users, and an option to go back to desktop UI for developers.

@JulesW Touch will be in the workplace desktops? So you want to code on your monitor at the same time? Mouse and Keyboard is the spoon and fork of developers. Can you eat without those? Can you imagine your self coding on your monitor? It would be a pain in the * for us developers if the setup is like that. Metro for consumers, but for developers? (Yeah i see your point, the greater the time consumed in a project because of touch based IDE, the higher the cost, and for sure your boss will wear more wrinkles.) Or maybe, you want to move a pixel with your fingertip, is that the size of your finger? Lets be practical out here. I seriously doubt your credentials if you want to code that way.

@John Constatine: You will have the option to go back to teh desktop UI, and I agree that the Metro UI isn't that great for desktop, BUT! GridOS/iOS/Android also aren't great for desktop..

Touchbased interfaces are great for casual things and only when you have to type a bit, but it will never be a replacement for day to day work where you need a lot of info/options on your screen like working in Word or as you say using an IDE.. But I do think in the not so far future you will have a keyboard mouse AND touchscreen (which is also you monitor) at your desk..

I certainly don't think Metro is/will be a fail, as personally I'm not really fond of the 'touch'interfaces other OSses have.. I hear a lot of people being very positive about Metro, and not so positive about say Android or iOS..

The keyboard was created to be a sub-optimal input device from its beginnings on the typewriter. There's no difference in having a physical keyboard or a touch-based keyboard on a screen. You're assuming they must be the SAME screen, but that's not true at all. I suspect users would much rather have a thin OLED screen that rolls up or better yet, a projected keyboard on a surface in which they can type over a physical keyboard. The mouse was always intended to mimic the use of a finger. "Clicking" is based on the noise the device makes! Metro is a great UI for users. Clear and easy to understand with realtime updates from applications. Windows 8's ability to suspend applications will be a life-saver for tech support, since you can't accidentally close an application and erase all of your data. There is a lot more to a new OS than coding for it. Apple's iOS is so proprietary that it's going to quickly lose market share as more flexible and powerful OSes are released. Android is problematic for many reasons, not the least of which is Google's weird policy on licensing. Microsoft has wisely chosen to stay out of the hardware market for PCs/Tablets (except for keyboards/mice/peripherals) and that's good. I want them to focus on an OS, not on every aspect of the device and the OS and the applications (a la Apple). There are many, many things that could be better in Windows 8. But this is a pre-Beta release! Things can and will change. Only the foolhearty will discard the world's largest OS marketshare because they find the OS UI different. A failure it is not.

I hope no bsod how in build 8102...