That Windows 8 Experience? Confusing. Confusing as Hell
One of the things that Apple has been been criticised about on the iPad is that you have to jump in and out of apps to do anything. There’s a very thunk … thunk … thunk context switch to using an iPad. That’s nothing compared to life in a world where you’ve got a classic desktop and Metro-style.
When running Windows 8 today I’ve pretended I’m not using a Mac. I’ve run VMware Fusion in full-screen, multi-monitor mode. First thing you notice is that both monitors get a taskbar. That’s really confusing. But the reason becomes clear because if you open up the Windows 8 mail app - BLAM! - the thing takes over the whole of the primary monitor, obscuring the taskbar. The classic desktop remains running on the secondary monitor, with a taskbar. Click on anything on the secondary monitor and - SHOOM! - the mail app disappears because Windows thinks you’ve dropped out of Metro-style.
What this does for you as you use it is a whole world of “wait … what?!” Trying to deal with Windows when your driving results in it flipping between classic Windows and Metro-style app is like having someone sneak up behind you and flick you on the ear when you’re least expecting it. This massive context switching of “YOU’RE IN WINDOWS WAIT NO NO YOU’RE NOT!” creates an appalling user experience.
The general tone of most of the Windows 8 reviews is that Metro is a really nice, elegant user interface that is a joy to use, but it simply doesn’t integrate well with the standard Windows desktop. I think this is exactly why Apple has kept iOS and OS X as two completely separate platforms for different types of devices.