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Windows 8 and CAD

M

moriarty

New member
Anyone tried the new Windows 8 Metro interface?

If you're struggling with the ribbon in CREO and Windows 7, then Metro interface is an even bigger leap.

You've still got ribbon in the Desktop interface and Tiles and Apps in the Metro interface.

It will be interesting to see how the CAD companies deal with it

Will we be using 27" touch pads for design?
 
moriarty said:
Anyone tried the new Windows 8 Metro interface?
If you're struggling with the ribbon in CREO and Windows 7, then Metro interface is an even bigger leap.
Click to expand...
Is it really a big deal? from what I've seen from the videos, start menu is now start screen, with a nice search capability,which works even better than windows 7 start search. of course they are promotional videos and don't point out the drawbacks of the new design. What do you think may hinder the job of an engineer or a CAD user, using the new metro, AKA modern interface?
 
I've played with some touchscreen enabled all-in-ones in stores... The "desktop" interface is more or less the same as Win 7's, and I think (and hope) CAD software will live all its life there, even if a visualization app for "Modern UI" could be a good idea.

Modern UI (or Metro as it was called) is puzzling me though, there's no way to actually "close" an application, and I understand that this is how other tablets like iPad or android work, but in an "hybrid" system like Win 8 this is strange. Other than that I don't see many differences from my point of view, the start screen is quite obtrusive and "concentration disrupting" if you have to access it frequently.

Of course working on a desktop touchscreen for more than 5 minutes is tiring and stressing, your arm will ache, but being able to quickly tap something on the screen instead of having to travel with the mouse can open interesting opportunities

Paolo
 
Nope, not now or ever.

I installed IE8 and it successfully prevented most of my CAD software from running. A mistake I will never make again.
I suggest if you want to maintain your sanity go no higher than Win7 as an OS and you'll be okay.

I still have neck pain from working on Vista with all it's warnings that would jump out from time to time.

Windows is loosing it's edge to touch-screen phones and responded with a poorly designed OS which they Excel at.
(pun intended)

Michael
 
zpaolo said:
there's no way to actually "close" an application, and I understand that this is how other tablets like iPad or android work, but in an "hybrid" system like Win 8 this is strange.
Paolo
Click to expand...
True, it kind of gives you the feeling that you don't have complete control over the OS, you can still completely unload apps from RAM using task manager. I had the same feeling with android but the thing is smart enough to close them when you need more RAM,you just have to trust the autopilot, and it works well.
 
solidworm said:
True, it kind of gives you the feeling that you don't have complete control over the OS, you can still completely unload apps from RAM using task manager. I had the same feeling with android but the thing is smart enough to close them when you need more RAM,you just have to trust the autopilot, and it works well.
Click to expand...

If they don't completely close are we going to be hogging a floating license even when we have stopped running Pro/E?

Agree that MS is following the mass market of phones and tablets and leaving the full time office worker/computer in the lurch with a clunky POS.
 
dr_gallup said:
If they don't completely close are we going to be hogging a floating license even when we have stopped running Pro/E?
Click to expand...
No, only apps built specifically for Modern UI (Metro apps, like weather,stocks, etc) are allowed to stay on RAM after they are closed. Desktop applications like ProE, word, Excel,etc, behave like normal.
 
My opinion is Windows 8 is not an OS for business at all. It is geared towards the consumer market. I think we will once again see a seperation between the business and consumer OS as we did with Windows 3.X and NT.
 
srieger said:
My opinion is Windows 8 is not an OS for business at all. It is geared towards the consumer market.
Click to expand...

The only "non consumer-oriented" Microsoft OS is Windows Server and you can tell it from the lack of "flashy" user interface graphics. Up to Windows 7 the distinction between "consumer" and "professional" OS (a la win 9x vs win NT) had no sense, since the core of the Windows OS now IS based on NT, therefore if you wanted a "more professional" experience you just had to turn off all "consumer" features, including bells and whistles. Maybe things will change a little with Windows 8, but since Start menu replacements are already available I think it won't be difficult to make it "professional looking" again. Besides, the plain, simple look of the Win 8 desktop is way better than any transparent Aero iteration, in my opinion.

Paolo
 
zpaolo said:
Maybe things will change a little with Windows 8, but since Start menu replacements are already available I think it won't be difficult to make it "professional looking" again. Besides, the plain, simple look of the Win 8 desktop is way better than any transparent Aero iteration, in my opinion.

Paolo
Click to expand...

The first thing I always do on a Win7 machine is go to advanced system settings / performance and click the "Adjust for best performance" radio button. That eliminates all the Aero BS & associated garbage.

It is absurd that we have to get 3rd party software to get the start menu back in Win8, MS should give us a check box for that. I never trust 3rd party add ons to work long term and not mess something else up or install their own misc. garbage.
 
I'm still not convinced why anyone would dodge start screen for a 3rd party start menu app. start screen is a new friend we should embrace :)
Has anyone tried word 2013? its so smooth, it feels like you're typing on butter.:)
 
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Well I don't use the start menu in Win7 because all my shortcuts are cleanly put and categorized in Free Launch Bar. I hate the way the start menu is full of useless shortcuts. On the other hand I like aero peek, very useful to have a quick preview of your open windows through a small thumbnail so I usually just disable transparency, put on a softer color and stick with the default scheme.
 
zpaolo said:
Well I don't use the start menu in Win7 because all my shortcuts are cleanly put and categorized in Free Launch Bar.
Click to expand...
That should be a nice application. i use something similar too, a little toolbar right next to notification area.
%5BUNSET%5D.png
 
I use a toolbar like that for all my everyday applications too. But when I need to get to all the other zillion things I rarely use I fall back to the start menu
 
This video is a good one to get familiar with the start screen and its search function which is handy: Designing search for the Start Screen in Windows 8 - YouTube
The guy only uses keyboard and it seems pretty fast and easy. you can search for applications,windows settings,files, or even pick other apps i guess, to find the search term in lets say Google or Twitter, all by using keyboard, so this isn't just an OS for mobile devices.
 
Well Win8 runs rather nicely - both desktop and metro - its fast and smooth.

Metro is rather primitive - its less sophisticated than windows phone and most apps are work in progress - Adobe Reader cannot print. The mouse usage is poorly thought out - you would think you would swipe the mouse to pan around but only swipe down to close app. All rather clumsy. There also seems to be something going on around screen resolution so clarity can be poor - bit like poorly rendered web pages. Feels like its designed for a 5yr old which is fine for a phone but not for a work station.

Desktop has START missing but there are plenty of 3rd party fixes - Start8 is pretty good. It feels like a more refined and smooth Win7 - pity they hobbled it with no start menu because its actually quite nice to use. More ribbonised Windows interfaces so the detail and complexity is handled rather nicely. Would have to say its better than Win7 - a few bugs but no crashing.
 
solidworm said:
This video is a good one to get familiar with the start screen and its search function which is handy: Designing search for the Start Screen in Windows 8 - YouTube
The guy only uses keyboard and it seems pretty fast and easy. you can search for applications,windows settings,files, or even pick other apps i guess, to find the search term in lets say Google or Twitter, all by using keyboard, so this isn't just an OS for mobile devices.
Click to expand...

So the ultimate evolution of the graphical user interface is to go back to using just the keyboard?

I did not actually watch the video since all YouTube content is blocked at work.
 
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