Windows 8 beta concept as a little project of mine to test some ideas and to improve skills Boot screen: Multi-user log-in: Start screen with shut down button and search icon/indicator: Shut down button highlight to the corner of the screen for faster access with mouse: Access recently used apps by moving the Start screen further to the right:
I love Multi-user Login and Recent Apps idea! Great! Feel free to post some more concepts, I love your ideas.
Looks good, but the start screen is getting a bit more crowded with your adjustments. Wish MS had put those filters, shut down button and recently used list as buttons in the charm bar.
I like the "tabs" on the top, and the login screen. The power button in the corner is okay, but I don't it's needed, because most people won't need to shut down the system often. The "Recent Apps" would work well as a replacement for the taskbar, since there's no easy way to see all the apps that are open. The search box makes the interface look crowded, I think there should be a tutorial at first login that teaches you that you can just start typing (if you have a physical keyboard*) or how to use the "Search" charm. *One feature of Win8 that works better on a laptop/desktop and not a tablet! I don't like the bootscreen, instead I would like to see either a blank screen (it would look better if the system boots in seconds), or the OEM logo (simple, only one screen shows during boot, instead of several screens with different logos). Overall, not a bad UI. Maybe some of the features could be used for Windows 9!
Thanks a lot for the feedback! As said before, this is only to try some ideas out Here is how the Windows Explorer could look in a Metro+Aero style with a "Smart Bar" a combination of the current Command Bar and the colored contextual Tabs that appear in the W8 Ribbon: For example when a drive is selected, a contextual menu shows up (like on the Ribbon) with the most used command displayed as icon: What if in desktop view, the Star Screen wouldn't fill up the whole screen but only the half? A combination of the Start Menu vs. Start Screen. I'm not a big fan of this idea myself, but what do you think? What about a Taskbar in Metro view? Activated with a gesture:
No problem I'm too lazy to fill out all the tiles The idea behind the Search icon was to show the instant Search functionality with a blinking cursor but more important to quickly open the soft keyboard without using the Charms menu again. It is also a replacement for the "All Programs" link in the current Windows 7 Start Menu because when you tap on the icon, you will see all installed apps
Explorer looks so nice, reminds me of MetroTwit. Love how you have the AppBar from WP7. Very clean and really Metro.
It looks nice... well its not something I would like new Start Screen to be. but still it looks good, better than some concepts i have seen. what i dont understand its why a "shutdown" tile?... or why people complain about they "cant shutdown their systems faster" because its not like people will keep shutdowning their systems like 10 times a day, or 20 or 30. its not too hard to shutdown with settings charm like we have now. thats my only complaint about your concept xD besides the "recent" part, since i think i would look like repetitive seeing the same app twice because i have it already pinned in my first apps. but you got nice ideas, if Microsoft took some of this i wouldn't complain
At work I want to shut down the PC as fast as possible to go home It is a simple command that should not be in a settings pane and there is enough screen real estate to put one single button on it. It is also about finding the shutdown button. It was in the Start Menu for ages, and people expect it to be there. Maybe recent apps will only show up in that list if they are not pinned to the Start Screen. Just like the menu works now! If you pin Word to the Start Menu, it doesn't show up in the recent apps list in Windows 7. The recent apps list is to launch apps that you don't need every day fast again. Maybe you need to use Paint 20 times on one single day (because you take screenshots for example).
Unless you need to capture something like a hover effect, an open menu, etc, Snipping Tool does the job.