same way across the currcnt Apple line-up, but choosing a Windows machine gave us a few headaches. We chose the Lenovo Yoga 13 because it offers a full Windows 8 desktop experience, and can be converted to a tablet by simply flipping the screen and folding it against the keyboard.
However, the larger choice of Windows hardware, which highlights Microsoft’s desire to have a unified OS for every type of device, can be confusing. We’ve already heard stories of customers buying Windows RT tablets that looked the same as Windows 8 devices, only to find that none of their existing software could be installed or even downloaded from the poorly stocked app store.
As Windows 8 and the Windows Store mature we hope to see many well-known programs migrate to the Modern UI without compromising their functionality. For now, though, it feels as though Windows 8 is optimised for hardware that isn’t ready to fulfil the OS’ vision for the future.
It’s interesting to note that although Apple leads the market in consumer touchscreen technology with its iPad and iPhone, it has kept separate OS X and iOS.
Many of Windows 8’s touchscreen features make complete sense. Swiping left to right moves the various Modern UI apps in the relevant direction, and pressing any part of the screen has the reaction you would expect from a tablet: options are chosen, text boxes are activated, angry birds are catapulted. From the Start screen it’s easy to move around and select an application to launch.
As we’ve already mentioned, it’s perfectly possible to use a mouse to achieve most of the things you can with a touchscreen, but it can take a while to get used to the left/right scrolling. For the most part the mouse’s scrollwheel will automatically scroll left and right when this is all you can do, although you might have to first click to ‘focus’ the mouse on the scrollbar.
A significant portion of users are now familiar with the way mobile phones or tablets work, and therefore expect certain things to happen in a touch environment. For example, dragging down from the top of the screen in Android lets you read and
interact with notifications; in Windows 8 this action will either close an app or bring up contextual options. (Right-clicking onscreen achieves the same effect.)
Once these options are on display how you get rid of them can be baffling. If you swipe in from either the top or bottom of the Mail app you get the aforementioned contextual menu, but removing it requires you to repeat rather than reverse the action. You can tap anywhere on the screen to get rid of the menu, but if you move your finger while doing so you’ll simply scroll through the contents of the page instead. These are minor points, but they crop up more often that you might expect and quickly become irritating.
Swiping in from the right of the screen reveals the Charms bar, which is a useful link to the various settings on the PC. Somewhat confusingly, to dismiss this menu you reverse the action, which is inconsistent with the vertical gestures. Menus also fail to appear if you move too quickly, or your fingers are too light on the screen, which can become an issue when you’re working at
a steady rate, but find yourself tripping over the menus while hurrying to the next task.
There are also movements that don’t work the way you expect them to. When swiping in from the left you switch to the next open application. No problem there, but if you want to return to the previous app you can’t reverse the motion. Instead you need to cycle through all open apps, or quickly swipe right then left to open up a list of the available programs. It’s not the end of the world, and the Alt, Tab option is still available, but it’s just another thing you have to remember when using Windows 8.
Using the touchscreen can be fun, especially when browsing websites that have lots of links to click on. We’ve no doubt that users will in time adapt to the quirks of Windows 8’s design, but the learning curve can feel obstructive at first.
osx
Apple has honed to a very impressive degree OS X’s touch interface. As many a user’s fingers are already well versed in the language of trackpads, it
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