Active tiles did not work? We ve seen the prototype of the new Start Menu
Last night, the Windows Insider program was a huge slip-up. However, its effects are much more interesting. Selected testers received the implicit compilation of Windows 10 with a completely new Start Menu. Deprived of active tiles.
Yesterday, members of the Windows Insider program (a public beta program for Windows 10) who use the 32-bit version of the system, mistakenly received a new build of Windows 10 that was never to hit them.
I missed this - I'm testing a 64-bit edition - other testers, however, do not hide their excitement. Nobody seems to have a grudge - after all, beta-tests are asking for mishaps and mistakes, and getting a secret code is definitely something a racial geek is excited about.
And there is something to be excited about. A mistakenly sent compilation is not just another version number in the system information menu. The system has a completely new Start Menu. It is not clear how advanced this prototype is. We do not know if this is the beginning or the next phase of work on the menu. We do not know if this menu is actually intended for Windows 10, or whether its interface is tested for Microsoft Lite . We do not even know if what you see on screen shots will go to the end user. We know, however, that there is no place in the new Start Menu for one of the recognizable characters of the Windows interface.
New Start Menu in Windows 10 with no active tiles.
For starters, formalities, let us know what we are talking about. This is how the new Start Menu on PC looks like:
https://twitter.com/NTAuthority/status/1154001334007455744
And it looks like on the tablet:
https://twitter.com/NTAuthority/status/1154008585279561729
It is not very beautiful, but let's remember that it is a very fresh creation, probably only under construction. The left sidebar of the Start Menu has remained intact. The Microsoft Account menu was expanded and the search engine at the top of the interface was added. The latter may suggest that the new Start Menu is actually designed not for Windows 10, but for Lite - it duplicates the search engine by default located next to the Start button.
The rest of the menu consists of a grid of icons representing installed applications - like in an android launcher or on the iOS desktop. The style of icons is identical to the one used on the Taskbar. And just - they are icons. Where are the active tiles divided? There is a high probability that Microsoft will give up. Just like from the entire Universal Windows Platform.
Active tiles are a fall after Windows Phone and microsoft fascination with tablets.
The idea of active tiles was to provide the user with key information from a given application without opening it. This idea turned out to be very sensible. The closest calendar event displayed on his tile. Weather forecast on the appropriate tile. A TV commercial that may interest me on the Netflix tile. It works. This is very useful. Unfortunately, mainly in the usage scenario, in which this touch is the basic form of interaction with the user.
On tablets and Windows phones, it displays the Start Menu full screen and it is the default view, such a main Windows menu . The problem is that Windows is no longer on phones, and when it comes to tablets, it is popular mainly on hybrids, in which the tablet mode is a complement to the PC mode. And in the mode optimized for keyboard and trackpad operation, the main view of Windows 10 is the Desktop. The Start menu is only visible when you press the appropriate button. We do not see these tiles at once. It is difficult to judge the usefulness of the displayed information on tiles when they are not visible.
Personally, I still use active tiles, I like the invariable idea behind them. The problem is that I am clearly in the minority. An important part of my applications, even those pinned, poorly uses the space of your tile, or does not do it at all. Probably not the anger of its users - because probably the said tiles are indifferent to them. Is it true? I do not know how I can know. However, Microsoft knows that, through extensive telemetry in Windows 10, it can accurately analyze how this system is used. And which solutions work and which users have a nose.
So I hope that the new Start Menu tested is just an unfinished prototype that will not get through some update to my computer. I like my active tiles, I will miss them. Static icons have no advantage over them. Am I serious about this opinion in the minority?
Active tiles did not work? We've seen the prototype of the new Start Menu
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