Windows 8 - right and left hemisphere

Windows 8 - right and left hemisphere

Postby Otto » Fri Mar 16, 2012 7:07 pm

by Renate

To all,

The first impression that is left by WINDOWS 8 applications is that they intelligently make use of the fact that we have two differently working hemispheres of the brain.

The concept of right brain and left brain thinking goes back to the 1960s, when the American psycho-biologist Roger W. Sperry discovered that the human brain has two ways of thinking: the right brain way and the left brain way.

Each brain hemisphere must be addressed and stimulated in a different way.

With pictures and symbols we address our right hemisphere. Symbols and pictures carry significant information directly into our consciousness. So do the tiles of a Windows 8 Start screen.

Digital communication like letters, words, numbers transport information to our analytical left brain hemisphere. When we work on our PCs we are usually dealing with or producing digital information that engages mainly the left half of the brain.

It is a relaxing experience to switch back to the tiles and colors of the metro style Start screen. Our analytical left brain hemisphere can rest for a while – until we are drawn into another application.


________________________________________
Mag. Renate Atzwanger
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Re: Windows 8 - right and left hemisphere

Postby Antonio Linares » Fri Mar 16, 2012 7:21 pm

Dear Otto,

Are you already a Microsoft sales employee ? :-) (just kidding...)

Seriously, I think that Windows 8 is not an evolutionary product, but in fact it is a disruptive product, in the sense that it is a totally new concept that has to be accepted or not by the final users. And that is why the users will really have the final word. They will like it or dislike it.

As I far as I see it, I think it is quite confusing to have "two" different Windows in the same Windows:

This is the real architecture of Windows 8:
Image
The right blue side is the space where all Windows apps have been existing up to now. The left green side is the "new" Windows, which it is totally different except in its deepest base. As I say: two "Windows" in one.
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Re: Windows 8 - right and left hemisphere

Postby Antonio Linares » Fri Mar 16, 2012 7:30 pm

More over, Windows 8 "real" Metro apps will just run on Windows 8. They will not be supported in Windows 7, Vista, XP, etc...

Can you imagine this ? Do you think that all users will accept to be forced to upgrade to Windows 8. I see lots of Windows XP PCs still around. Will they upgrade to Windows 8 just because Microsoft says so ? :-)

The solution that I proposed here and that you enjoyed so much and have extended, is to "simulate" the Windows 8 Metro look but in fact we keep being a traditional Windows desktop app, so this way our software will run on all existing Windows versions :-)

And thats really powerfull and funny: imagine our apps using "Metro" look and running on XP, Windows 7, etc :-) We are able to do what Microsoft itself can't do with the real Metro apps :-)
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Re: Windows 8 - right and left hemisphere

Postby Otto » Fri Mar 16, 2012 7:33 pm

Hello Antonio,
the post was from Renate. It is like she sees & feels the new windows.
Best regards,
Otto
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Re: Windows 8 - right and left hemisphere

Postby Otto » Fri Mar 16, 2012 7:37 pm

Hello Antonio,
The solution that I proposed here and that you enjoyed so much and have extended, is to "simulate" the Windows 8 Metro look but in fact we keep being a traditional Windows desktop app, so this way our software will run on all existing Windows versions

exactly that is what I think too.

Best regards,
Otto

PS: Yes I have MetroStyle screens on xp ECR systems :-)
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Re: Windows 8 - right and left hemisphere

Postby Antonio Linares » Fri Mar 16, 2012 7:40 pm

ops, I missed that. I use to look at the photo on the right side.

I fully agree with the two brains concept. In fact I think they are not left and right sided, but in fact our "deeper" brain is the brain that we have inherited from previous species, and the "logical" brain is the one that differences us as "homo sapiens".

Lately I tend to compare software evolution with Darwin's theories as I really think that it provides light to the software evolution too:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Darwin

So there will be a natural selection that will decide if Windows 8 continues and evolves, or if it will become obsolete...

My best wishes to Renate,
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Re: Windows 8 - right and left hemisphere

Postby TimStone » Tue Mar 20, 2012 4:17 pm

Antonio,

Think Apple ! If the product is good, people will grab it up.

Win 8 Metro was actually introduced in Win 7 phone. Many carriers are not doing much with that device because they didn't like previous Windows phones ( nor did consumers ). However, as people experience a Win 7 phone, they get hooked on it. In fact, people are very happy to give up Android phones for Win 7 phones, and some iPhone fanatics are also publically making the change.

Right now, iPad is the leading tablet, and Kindle Fire seems to be in 2nd place, due to Amazon's large market penetration. Android tablets generally are not seeing much market penetration. However, with Win 8 slates ( full computers, not just a tablet ), I expect to see a much larger consumer acceptance. I have an iPad2, but when I checked out the Samsung slate, I was very impressed with the power, speed, and storage ... plus the easier to view screen. I expect to see many fine slates released in the fall with Win 8, and that should bring prices down, and we should see some strong market penetration.

Will consumers buy it ? I believe so. Microsoft will then have the full spectrum of supported devices, from servers, to all in ones/ desktops, notebooks, netbooks, slates, and phones !

If you look at the programming tools world, there are a lot of Metro ready controls, themes, shells being readied right now, and released. There will be many ways to "get from here to there", including Five Win, and once those apps start being released, the market will grow.

Tim
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Re: Windows 8 - right and left hemisphere

Postby Antonio Linares » Tue Mar 20, 2012 6:48 pm

Tim,

Windows 8 could be Microsoft's riskiest bet


http://www.windowsfordevices.com/c/a/News/Company-needs-to-embrace-the-cloud-more-than-ever-Ray-Ozzie-adds/

At first that response seemed odd -- after all, Microsofts latest operating system release, Windows 7, has sold more than 240 million licenses in its first 12 months of release. According to analytics firm Net Applications, it (Windows 7) currently occupies some 17.10 percent of the OS market, behind Windows XP at 60.03 percent and ahead of Windows Vista at 13.35 percent.


XP still is 60.03 percent! And many Vista still around...

I am not negative about it, neither possitive. Simply observing...
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Re: Windows 8 - right and left hemisphere

Postby Antonio Linares » Tue Mar 20, 2012 6:55 pm

Besides that, from a technical point of view, this reading is highly recommended:

http://www.winsupersite.com/blog/supersite-blog-39/windows8/winrt-replacing-win32-140605

WinRT is the the new API to use. If we want our apps to go into the Microsoft app store, we have to use WinRT API instead of Win32 API (the one we all have been using for years...)

A simple MessageBox() in Win32 requires this code in WinRT:
Code: Select all  Expand view
private  async void OnMessage(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
   MessageDialog dialog = new MessageDialog("Hello WinRT");
   await dialog.ShowAsync();
}


In fact a FWH8 based on WinRT has to be implemented to develop true Win8 Metro apps. Warning: There are no MDI windows support, and lot more missing features...

So, maybe for some time, it is quite clever to simulate Win8 Metro UI as we have started doing with FWH and keep using our development tools... but of course, FW8 has to be developed, and we are going to do it :-)
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Re: Windows 8 - right and left hemisphere

Postby TimStone » Tue Mar 20, 2012 8:08 pm

Nothing will happen overnight. However, Windows XP has reached "End of Life", and people are starting to replace old computers. All new computers will be Win 8 when it releases. Watch for "free upgrade to Windows 8" offers coming soon with new boxes.

You may not have MDI, but what you have is concurrency with input screens where it counts. Again, thats the "panorama" and "frame" concept that replaces MDI. It is faster and transparent. We see it with Win 7 phones, and it is so much easier.

I just finished a study of LightSwitch which auto builds data driven programs. It automatically integrates what we might do with MDI into one screen ... and its not using Metro at this point.

Tim
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Re: Windows 8 - right and left hemisphere

Postby modicr » Thu Mar 29, 2012 9:38 am

Antonio Linares wrote:In fact a FWH8 based on WinRT has to be implemented to develop true Win8 Metro apps. Warning: There are no MDI windows support, and lot more missing features...
So, maybe for some time, it is quite clever to simulate Win8 Metro UI as we have started doing with FWH and keep using our development tools... but of course, FW8 has to be developed, and we are going to do it :-)


BTW, there are three types of Windows 8 executables:
http://piercedotzler.com/asa/Developing ... owser.html
Metro style app. A Metro style app adheres to the principles of the new app model– it runs in an App Container, uses APIs found in the Windows Software Development Kit (SDK) for Metro style apps, is packaged as an .appx file, and is made available via the Windows Store.
Desktop browsers. Same model as Windows 7.
Metro style enabled desktop browser. A desktop browser that chooses to participate in the new Metro style experience when the user has expressed preference for the browser to do so. Such a browser can provide HTML5 rendering for webpages and service HTTP / HTTPS requests. By definition, such a browser has full access to Win32 APIs for rendering HTML5, including the ability to use multiple background processes, JIT compiling, and other distinctly browser-related functionality (like background downloading of files). Desktop browsers typically run at medium or low integrity level.


http://www.brianbondy.com/blog/id/129/

We will be using the Windows Runtime C++ Template Library (WRL) which is similar to C++ / ATL.
We may also be using C++/CX which does compile down to native code but has some non-standard C++ extensions that allow for code to be about 1/10 the size.
Our hesitation in using any C++/CX code is that it will definitely require a new build environment. Personally I think it would be worth using C++/CX in the long run. WRL and C++/CX code can freely be mixed even in the same source file.
The GUI will be made mostly by painting to DirectX. XAML may be used in a very limited fashion. XAML is the main presentation layer in Windows 8 Metro if you are using a .NET enabled language or native C++. XAML is a declarative XML-based language similar to Mozilla's own XUL. XAML is familiar to WPF and Silverlight developers. XUL will most likely still be rendered to the DirectX surface.
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Re: Windows 8 - right and left hemisphere

Postby Antonio Linares » Thu Mar 29, 2012 11:01 am

New in FWH 12.03:

* New: samples\winrt.prg shows how to use the Windows 8 Metro API (WinRT). This
example only works in Windows 8.


:-)
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Re: Windows 8 - right and left hemisphere

Postby modicr » Wed Apr 04, 2012 6:54 pm

This is the real architecture of Windows 8:
Image


BTW, here is another diagram:
http://bitcrazed.com/post/2012/01/27/An ... agram.aspx
WinRT is nothing more than a collection of COM objects that expose themselves via ECMA-335 (i.e. CLI) metadata. This allows them to be consumed by Javascript (via IE's Chakra Javascript engine), .NET and modern C++ which has been updated to consume and generate CLI metadata.

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