Why Stardock's Tiles is the killer app for Windows 8
Monday, September 19, 2011 by Frogboy | Discussion: Personal Computing
So by now, many of you have probably seen some of the videos of Windows 8. If you haven’t, let me walk you through it.
The Windows 8 experience is going to be dominated by a new user interface currently called “Metro”. There’s no “desktop” which means no taskbar, no system tray no start menu. You work with Windows in a way that’s similar to the way one would work with their iPad or Android device.
I have to say, I think it’s pretty cool in many respects. Or more to the point, I think it will be cool once they iron out all the usability gotchas in it (which I think may take them a version or two).
Making Metro make sense
That’s where Stardock’s upcoming program, Tiles comes in. A couple of years ago, when I started seeing what Microsoft was doing with what came to be called Windows Phone, I thought about how the current Windows desktop metaphor was pretty long in the tooth.
So I got talking to Neil (the lead on such programs like WindowBlinds and Multiplicity) and sketched out how one might manage their stuff in the future. We’d already made virtual desktop programs in the past as well as various side-bar programs (Control Center and ObjectBar to name two).
What we needed was something that made sense in today’s PC world. A world where lots of people have multiple monitors and are increasingly dealing with tasks that involve lots of different programs and are running systems that might be up for days or weeks at a time.
That’s the origin story of Tiles. And as you learn more about Windows 8 and how it relegates the existing Windows desktop to being just a single “tile” in the Metro universe, I think you’ll find Tiles as being the killer app.
And don’t worry, Stardock plans to extend the Metro experience for users who are using Metro on their PC (i.e. we don’t want PC users to have to sacrifice usability so that others can use it as a tablet OS).
Stardock Tiles Beta
If you want to get access to the next Stardock Tiles beta, get Object Desktop. It’s our full suite of Windows experience enhancements.
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Reply #42 Saturday, October 1, 2011 5:17 PM
Reply #43 Tuesday, October 4, 2011 10:53 PM
I decided to give Tiles a try and have been running it for a week. I still don't see it's real purpose. It's sort of a minimal program launcher and application switcher rolled into one. I don't see how it's better than ObjectDock. I keep my running icons on the left side of the screen, my main dock on the bottom and my system tray on the right. With Tiles, everything is jammed into one side of the screen. Why have a 24 inch monitor running better than HD reolution and then jam everything together like that?
Reply #44 Friday, October 7, 2011 4:17 PM
OK, I've been using it at work on my dual screen set-up. It is very useful when used like this, I have an extra page for my x-terms and another for dev tools.
My only criticism is the animations and updates need smoothing (it’s a rather low-spec VHD).
However, its rather a narrow use-case. I hated it on my home PC.
Reply #45 Sunday, October 9, 2011 3:56 PM
The point of differentiating between multiple open instances of the same app is well taken. Colors and numbers come to mind or a large thumbnail evoked by a gesture...
The "Why tiles and no traditional Start Menu?" was really answered well here:
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/archive/2011/10/04/designing-the-start-screen.aspx
Tiles really should become the "killer app" for touchscreens.
Reply #46 Wednesday, November 16, 2011 6:44 PM
Hello, is the production version of Tiles out yet...or...If not, is there a "planned" date for final release?
Thanks,
~roystreet
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Reply #41 Saturday, October 1, 2011 5:04 PM
Quoting TwoWolves, reply 39Its a good idea for a tablet, the task switching on the iPad stinks but this isn't going to be productive on a PC.I LOVE the fact that I can have a Tiles "page" based on task (like "web dev" or "app dev" or "sales" or "finance") and have all the appropriate apps running and visible for just those tasks. HUGE productivity booster!
I also have two monitors for each PC I use . . and the taskbar is often pretty far away from the cursor. Tiles (running on the second monitor) lets me access all the taskbar options faster. I like faster.
Very good point Zubaz, that sounds like a good idea. I may install it at work, it will be interesting to see how it copes with a dozen X-Terms - passing colleagues will think I'm very progressive, maybe even a secret Mac owner.