Microsoft Gui design
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- ********
What´s up with Microsoft and their gui design. Everything looks like shit. Do they even have designers? And with all that money?
It`s not pretty and not very vel executed either, jagged edges and shit...damn I hate it.
I bet anyone here could improve their shit easily....
- ********0
what money?
- what the fuck?********
- "And with all that money?"********
- Microsoft are probably the most "cashed up" company on earth.BusterBoy
- what the fuck?
- baseline_shift0
there are prob 150 people involved in those decisions. And i imagine they tread all over each other and throw weight around until it looks like utter shit. Too many chefs spoil the sauce.
- ukit0
Living in Seattle I know many people who work for them and I have designed a couple things for them.
Obviously like any big company you have to work within the brand guidelines which are very strict.
- ninjasavant0
I work in enterprise software development and I can attest to the fact that corporate UX suffers from being born out of a dev process that is heavy on back end. Most of the devs I get to work on my designs are former back end developers who were handed a book on HTML and Javascript and told they were the new UI developer. I'd assume that the same is true at MS.
That said, I know some people at MS (including some people around here) and I can attest that they are in fact very talented designers.
- ********0
Maybe they should remove some of their guidelines and add some new ones, because its just not working out for them.
- all the guidelines in the world don't matter to a product manager under pressure to release.ninjasavant
- spendogg0
they just went thru a big guideline shift and siplified it even more - which of the 160 sites are you looking at?
- ********0
Actually I was looking at the new MSN Messenger, which by far isnt the worst. But even this app looks like a whore..
- Everything is crowded together and some stuff seems unfinished..********
- I just found the "Show the menu bar" option in the "Show menu" button - bit betterNightshade
- Everything is crowded together and some stuff seems unfinished..
- ********0
This is apple in about 5 years
- designbot0
What are you talking about specifically? Vista/Windows 7 looks and functions pretty damn slick if you ask me. Though Windows 7, is much much better. Microsoft makes some powerful products, but the thing they need to improve on is simplifying their interfaces for people that don't want all the advanced tools. I like the simplicity of Apple products, but you never have the amount of control that you do on a pc...the machine feels a bit crippled. Both companies (Mac and Microsoft) need to learn from each other.
- I´m talking about much of their product line. The quality of the design and the execution of it.********
- I´m talking about much of their product line. The quality of the design and the execution of it.
- Meeklo0
I think media center looks WAY better than Apple Tv
- have it setup at home through wireless w/ a remote...so slick!designbot
- ewwwwwwww********
- hahaha..
is as good as is going to get in the windows environment..Meeklo - I dont know what is apple's excuse, it look horrid. Clearly steve jobs was on vacation when the approval meeting took placeMeeklo
- took place..Meeklo
- ********0
I have to disagree. Take the picture above...
- Why are the edges transparent? And whats up with the 5 pixel thick edges??
- The new minimize/maximize/close thingy looks like crapp - unifinished. The old one looked much better.- icons = ugly********
- It's over-the-top with all it's "designy" crap, but I don't think it's entirely bad either.MondoMorphic
- icons = ugly
- baseline_shift0
keep in mind microsoft pioneered the GUI and the home computer. Apple and all these other johnny come latelys are just jumping on the bandwagon.
- i thought it's the other way around...pango
- as far as i know it was the other way around as well....Xeorx Parc, then apple, then microsoft...as far as GUI....exador1
- Next you are gonna say the iPod preceded the zune... pfffttttbaseline_shift
- You DOUCHE! Apple stole from Xerox. MS stole from Apple and launched first. MS still has shit GUI. Apple has great GUI, Xerox makes copiers.Invalid
- Xerox makes copiers.Invalid
- ********0
I thought apple did that...
- monkeyshine0
What do you think of the Bing Travel vs. Kayak debacle? Was just talking to a co-worker about that this a.m. It does seem a bit gratuitous.
- did they not buy them out?baseline_shift
- No, that was farecast.com they boughtGordy22
- ********0
Or xerox..
- ukit0
I agree 100% that Microsoft overthinks their interaction design.
I hardly ever use Word, when I open it it takes me a couple minutes to figure out how to do some stuff. And we're talking one of the mostly widely used apps in the world.
You can also see the overkill mentality in the fact that every Microsoft app takes about ten times as long to install as any other comparative program, while offering nothing in return.
- gokernyourself0
I used to do some design for Microsoft when I worked at VML. I actually did a lot of design for the Media Center PC (which is probably the best thing Msft ever made). The truth about Msft is this: They have loads and loads of smart, talented people who come up with great ideas and great executions/UX. Unfortunately, as soon as those things go thru brand and legal they go to shit.
Msft actually had their own google earth product before google, and had a street view in beta long before Google, but they both got stuck in legal and brand.
Google will continue to win because they adapt quickly and their is very little brand to deal with. there is also not the requirement to make it work in 150 languages or satisfy the marketing needs of 30 departments.
- Killer0
Oh shit, Apple fanboy alert:
invo = Apple fanboy, MS hater!
//hides...
- Lol, I use windows 8 hours a day...don´t even try it! They got lots of good things going for them...but not design********
- Lol, I use windows 8 hours a day...don´t even try it! They got lots of good things going for them...but not design
- MondoMorphic0
I completely agree with your point about MS overthinking everything, ukit. It's obvious and it permeates EVERYTHING they produce.
One thing everybody should consider is that they're designing this stuff for an audience that is going to react to something that's "shiny" and "sparkles." They probably have product managers saying things like "we want a WOW experience." Simple, elegant designs usually don't survive an environment like that. ;)
- i agree. Wow experience often come at the cost of function. In that matter win95 beats vista by miles.********
- i agree. Wow experience often come at the cost of function. In that matter win95 beats vista by miles.
- eating_tv0
Yes, everything MS produces is fugly.
Still i'm not buying a 2200+ euro quadcore Mac but a 1000 euro quadcore Winblows. Hell, I might even buy two for that money!