Windows 8 interface source of debate

A former US employee of Microsoft has set up a Web site to highlight what he says is wrong with the upcoming Windows 8 operating system and how to fix it. Former Microsoft program manager Mike Bibik, who now works for Amazon as a senior user-experience designer, says Windows 8 is less than optimal for a mouse-and-keyboard setup since it is designed to work with both traditional PCs and tablets, and that Microsoft's repeated assertion the interface is every bit as fast and fluid on a traditional non-touchscreen PC is "not entirely true." Bibik's Web site, "Fixing Windows 8," focuses on Metro, the side of Windows 8 that incorporates touch-friendly tiles and specialized apps that take up the whole screen, Mashable reported Wednesday. Several features of the Metro interface will be a problem for users used to point-and-click mouse navigation and keyboard commands, Bibik said. In the Metro start screen, it's difficult to see all Metro apps, and finding all of them requires a right-click and navigating to a hard-to find "All Apps" Icon. Scrolling is counter-intuitive, since the scroll wheel on a mouse scrolls left-to-right in many Metro apps, mimicking the primary way to navigate in Metro. Metro apps also don't have Windows controls, he said, with no way to minimize or maximize a Metro app. They either take up the whole screen or they're in the background. It's in this departure from traditional Windows that Bibik says he expects 75 percent of new users to give up in frustration.