Chapter 2
Using Windows 8
WHAT YOU WILL LEARN IN THIS CHAPTER:
- Using Windows 8 with the mouse and keyboard
- Using Windows 8 with multi-touch devices
- Leveraging the features of the Start screen, Live Tiles, and the charm bar
- Switching to the desktop and using traditional Windows applications
Windows 8 changes a lot in terms of the user interface (UI). It was built with a more touch-centric approach in mind. The desktop has a few slightly changed features, but most of the traditional, mouse-based workflows remain untouched. On the new Windows 8 style interface, virtually everything is new. Live Tiles aren’t just shortcuts; Windows 8 style applications aren’t handled like traditional Windows apps. Even the Start screen contains features the old Start menu didn’t.
Although the user may learn these things intuitively, for a developer, it is imperative to know all the nooks and crannies of using the Windows 8 UI. Only with extensive knowledge of these capabilities can you build really engaging and intuitive apps that users use not just to complete a task, but enjoy doing so.
Two Worlds, One Operating System
Windows 8 has two distinct UIs: the ordinary desktop UI (which probably you are used to) and the completely different and new Windows 8 UI. Why is the Windows 8 UI so important?
In the past few decades, users have experienced the triumph of the mouse over nearly every other controlling device on PCs. For an ordinary Windows user, using a mouse is considered to be the easiest way ...
Get Beginning Windows 8 Application Development now with the O’Reilly learning platform.
O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.
