Please Microsoft, go all the way

I recently received my Windows 8 Quickstart kit, with it is a Windows 8 Pro license and Parallels. It’s a (great) way to get some iOS heavy developers to try and make some apps for the windows platform.

Windows 7 has been sitting on my gaming machine at home for a while now and never really thought about upgrading to Windows 8. That was until this Quickstart kit. Now I can run it on my desktop and brainstorm some apps.

One thing I started liking was the Metro aspect of Windows 8. Full screen apps, no more desktop and more importantly, no more files. Each app takes care of its own files and folders. You just have to click a box and the app will open.

I liked it. Really liked it. Apps opened quickly, icons are big and beautiful. In some cases informative even. It felt smooth and easy until I clicked on the Chrome icon.

That click sent me back to the desktop. The Windows desktop we’ve been using for years and years. I was confused, I wanted to get back to the metro style and have chrome full screen. But it felt like Windows now has a split personality. Some apps are desktop only while others work beautifully in Metro.

I wonder if Microsoft ever considered having Metro be the one and only way to use Windows. You can still have access through a Metro-like explorer, but the main focus should be apps. Make file handling easier by having apps deal with them and not the end user. Want to copy, email or delete a file? Open up the app that’s responsible and do it from there.

It may upset old faithful Windows users, but if Microsoft focused on Metro and having it be the only interface on Windows it may have a good future.

Xbox and Windows Phone share the Metro style. Having a consistent eco-system would be great. No content switching when moving between your laptop, to your phone and to your Xbox.

I’m still a big OSX user and I don’t see myself switching fully anytime soon, but Windows 8 now has a special place on my desktop at home.