

Microsoft: Designers, Designers, Designers - dkasper
http://calebelston.com/microsoft-designers-designers-designers

======
bmalicoat
I've been thinking about this topic a lot lately. It's easy to forget that
there are still a lot of WinMo phones out there with a Start menu and a task
manager. MS did a complete turn around with their new Metro UI and the fact
that it is aesthetically distinct from anything of Apple's earns them some
points in my opinion.

------
abstractbill
I've been thinking recently about the notion that Apple has been successful in
recent years because of their amazing design abilities. More and more, I'm
coming to the conclusion that this idea is wrong.

I think the real reason Apple has been successful is that they care a lot
about _QA_. I know a ton of switchers - from Linux and Microsoft to Apple
desktops and laptops, and from other smart phones to iphones. I very rarely
hear people talk about how beautiful or intuitive their new devices are (in
fact it's often the opposite - "why doesn't the green button maximize windows
properly?"). But one thing that _always_ comes up is the expression (usually
said very giddily) "everything just _works_!".

That's not (mostly) design, it's (mostly) QA.

~~~
houseabsolute
I would say "polish" is what you're actually looking for. It's design, it's
QA, it's UX, all in a box. What it isn't is "features" or "developers."

~~~
abstractbill
I disagree. The switchers I know have often been _frustrated_ by the UX, and
haven't seemed to care very much about the aesthetics. But they _really_ care
about things (finally!) just working. This is overwhelmingly achieved by QA.

~~~
houseabsolute
Hmm, I guess that's not my experience as a switcher (less things work
correctly than did in Win 7), but we can agree to disagree.

~~~
eagleal
Agreed. My uncle used to have an old g3 macbook, and a Windows notebook. A
year ago, he dropped both for a Macbook (when they dropped the price to €999,
not the unibody one) with OS X Leopard, because he had this "notion" that the
Macs just "works", and are "virus proof".

You had to see his face when the OS would hang when he performed an update, or
the wireless connection problems.

------
kadavy
"[In Windows Phone 7 Microsoft is] dictating screen resolution, GPS,
accelerometer, memory, CPU, even the number of physical buttons that can exist
on a device...

...[Android has] not established a strong design language, which has led to a
hodgepodge of app quality and interaction metaphors which makes it difficult
to just "know" how a new app works."

