The new runtime engine is called, logically enough, Windows Runtime, or WinRT. This engine provides the system’s platform for applications (or, in this case, “apps”), and it mostly replaces Win32, which was (and still is) the basis for desktop-based applications. (Under the hood, WinRT does access some Win32 functionality that’s still missing in WinRT.) Win32 debuted in Windows NT in 1993. (And even that was just a 32-bit conversion of the then-current Windows runtime, which was retroactively renamed to Win16.)
But you don’t need a history lesson to know that Windows 8 is different. It hits you right in the face the first time you use it, and as you can see in its new lock screen, the Start screen and its apps, and the pervasive Metro- style user experiences, there’s a lot that’s new here. And that’s what this chapter is all about.
Lock Screen: A New Way to Sign In
When you boot the computer or wake it up from Sleep, you’ll be presented with the new lock screen, a full- screen Metro-style experience that is basically new to Windows 8 and visually sits on top of the sign-in screen where you select a user account and optionally provide a password.
As you can see in Figure 3-2, the lock screen looks and works much as it does on a smartphone OS like Windows Phone. It provides a nice photographic background image, the time and date, and a number of status notifications, most of which are icons.
Figure 3-2: The Windows 8 lock screen
Virtually every aspect of this lock screen can be customized, and it provides what Microsoft calls a “glance and go” interface where you can glance at the screen even when the system is locked—indicated by the presence of the lock screen—and see information that is useful, such as the date and time and your next upcoming appointment.
We describe customizing the lock screen in Chapter 5.
To bypass the lock screen, tap any key (such as Enter), or click the mouse. Or, on a touch-based system, swipe up from the bottom of the screen as you do with Windows Phone. When you do, you’ll be presented with the sign-in screen similar to the one shown in Figure 3-3.
Figure 3-3: The Windows 8 sign-in screen
This screen will vary somewhat based on how many user accounts you’ve configured on the PC, but the first time you use Windows 8, you’ll just see the one account you configured during Setup.
To sign in to Windows, enter your password and tap Enter. If you’re using a touch-based system, you can do so using the on-screen keyboard, as shown in Figure 3-4.
You can also choose accessibility options from the Ease of Access button in the lower-left of the screen, or Sleep, Shut down, or Restart the PC using the button in the lower right of the screen. If you don’t do anything, the lock screen will reappear after a short period of time.
Figure 3-4: The on-screen keyboard
If you have not configured your user account with a password, and have only the one account configured on the PC, you will bypass the sign-in screen and proceed directly to the Start screen, as described in the next section. Don’t do this. We strongly recommend configuring all user accounts with passwords for what we assume are obvious security reasons.
You can lock the PC at any time by typing Winkey + L. Note that this keyboard shortcut will lock the screen without any confirmation request. It’s immediate.
Start Screen: A New User Experience for Modern Apps
In Windows 7 and previous Windows versions, applications were said to run “on” or “within” the Windows desktop since that is how they visually appeared, and because the desktop provided different user interfaces for managing and launching applications and performing other system-level tasks.
In Windows 8, these activities are performed from the new Start screen. As you can see in Figure 3-5, this screen is decidedly different from the old Windows desktop.
Figure 3-5: The Start screen
Understanding the Design of Metro
The Start screen is what’s called a Metro-style user experience. That is, it employs the techniques of a new “design language” at Microsoft that is guiding the look and feel of many of the software giant’s core platforms, including Windows, Windows Server, Windows Phone, Xbox, and Office. And while we don’t want to get too bogged down in designer talk, it’s worth noting a few general tenets of these interfaces, since they’re so pervasive in Windows 8.
• Typography and white space: Metro-based user experiences feature beautiful typography, often surrounded by lots of white space. This is a very different approach than with typical technology interfaces, which tend to overwhelm users with obscure rows or grids of icons, buttons, and other on-screen elements.
Consider the Start screen as a typical example. The Start logo and user tile (in the upper-right corner) are offset deliberately from the live tiles below by a wide swath of white space. Those tiles don’t butt up to the left edge of the screen, but rather sit to the right. But the tiles also appear to disappear off the right edge of the screen, suggesting that you can scroll in that direction to see more. There’s no awful looking chevron graphic or whatever to spell it out for you. Instead, the design is confident and beautiful, and something that would be fun to touch.
• Animation and motion: Interfaces come to life with animation and other motion, and in Metro these motions aren’t just fun to look at, they’re useful. Animation can also give the appearance of performance, though to be fair, Windows 8 performs so well it’s almost redundant.
It’s not possible to show you how animations and motion improve the Windows 8 user experience, but suffice to say these elements are everywhere, from the live tiles that animate between various status updates, to the animation that occurs each time you launch a Metro-style app, and to the floating notification “toasts” that slide on-screen rather than jar you by appearing suddenly and without warning.
• Minimal user interface chrome: Until recently, most computer software was designed by the engineers who wrote the code. And let’s face it, these guys don’t get good design. They were responsible for such UI extremes as the dialog with multiple rows of tabs and the Office applications so loaded up with toolbars you
