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"Despite some of the more scathing reviews of Windows 8, ordinary users are getting along with it just fine, according to Julie Larson-Green, the Microsoft executive who leads Windows product development. Data collected automatically from some Windows users, she says, show they are adjusting to some of the new operating system\u2019s controversial features without problems.\n\u201CSo far we\u2019re seeing very encouraging things,\u201D Larson-Green says of the large volume of data that Microsoft receives every day from people using Windows 8 who have chosen to join the company\u2019s \u201Ccustomer experience improvement program.\u201D All users are invited to enroll in that program when they first log into the new operating system. If they do so, anonymized information about how they are using the operating system is sent to Microsoft. Referring to complaints from some quarters, Larson-Green says: \u201CEven with the rumblings, we feel confident that it\u2019s a moment in time more than an actual problem.\u201D\nWindows 8 is a radical departure from previous versions of the operating system now used by around 1.3 billion people. Instead of the Start button and menu in use since 1995, it features a \u201CStart screen,\u201D a colorful display of tiles that function as shortcuts to programs and also display notifications\u2014an environment optimized for touch computing. There are also two versions of many software programs\u2014one for the regular desktop interface and one for the new tile-oriented one.\nAlthough some new users will struggle to figure out these features, Larson-Green says that 90 percent of them need just one session to discover the two that are most crucial to the interface design. Those are the Start screen and \u201CCharms,\u201D a menu that offers shortcuts to be summoned by a mouse or finger gestures.\nThe data collected by Microsoft also show that people are becoming more familiar with the new features over time, says Larson-Green. She previously led a redesign of the Microsoft Office interface that, in 2007, replaced text-based menus with a more visual \u201Cribbon interface,\u201D an initially controversial change that is now widely accepted as an example of good design. \u201CTwo days to two weeks is what we used to say in Office, and it\u2019s similar in Windows 8,\u201D she says.\nThe findings suggest that even those who initially stick to the parts of Windows 8 that resemble previous Windows desktops eventually loosen up, says Larson-Green: \u201CThere\u2019s a cutover point, around six weeks in, where you start using the new things more than the things you\u2019re familiar with.\u201D She adds that the lack of tutorials or detailed instructions on how to adjust to Windows 8\u2014something that has attracted complaints\u2014is a deliberate choice. Tests have shown that although people find tutorials \u201Ccomforting,\u201D they don\u2019t retain much information from them, she says, making them a waste of time.\nLarson-Green\u2019s claims diverge dramatically with the opinions of many technology journalists and bloggers. They also run counter to the results of a small research study conducted by the influential usability consultant Jakob Nielsen, who asked 12 people to spend an hour with Windows 8. On the basis of their experience and his own expertise, he concluded that it offers \u201Cdisappointing usability to both novice and power users.\u201D\nNielsen says that Larson-Green\u2019s indicators may not capture the real problem with Windows 8. \u201CIt sounds plausible that people can learn to use Windows 8 to a level where they aren\u2019t constantly stumped after two weeks,\u201D he says. \u201CThe real question is whether they will then have reached a higher level of productivity than they had before.\u201D\nNielsen thinks that even once Windows 8\u2019s features become familiar, the operating system still asks more of users than previous versions did: they must remember how to operate both a familiar desktop environment and the new Start screen and related apps, which function very differently. The upshot, he says, is that home users may be tempted to switch to an alternative, such as an Apple computer, while workers will simply achieve less. \u201CMy estimate is that power users will not have higher productivity with Windows 8 than they did with Windows 7,\u201D he says. \u201CI fear that they will have lower productivity.\u201D\nElizabeth Mynatt, director of the Institute for People and Technology at Georgia Tech and a researcher in human-computer interaction, says that one of the most important measures of usability in a new computing interface is how people progress over time from their first impression\u2014something Nielsen and other independent reviewers have not yet measured.\n\u201CWe look to see that people are going to stumble forward rather than end up going down the wrong track,\u201D she says. \u201CNone of that will come out in a \u2018Wow, this looks different\u2019 review.\u201D Making crucial features \u201Cinvisible\u201D by hiding them beneath slick design is a common pitfall that prevents progress, she adds.\nLarson-Green\u2019s data suggest that Microsoft has at least managed to make features such as the Start screen and Charms visible to most people. But as Nielsen points out, that doesn\u2019t mean everyone will find the work involved in discovering and mastering them worth it.\nThe real question, Nielsen says, is \u201Chow long it takes them to make up for the two weeks spent on that initial learning curve.\u201D\nPhoto courtesy of Flickr, Dell's Official Flickr Page"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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