I still have some love for my iPad

[mennogreg]

While I think your argument has some validity (hey, some companies still insist on a one-button mouse), I think in this instance Modern IE has it right, particularly over iOS Safari. I find tapping a word and stretching to be more intuitive than holding your finger down and having to navigate around a context balloon. I can't count how many times I highlighted something, scrolled up with my finger and accidently hit copy by having my finger move just a bit too far. Speaking of the context balloon, iOS Safari is awful. Copy and Define?! Modern IE has Copy, Search, and Share, saving you the additional step of going to the address bar and holding down your finger to paste. See something you want to clip to OneNote? Highlight, hold and press Share to send it straight there. And Define is beyond stupid. If you highlight a sentence or phrase, even paragraphs, Define is still listed. I have my issues with Modern IE, but its an actual browser as opposed to the neutered one offered with iOS.

I acknowledge I have yet to try Chrome for iOS (and I don't have an Android device), though I'm sure they at least incorporate a means of Search when highlighting text.

 

[jnjroach]

The design ethos for touch on iOS and Android are through mouse mimics... and Microsoft has attempted to implement true Touch Elements that are more effective and natural and are Stand Alone, despite what many on the internet believe Microsoft spends millions of dollars on usability studies...

Microsoft has a design goal which will only be realized in the MUI, the Pen is for Inking, Touch Interfaces work with the finger and Mouse and keyboard work as a desktop user would expect. We see more of this in Windows Threshold.

 

[Kif]

Maybe I'm just missing something. I have the hardest time highlighting text on my SP3. How to I get it to recognize that I'm trying to highlight something versus a different touch gesture.

 

[jnjroach]

Maybe I'm just missing something. I have the hardest time highlighting text on my SP3. How to I get it to recognize that I'm trying to highlight something versus a different touch gesture.

Just double tap on the word you're trying to highlight....

 

[GreyFox7]

Just double tap on the word you're trying to highlight....

Slow double tap as fast double tap zooms the screen

 

[kristalsoldier]

No insult intented. They're fine phones with a fine phone OS. Just late to the game maybe too late.

No worries! Late in the game? Yes, probably, but that is not really my focus of interest and it does not really bother me. My key points of interest are whether (1) it works for me, which it does across the devices that I use (with the exception of the iPad Air but that does not matter) and (2) whether I have a range of choices and specs across price points which, as of now, especially with the Nokia line, it does. Android I have tried before and while it was ok, I seem to have off-late become wary of Google's policies and have virtually stopped using its services with the rare exception of the search engine. Apple (aside from the iPad which is the second one I have - from the 4 to the Air) is something that I am totally unfamiliar with and I have this perception that their products - in general - are too expensive for what they are (including the iPad, but I do need it).

 

[jnjroach]

Slow double tap as fast double tap zooms the screen

True...

 

[BobG]

I feel bad for you. But that may only be due to my rage against Apple for trying to smother us in a blanket of iSheep submitting themselves to all the koolaid that they dispense. I don't remember if I ever owned an iPod maybe twelve years ago, but I certainly haven't had anything to do with apple since the emergence of the first fanboys and the realization that Apple has no desire to compete, their desire is to own you and get you paying the "Apple tax".

Rant concluded,

Yours truly, Mr. Applefree.

 

[GreyFox7]

I feel bad for you. But that may only be due to my rage against Apple for trying to smother us in a blanket of iSheep submitting themselves to all the koolaid that they dispense. I don't remember if I ever owned an iPod maybe twelve years ago, but I certainly haven't had anything to do with apple since the emergence of the first fanboys and the realization that Apple has no desire to compete, their desire is to own you and get you paying the "Apple tax".

Rant concluded,

Yours truly, Mr. Applefree.

Applefree ... that should be used is children's games... olly olly Applefree.

 

[wynand32]

If anyone's interested in a very long read (although I do provide a tl; dr opening), head over to my blog and check out my thoughts on Apple as "haute technology." If nobody minds, I'll place the link here for convenience, would appreciate comments from anyone with the fortitude to to read the whole thing.

http://www.thetechchat.com/2014/09/14/apple-haute-technology/

 

[malberttoo]

Many thanks! However like with a lot of windows things, it seems like a case of them simply expecting you to know this. It would never have occurred to me to simply touch once, seems utterly illogical...

Not trying to roast you here, just saying.... the very fist time I tried to highlight/select text on my sp3 with touch, I had no idea what to do, so......... I reached out and tapped the word. And you know, it worked. The reason I knew to do that was because it works the exact same on my iPhone, and my Android phone before it. Those are devices that you touch, so it just makes sense that it kind of works the same all across the board.

To expect touch gestures to be the same as what you'd do with a mouse is complete fail. Using the Desktop in touch mode is horrible because it was designed for the mouse, and the human finger, being orders of magnitude larger than the tiny point of the mouse, could never do what the mouse can do, in the way that it does it.

 

[fonzman78]

Many thanks! However like with a lot of windows things, it seems like a case of them simply expecting you to know this. It would never have occurred to me to simply touch once, seems utterly illogical, and as such, I've never tried that before. With mouse or pen, you hold and drag, you naturally expect the same thing to be the case with finger, except like other systems, holding down to indicate you're about to do more than a simple single touch input. Unify your operating system MS! Not all of us simply have the time to chance across this stuff.

Here's the thing, without trying something, you will never know how to do it. I don't think anyone expects a new user to know how to hi-lite a word. This isn't something that you would normally do as a brand new user. Pinch to zoom, yes. Scroll up/down with finger, yes. Swipe left/right, yes. Hit Windows key to switch screens, yes. Hi-lite words to modify, no. That probably requires a deeper dive when using it.

I find it amusing when folks say how 'intuitive' Apple is. Maybe if you've been using Apple products for years it's intuitive. When I first picked up the IPad, I was lost. When I first used a MacPro, I was lost. Where's the right click? Why does the mouse only have one button? That's really stupid. How the hell to you switch screens? How do you minimize/maximize? How do you configure the WiFi? How do you HI-LITE words? Such a major change than what I am used to that I finally gave up. Not worth it to me.

Now, many of my peers have tried in vain to 'help' me see the Apple/Mac goodness. They are very patient when they show me how 'intuitive' the Mac is. NOT! After all these years, I still don't understand how the Mac works. But, in all fairness, I don't really care to know. If I learn how to use a Mac, then I will also become 'tech support' for my Mac user friends. As it stands, I can easily reject any requests to 'please help me fix my Mac'.

Now a disclaimer. @hughlle, you never mentioned Apple/Mac as being an easier OS. I made the comparison on my own as an off topic rant. You are correct that MS should unify the OS's. I think they are working on that.