Have you ever found something really badly designed? Something which obscurity of its functions makes it hard to understand its use? Something almost unusable to a point it would drive you mad using it too often? Perhaps, a fool's design? Then you have come to the right place. Post your findings here and help making the world a saner place.
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Fool's design
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2013-02-24 14:53 »

Fool's design.

Windows 8 dislikes more than one instance of an application.

If you try to start several instances of any program from the start screen, be it Paint or Remote Desktop Connection, it will fail. It takes you to the instance which is currently running. After all, why would you start more than one Remote Desktop session or perhaps have more than one Paint open at the same time?

Apparently, Microsoft thinks they have a better idea how many instances you are allowed will need to have open. Which is, well, only one.
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The "solution" is to go to Desktop, right click on the icon of the running application in the Taskbar and start a new instance from there. This "solution" is of course, completely invisible and illogical to the regular user.

Yet another reason that the start screen is foolishly designed.
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crossslide

2013-03-10 07:09 »

It's actually designed to work like the taskbar already did in Windows 7 - you can Shift-click on a desktop app tile in Start to open a new instance, just like you can Shift-click on an icon on the taskbar, or there's also an "open new window" command when you right-click to select a desktop app tile in Start (just like you can right-click on a taskbar icon to start a new instance).

The advantage of this is the same as in Windows 7 for the taskbar - in the common case you no longer have to worry about the distinction between launching apps and switching to them, as they both work the same way (just click on a tile). Previously you'd have to look for an app in one place when you wanted to launch it, and in a different place when you wanted to switch to it.

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!
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2013-03-10 16:19 »

crossslide wrote:It's actually designed to work like the taskbar already did in Windows 7 - you can Shift-click on a desktop app tile in Start to open a new instance, just like you can Shift-click on an icon on the taskbar, or there's also an "open new window" command when you right-click to select a desktop app tile in Start (just like you can right-click on a taskbar icon to start a new instance)...

Hooray, more hidden stuff without visual cues! You just proved the point of the original poster, however. What is invisible does not exist to most of the end users. Out of sight, out of mind.

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CharlotteTheHarlot

2013-03-13 11:23 »

billg ... Dude! No-one needs more than 640KB er, I mean one instance of program!

CharlotteTheHarlot

2013-03-13 14:01 »

CharlotteTheHarlot wrote:billg ... Dude! No-one needs more than 640KB er, I mean one instance of program!


oops ...

billg ... "Dude! No-one needs more than 640KB er, I mean one instance of a program!"

P.S. is there an EDIT timeout?

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2013-03-14 02:26 »

CharlotteTheHarlot wrote:...P.S. is there an EDIT timeout?

Yes, there is currently a 7 minutes time window to edit a post. We have a lot of experience from "big" forums and allowing to edit posts for longer periods of time is dangerous because it would be possible to delete old content. For example if an account gets stolen or just an angry user decides to do damage.
:idea: 8-)

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Steven W
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2013-12-08 05:34 »

You know, other than being able to move things around and and perhaps Aero, there's really nothing that Windows 7 improved on the taskbar. I particularly hate the way it hides icons by default. It squeezes way too much into those right-click context menus for running programs in my eyes. And that fucking Show Desktop (with it's fucking worthless peek at the desktop option) thing right in the fucking corner and right next to the clock....Seriously kiss the left nut because the right one's too good for you, Microsoft. I guess my list of things I hatred of things done to Windows since the 2K/XP days grows.

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