Review: RetroUI tries to fix Windows 8's usability woes, but only makes them worse

Windows 8 is doing quite a job of alienating longtime Windows users. No more Start button, but a whole Start screen full of distracting live tiles; a double interface (Desktop and "Modern"); low information density on Modern apps; and the list goes on. For many companies, this isn't a disaster but a golden opportunity: The market is full of applications rushing to fix Windows 8, from Stardock's Start8 and Decor8, through open-source Classic Shell, through $5 utility RetroUI. Although RetroUI 3.1.1 does offer an interesting feature for running Modern apps in a window, awkward implementation keeps it from being the cure-all it could be. In fact, the current version brings its own headaches.

Much like Windows 8, RetroUI is bisected into two distinct parts that bear almost no relation to each other: a Start menu replacement, and an innovative feature called Enforce. The Start menu replacement is hardly unique, but Enforce does something I've never seen before: It lets you run Modern apps in a window. If you've used Windows 8 for any length of time, you probably realize how exciting that is.

RetroUI's search is significantly slower than Classic Shell's, and you can't use arrow keys to navigate results.

Enforce couldn't be simpler to use. It actually works like Windows 8 should have worked in the first place, if you ask me. With RetroUI installed, Modern apps just start in a maximized window. You can then resize that window, drag it around, and generally work with it like you would with any other windows.

There are a few caveats and oddities remaining: It won't show up on your taskbar, and you won't be able to have two Modern apps on-screen at the same time. You can have two Modern apps open at the same time and switch between them using Alt+Tab, but you won't see them both on the screen simultaneously. That's sometimes frustrating, because even the default full-screen Modern interface lets you have two applications on-screen concurrently (a primary app taking up most of the space, and a secondary one taking up a vertical on the side). And Modern apps don't show up on the taskbar, even when they're running in a window.

By default, RetroUI takes over several function keys: F3, F4, F7, F8, and F9. This means if you do anything with these keys (such as use F7 to create a new folder in Total Commander), you'll no longer be able to do it, at least until you visit RetroUI's Settings screen and disable this behavior.

By default, RetroUI hijacks F3, F4, F7, F8, F9, F10, and F12 across your system.

RetroUI's Start menu suffers some unfortunate quirks: For example, its find-as-you-type feature is very slow compared to competitor Classic Shell, and you can't use the arrow keys to navigate results.

RetroUI looks good on paper, but in its current form, it fails to deliver a satisfying experience. Rather than soothe Windows 8 frustrations, it only adds to them. If you're looking to use Windows 8 with fewer annoyances, you would do well to save $5 and try the free and effective Classic Shell with its powerful Start menu replacement.

Note: The Download button on the Product Information page takes you to the vendor's site, where you can download the latest version of the software appropriate to your system. It comes in 32-bit and 64-bit editions.

Endlessly tweaking his workflow for comfort and efficiency, Erez is a freelance writer on a mission to discover the simplest, coolest, and most effective software and websites to make tomorrow happen today.
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Review: RetroUI tries to fix Windows 8's usability woes, but only makes them worse

Windows 8 is doing quite a job of alienating longtime Windows users. No more Start button, but a whole Start screen full of distracting live tiles; a double interface (Desktop and "Modern"); low information density on Modern apps; and the list goes on. For many companies, this isn't a disaster but a golden opportunity: The market is full of applications rushing to fix Windows 8, from Stardock's Start8 and Decor8, through open-source Classic Shell, through $5 utility RetroUI. Although RetroUI 3.1.1 does offer an interesting feature for running Modern apps in a window, awkward implementation keeps it from being the cure-all it could be. In fact, the current version brings its own headaches.

Much like Windows 8, RetroUI is bisected into two distinct parts that bear almost no relation to each other: a Start menu replacement, and an innovative feature called Enforce. The Start menu replacement is hardly unique, but Enforce does something I've never seen before: It lets you run Modern apps in a window. If you've used Windows 8 for any length of time, you probably realize how exciting that is.

RetroUI's search is significantly slower than Classic Shell's, and you can't use arrow keys to navigate results.

Enforce couldn't be simpler to use. It actually works like Windows 8 should have worked in the first place, if you ask me. With RetroUI installed, Modern apps just start in a maximized window. You can then resize that window, drag it around, and generally work with it like you would with any other windows.

There are a few caveats and oddities remaining: It won't show up on your taskbar, and you won't be able to have two Modern apps on-screen at the same time. You can have two Modern apps open at the same time and switch between them using Alt+Tab, but you won't see them both on the screen simultaneously. That's sometimes frustrating, because even the default full-screen Modern interface lets you have two applications on-screen concurrently (a primary app taking up most of the space, and a secondary one taking up a vertical on the side). And Modern apps don't show up on the taskbar, even when they're running in a window.

By default, RetroUI takes over several function keys: F3, F4, F7, F8, and F9. This means if you do anything with these keys (such as use F7 to create a new folder in Total Commander), you'll no longer be able to do it, at least until you visit RetroUI's Settings screen and disable this behavior.

By default, RetroUI hijacks F3, F4, F7, F8, F9, F10, and F12 across your system.

RetroUI's Start menu suffers some unfortunate quirks: For example, its find-as-you-type feature is very slow compared to competitor Classic Shell, and you can't use the arrow keys to navigate results.

RetroUI looks good on paper, but in its current form, it fails to deliver a satisfying experience. Rather than soothe Windows 8 frustrations, it only adds to them. If you're looking to use Windows 8 with fewer annoyances, you would do well to save $5 and try the free and effective Classic Shell with its powerful Start menu replacement.

Note: The Download button on the Product Information page takes you to the vendor's site, where you can download the latest version of the software appropriate to your system. It comes in 32-bit and 64-bit editions.

Endlessly tweaking his workflow for comfort and efficiency, Erez is a freelance writer on a mission to discover the simplest, coolest, and most effective software and websites to make tomorrow happen today.
More by Erez Zukerman

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Review: F-Secure Internet Security 2013: First-rate protection and usability has a small performance price

Sarah is a freelance writer and editor based in Silicon Valley. She has a love/hate relationship with social media and a bad habit of describing technology as "sexy."
More by Sarah Jacobsson Purewal

F-Secure Internet Security 2013 (about $73 for one year and one computer, as of 12/19/12) came in first in several of our malware detection, blocking, and removal tests. It successfully blocked attacks, detected and disabled infections, and proved adept at cleaning up all traces of malware, landing at the top of this year’s security suite roundup.

In our real-world attack test, F-Secure completely blocked 100 percent of attacks. This test indicates how well the product will successfully block new malware attacks as it encounters them in the wild. But F-Secure wasn’t unique: Of the nine security suites we tested, four others also managed to completely block all attacks: Bitdefender, G Data, Norton, and Trend Micro.

F-Secure also put up great scores in our malware-zoo detection test: The suite detected 99 percent of known malware samples. This score puts it in the top five of the security suites we tested, though it’s at the bottom of that group (G Data, McAfee, Norton, and Trend Micro all posted detection rates of 99.7 percent or higher). F-Secure flagged just two safe files (out of over 250,000) as malicious, which is a good false-positive rate overall. However, since four of the suites achieved a perfect score in false-positive testing, and two suites flagged only one safe file as malicious, on this measure F-Secure still ends up in the bottom half of the list.

In our system cleanup test, F-Secure performed very well. In fact, it’s at the top of the list (alongside Bitdefender) after detecting and disabling all infections on our test PC and completely removing 90 percent of infections. So F-Secure should effectively dispatch any malware it finds on your machine.

While F-Secure does an excellent job of detecting, disabling, blocking, and cleaning up malware, all of this power comes at a price (a small one, to be sure): F-Secure added 6 seconds to startup time (compared to a system with no antivirus software installed)—the worst showing out of all of the suites we tested. It also added 5 seconds to shutdown time. F-Secure performed well in the rest of our PC speed tests overall, but it significantly slowed application installation.

Scanning speeds were better, though. F-Secure took second place in both on-demand (manual) scan tests (1 minute, 16 seconds) and on-access (automatic) scans (3 minutes, 50 seconds). Both results are better than average by a healthy margin.

The suite installs quickly and easily, with just four screens to click through and no restart required. It doesn’t install any extras (such as a toolbar), nor does it change any of your default settings. It does install a launcher, which is what you open when you double-click the program’s system tray icon. The launcher has three buttons to take you to different program screens: a computer-security screen, an online-safety screen, and a third for F-Secure’s website.

F-Secure’s user interface is sleek and easy to understand. It presents a large round checkmark (or X mark) that shows your protection status, as well as three modules for checking your security status, F-Secure’s extra tools and features, and statistics and reports. Below these modules is a scan button, an update button, and a settings button. The settings are fairly easy to get around, and each screen has a quick explanation of what the feature does and how it works.

With excellent protection and a user-friendly interface, F-Secure is definitely worth a look. This security package adds a little extra weight to your system, but if you can get past those performance issues, it’s a great program.

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Usability Expert: Windows 8 on PCs is Confusing, a Cognitive Burden

LAPTOP: How will switching back and forth between different environments (Modern and Desktop) affect PC owners? 

Budiu: Users will need to remember two different interfaces. They will learn Windows 8, but won’t be able to forget Windows 7. And they will need to keep track of which app goes with each framework. [It's] definitely a cognitive burden, but not an insurmountable one.

LAPTOP: Is it a mistake to force people to relearn an interface that has been popular for 20 years?

Budiu: So it seems, at least if we talk about desktop computers. There are several reasons:

The learning curve is going to be steep.
The duality of Desktop-Metro is likely to confuse at least some of the users.
 Most important, while Windows 8 embraces some important mobile design principles (such as giving priority to content), not all these principles are well suited for the larger non-touch screen of most PCs or laptops.

Many apps waste a lot of space for huge images and give little space to text. The idea of hiding the controls to give priority to content may make sense on mobile, where screen space is so limited, but it doesn’t make that much sense on a large screen, especially if users have to work harder to access hidden features. For instance, to expose the URL bar or the list of tabs in the browser you will need to click the right button of the mouse. The back button is not visible either, but if you hover on the left hand side of the screen, it becomes visible.

LAPTOP: If you are in Windows 8's desktop environment and want to launch a new desktop application, you must return to the tile-based Start screen to click a shortcut. One could argue that going to a different screen is no more time consuming that opening up a Start menu that overlays on top of the screen. Was Microsoft really wrong to remove the  Start menu?

Budiu: The advantage of the overlaid menu is that it preserves context. Cognitively, there’s more of a burden when you have to switch context twice (desktop->start screen; start screen -> desktop). There are reasons to force users to switch contexts, especially in the tablet or phone environment, where screen real-estate is a lot more expensive and a menu is forced to use only part of the (already-small) screen. In that situation, a separate page makes better use of the small screen space.

There are fewer reasons for a separate page on a desktop – the start menu is a cheaper interaction than the start page. Microsoft probably does it for the sake of consistency – they want you to start an app in the same way, regardless of whether you are in the desktop environment on a PC or laptop, or in the Metro environment on a PC or on a tablet, or on a mobile phone.

For the PC case, I think that if you are going to have two environments, consistency is important, because otherwise people will always have to keep track of which action to use in which environment – which is an extra burden on their memory. So although the start menu is the cheaper solution (in terms of interaction cost), not using it in the desktop environment is probably the right thing to do, given the choices already made by the Metro interface.

LAPTOP: The Windows 8 Switcher displays each Modern style app as its own thumbnail but folds all the desktop apps into a single thumbnail because it considers the desktop itself to be an app. Is this a usability problem?

Budiu: It is confusing, because users have to remember what they’re running in the desktop and go back to that app to resume editing a document in Word, for instance, or creating a chart in Excel. In general, switching between apps is costly for the users – you have to go to the start page, then select the app, and then, for those apps running in the desktop, go to desktop and select it from there. Compare that with older versions of Windows – just one click was needed to choose the running app from the task bar.

LAPTOP: When using Windows 8 with a mouse, you must hover for half a second over the upper left or right corners of the screen to bring up key menus (the Switcher, the Charms menu). Does hovering slow the user down?

Hovering before using a menu does slow users down, but that’s not the major problem. The fact that the menus are hidden is primarily what slows users down – remember that what’s out of sight is out of mind. In our studies with mobile devices we found that whenever a menu was not in plain view, even users who knew about the existence of that menu (that is, they had discovered it in the past) didn’t use it as much or took a longer time to think to use it than if the menu options were all visible. So it’s not only the hovering that slows users down – it’s the lack of visibility that makes these menus less available.

These hidden menus also have zero affordances on the desktop, which makes them hard to discover for the first time. And even if you discovered where to click, being able to correctly remember which menu goes with location on the screen will require a fair amount of practice and continuous usage.

And yet another problem of these menus in the left and right corners is that they interfere with scroll arrows in some apps. The scroll arrows at the bottom of the screen are very close to the bottom corners of the screen, which are supposed to expose the menus. In general, it looks like the corners of the screen (the top, too, presumably, since this is how you close the app) are no longer good places to position controls.

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