The last two entries on the official Windows 8 developer blog have offered more information on how its People and Mail Metro apps were designed. On Friday, the blog was updated yet again, this time with a new article about the Calendar app for Microsoft"s next operating system.
Because the Calendar app was designed to be used by touch interfaces, Microsoft wanted to make sure that when someone used their finger to swipe forward or backward, they didn"t jump ahead or behind in the calendar too quickly. The blog states:
To avoid these pitfalls, we went with an approach that enables you to consistently move forward one month at a time–by swiping once, hitting page down on the keyboard, or clicking the Forward button. This makes your experience much more predictable, putting you in control. If you’re in June and you want to arrive at August, you simply click or swipe twice. That’s it. You’re guaranteed never to overshoot the intended target.
Bringing up the Windows 8 app bar in the Calendar app lets users switch modes to view the app via Day, Week or Month designs. When viewing the Calendar in Month mode, users can see two events per day. For each event on the calendar, you can set up a notification to remind you when that event is about to begin. You can also put the Calendar app in "snapped" mode to be viable next to another Windows 8 Metro app.
For those people with particularly busy schedules, the Calendar app can also be switched to look at events two days at a time. The blog states:
The two-day view is useful because making good time management decisions today often requires understanding what’s coming up tomorrow. In addition, this view takes advantage of today’s modern wide-screen displays without adding additional chrome or distractions just to fill up the extra space. As with the other views, it’s simply the calendar grid and your events.
Source: Windows 8 blog | Images via Microsoft