I really hate 6.5's interface...
 

Am I the only one here who really hates 6.5's interface? The home screen sucks (I prefer the pre-6.5 non-TF3D style, much more info visible at once) and the honeycomb-style program launcher just made me nauseous. I'm not kidding. As soon as I saw it, I put the phone down and started downloading a stock ROM to get this abomination off my phone.

If this is all WM has to show for years of development, I will skip the TP2 and jump to Android, pronto.

Is there a ROM around that gives the benefit of 6.5's updated files but drops the child-like interface?

Thanks....

Re: I really hate 6.5's interface...
 

I sort of understand where you're coming from. I'm not a big fan of Titanium (which is what you were looking at) either. I use TF3D / SPB MS3.

You get use to the Start Menu...again I prefer 6.1

If you really need the traditional 6.1 Home Screen then go for it. I only like 6.5 for its finger scrollability

Re: I really hate 6.5's interface...
 

i'm with you. hate the start menu. hate titanium. thinking of actually buying an iphone if windows mobile keeps moving in this direction with their interface which appears they are.

Re: I really hate 6.5's interface...
 

Does SPB MS3 have a free trial available? I've never used it, and am not willing to put down cash without testing it first. I've heard good things about it though.

It's not that I don't like eye candy - It's that the interface literally reminded me of fisher-price, the children's toy maker. Even though I did not buy my phone to do corporate type stuff, I still like the business-like interface. I like seeing as much data on my today screen as I can stand. In fact, I view the today screen as one of those WM innovations that everyone else has tried to copy. It's nice to press one button and have all your commonly updated things right there. Twitter, IM, email, weather, news, google search bar, appointments, tasks, etc.

None of the items on the today screen needs to be particularly large - I look at it as an overview. If more info is desired, say if the twitter feed of a friend has something interesting, you click on it and it takes you to the expanded version. If the weather indicates rain, click on it and see how high the rain chance is, when it's likely to rain, and for how long, etc.

As far as finger scrollability - While this is nice for some things - Photo viewing, some web pages, and maybe a precious few others - I view it as a pure gimmick. I do not want to use my fingers on a 2.8 inch screen. To do so would require the info on the screen to be more spread out, since fingers are not nearly as precise as a stylus, with a resulting big penalty in the amount of information displayed. Whereas one today screen intended for use with a stylus might have 9 apps worth of data, with some room to spare, a finger-friendly version would have maybe 1/3 of the info, requiring me to scroll to the next couple of pages just to see all of it. If I wanted to use my fingers as a pointer, I would have bought an iPhone.

In addition to not wanting to use my fingers as a pointer, I bought a WM device because it is flexible in the extreme. It has the ability to run any app you can code, with no artificial walls to stop you. This means that for me, it comes as close to a laptop replacement as a phone ever will. Maybe people here didn't buy their phones as a laptop replacement, but I certainly did.

My apologies for getting off topic..

Re: I really hate 6.5's interface...
 

I personally disagree. Once I got it, I've never used TF3D since. I find it quicker and cleaner. And the start menu doesn't bother me in the least. Responsive and easy. Wish it had an MRU, but it's otherwise quite usable. And I personally DO like the finger-friendliness. I really would rather not have to pull out my stylus except for when it's absolutely necessary, such as in Remote Desktop. Otherwise I'd rather the quick access my fingers provide, and 6.5 handles that a lot better.

To each his own, OBVIOUSLY, and I can understand why it's not fitting your needs, but just wanted to make sure this thread didn't fill up with only people who agree with you. A lot of us think it's a welcome improvement.

Re: I really hate 6.5's interface...
 

ahhh dont use it ? pretty simple imho it grows on you the more you use it

Re: I really hate 6.5's interface...
 

try my rom it is 6.5 does not have the honeycomb theme, runing touch flow, ect check it out plus the more you use titanium it grows on u
also if u hate touch flow, then just disable it by going to start settings today items its not hard

Re: I really hate 6.5's interface...
 

here are two things i specifically don't like. perhaps theres a wy to make me happy? :) first i lie how tf3d shows me one page with all 4 email acounts and their unread counts with message preview. second i like to watch the weater in 3 areas at the same time. home, beach and mountains. is there a way to do things beter with titanium that will give me something similar. if so it may grow on me.

Re: I really hate 6.5's interface...
 

if i could get titanium customized as much as my tf3d i would love it, but cHome doesnt work like its supposed to as its beta. maybe when it gets better i will like it. i love the scrolling in 6.5 though

Re: I really hate 6.5's interface...
 

No need to worry about this thread filling up with only people who agree with me, you took care of that quite well, lol. I can understand that some people prefer finger-friendly navigation, and for those that prefer it, it should be available. That's one of WM's hallmarks - Its extreme adaptability. It's just that I prefer the old-style way. There's no reason I can't have the navigation brought back to the way I'm comfortable with while still getting the benefit of 6.5's updated files. (A small speed boost, updated IE, *some* nice eye candy, etc..)

Re: I really hate 6.5's interface...
 

I do believe that the main point of this thread that I laid out in the beginning was how I could get rid of the un-wanted 'features'.

That very well may be true, but it's my choice to give it the heave-ho at first sight. It's my device and I pay the bill, so I get to choose *exactly* how it operates.

Re: I really hate 6.5's interface...
 

I would prefer to find a ROM that does not have TouchFlo in it *at all*. I'm aware that I can disable it, but if I'm not going to use it - Why give up storage space to its files? I can put that space to better use with loads of programs that I want.

As for "the more you use titanium it grows on u" - No. It is my choice to dump it on sight and not look back. I will not be forced into using a new interface just because some designer at MS thinks I should use my phone a different way.

Re: I really hate 6.5's interface...
 

Just out of curiosity, do you set your Windows XP/Vista/7 start menu to "classic" to get the 98 setup? I know a lot of people who do that because they don't like the fact that Microsoft changed it in newer versions and are more comfortable with the old one.

Re: I really hate 6.5's interface...
 

well then download my titanium rom which has no tf3d built into it, and if you want 6.5 then your going to have titanium but you can disable that if you dont want it but sorry that comes into no getting that off.

Re: I really hate 6.5's interface...
 

Actually, I have my Win7 7100 RC start menu set to the default - But I rarely use it. I have most of my common apps listed as desktop shortcuts. As for bringing up notepad, calc, file explorer, and similar, it's faster to press Win+R, type "calc", and press [Enter].

I learned Windows way back in the early '90's on a 286 with 640K of RAM and no mouse, version 3.0. Since it had no mouse, I had to learn all the keyboard shortcuts. To this day, I'm still more comfortable doing things by the associated shortcut keys. Example, [Alt-Space Bar] [X] = Maximize. Win+D = Show desktop. Win+L = Lock system. Win+R "devmgmt.msc" [Enter] = Device manager. I think I know all of them except for the new ones Win7 added.

Re: I really hate 6.5's interface...
 

I was under the impression that titanium was the honeycomb launcher and new-style home screen. Am I wrong? If I'm correct, can they still be turned off, even if they can't be uninstalled?

Thanks...

Re: I really hate 6.5's interface...
 

your half right you can get a titanium version without the honeycomb start menu,and it you dont wanna use titanium just disable it in settings>today

Re: I really hate 6.5's interface...
 

I set mine to "classic" as the first step after a clean Windows install.............(I HATE the default XP start menu)

~John

Re: I really hate 6.5's interface...
 

Thanks...i thought i was the only one. All these 6.5 Roms are coming out and I really don't think its worth it. If i go to a 6.5 ROM, i will definitely NOT be using Titanium or that hideous start menu.

Yeah it probably takes some getting used to, but, with so many better ways to work with Windows (SPB Mobile Shell 3 Point UI etc), why bother.

-s

Re: I really hate 6.5's interface...
 

I agree with your comment about the suckage. I dont like Titanium or TF3d. Isnt titanium just a finger friendly upgrade to the windows smartphone interface "sigh"? For me I just get bored with interfaces. Right now I am playing with point UI but usually I drift back and forth between Wisbar Advance Desktop and the default today screen, which seem so organized.

Microsoft, if you are listening here is the way out of your rut: Design a mobile interface that looks just like the windows desktop with the startmenu at the bottom so i can hit the damn thing with my thumb (what a concept) and put notifiers it. The deskop should handle widgets and shortcuts, etc (once again just like windows). Allow the use of multiple deskops by left and right guesters (similar to android). I will go way out on a limb and say you could even call it windows mobile 7 (I know its genious) :mrgreen:

Re: I really hate 6.5's interface...
 

i dont flash, but i do browse in case something really grabbed my attention..

theres 6.5 roms without Titanium, and u can just disable TF to get the old 6.1 home screen... but without titanium and TF, whats the point of upgrading roms really???

Re: I really hate 6.5's interface...
 

i dunno.. i kinda disagree with a lot of people. titanium is so easy, and with very few customizations, you've got weather, apps, opera favs, fav people, etc. just flip your finger around and find what you're looking for. its a lot better than tf3d, at least from my experience with it. i tried to like tf3d, but it was just too much. the text message screen takes forever to load with over a thousand txts in your inbox, and that pretty much killed it for me, because if its going to take literally a minute just to read a text, i'd rather just go to the start menu and open the sms, which defeats the purpose of tf3d. titanium is just easy to use. the start menu, i had problems with, but i sorted the shortcuts into folders, and its actually easier to navigate than 6.1 at this point, because you can actually flip the icons up and down, as opposed to trying in 6.1, and randomly opening programs while you're trying to scroll, or using a stylus, which is annoying in itself. here's what my start menu looks like right now, its not so bad.. it fits my needs fairly well.

http://forum.ppcgeeks.com/attachment...1&d=1249345312

Re: I really hate 6.5's interface...
 

The point of having a 6.5 rom without the disagreeable bits is that I get updated system files, IE 6, and probably some bits I'm forgetting. Not a massive update, I'll grant you - But that will need to wait for WM7.

Re: I really hate 6.5's interface...
 

noo thats just a theme i do not have that in my rom its ugly and horrible design plus in my rom the programs aint all crowded like many other roms i like neatness i mean check out the pics in my thread

Re: I really hate 6.5's interface...
 

The moment I saw that "launcher" is when I put the phone down and flashed a stock ROM, anything to get rid of it. I prefer a basic today screen for my overview. For a launcher, I prefer to use QuickMenu. It can be set up like the Start menu on a PC, with multiple folders and subfolders, which hang directly off the start menu icon. In addition, it's an extremely capable task manager, it can track memory and battery usage, it can be set to kill A/S unless connected to a PC, it can do a hibernate to recover unclaimed program memory, and it can suspend, reset, and power off the device. It's more customizable than any similar app I've seen, considering its miniscule size, somewhere less than 1 MB.

It's also free (as in beer).

I'm not a heavy texter, so just having a notification that I have new text messages waiting is fine. Ironically, I have free unlimited texting, and barely use it...

Perhaps the reason I hate the new interface is that I view it as WM bowing to the lowest common denominator. I did not buy my device because it was finger-friendly. I bought it because it could do exactly what I wanted, when I wanted, exactly how I wanted. I knew that sort of flexibility would come at the price of needing to use a stylus to reliably navigate the interface, and I accepted it.

In fact, when I pull out my phone now, unless I'm only doing something simple, such as checking the today screen, I automatically pull out the stylus along with it. I know some people complain that styluses are too easy to lose, but I honestly don't see it. I haven't managed to lose a stylus yet, across 3 generations of devices - 6700, Mogul, and TP.

Re: I really hate 6.5's interface...
 

Personally, I love the upgrades MS has implemented and I feel that I am able to navigate through my phone much more fluidly with WM 6.5, although I do believe 6.1 is a little faster in some situations. Anyhow, my recommendation to you is this: flash a 6.5 ROM. If you want to use the old style today sceen, you can. If you want the classic start menu, you can have that too, (you already mentioned that you prefer QuickMenu anyway-it works with 6.5 as well). That way, you can get the benefits of 6.5 while still having the comfort of the 6.1 style that you are use to and prefer. In addition, if you get curious and feel like exploring the new Titanium interface (it's quite friendly and offers a good overview of information) and/or new start menu, you can play around with that too.

Re: I really hate 6.5's interface...(Opinion Colum)
 

child like interface...good thing opinion's are like a s s h.....well you get the point....I think it is far superior than 6.1 will ever be,.....but it is just my opinion

Re: I really hate 6.5's interface...
 

it's crap.. flashed 6.5 once.. will never do it agian.. to simple and ugly(.) just wanted to finally say it blows. i remember having my titan and seeing tf2d it was awesome. now i have a touch pro and the only upgrade to the homescreen is that? booo!

Re: I really hate 6.5's interface...
 

I personally love titanium...it's sooooo much more finger friendly and clean looking...a lot easier and attractive than TF3D....

Re: I really hate 6.5's interface...
 

I'm still using the standard today screen 6.1 on my Vogue. I have tweaked it and added some things and stopped a lot of things that were running in memory and I really have no reason to change to 6.5. The only reason I can see to switch would be because of some kind of compatibility issue with 6.1. I'm booting up with only 28% ram usage and everything runs smoothly. I guess I just like everything to work and don't go for all of the pretty stuff. I want to look at my today screen and get info. Not just stare at the pretty pictures. :mrgreen:

Re: I really hate 6.5's interface...
 

you know... even though titanium is an *option*, its not mandatory if you install a 6.5 rom... you can disable it. its actually quite easy to disable. its not even worth arguing about really...

Re: I really hate 6.5's interface...
 

Actually imo, what I hate about 6.5 is the opposite of what everyone else states. I actually love titanium and the new start menu as well as the new lock screen, defenetly a step forward in user friendliness and ease of use. What I hate about 6.5 is what it all links to... I mean, the new homescreen and start menu looks nice imo but when you ptess a link... Boom! Back to the same ol clunky WM look, pics and vids, contact manager, sms and messaging, calendar, file explorer still look like garbage.... Can't believe MS. Did such a half azzed job to give us a new look and feel for the better in the homescreen, start, and lock only to open a native app and GOTCHA!!! April fools! Still same ol clunky outdated WM look ...

Re: I really hate 6.5's interface...
 

yeah it actually is. i saw my friends smartphone and its exactly like titanium but no touch screen

man thats ugly with them huge icons :(

Re: I really hate 6.5's interface...
 

i use my phone a lot while i'm driving so i need bigger icons so i don't hit the wrong things. thats why i like win6.5's touch sensitivity, makes it easier to operate without 2 hands.

Re: I really hate 6.5's interface...
 

I think that is the reason it was branded 6.5 and not 7.x...

Re: I really hate 6.5's interface...
 

Will you shoot me a message before you go driving so I can stay off the road for a while?:mrgreen:

Re: I really hate 6.5's interface...
 

I agree...

No offense, but if you need to use the phone that bad - Do us all a favor and pull over first.

Re: I really hate 6.5's interface...
 

honestly, if i pulled over everytime i grabbed my phone, i wouldn't get anywhere. i live in ny, its kind of hard to agree with these potential laws. i've never been in an accident while i was moving, every accident i've been in, i was parked or in the shower. literally. my car was backed into 3x in 2 months by the same house, 2 of the times i was in the shower.

but yeah, big buttons, easy access to them, little to no effort to navigate, and i'm a happy camper. i even installed the diamond keyboard so the keys are bigger lol

Re: I really hate 6.5's interface...
 

seriously? have you never used a Chome editor? i have the weather for 2 locations in my weather tab, all my internet favs on the next tab/plugin (is there a proper name?) you can edit it beyond belief...you just gotta know where to look, and have a little patience in setting it up yourself..

Re: I really hate 6.5's interface...
 

Well IMO 6.5 is nothing more than 6.1 with a new today wallpaper and paint job plus a crapload of bugs added for good measure! LOL

As for those who say it is more finger friendly well thats only if you never leave titanium...everything else is just as unfinger friendly as 6.1....

UNLESS you install HTC menu enhancements and ezinput which works just as well on 6.1 as it does on 6.5!