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Tech

Former Microsoft employee is 'fixing' Windows 8

By Fox News
Published | Updated
In Pictures: Microsoft releases Windows 8 Consumer Preview

In Pictures: Microsoft releases Windows 8 Consumer Preview

Microsoft showed off its next version of the Windows operating system that powers most of the world's computers, highlighting the new touch interface powering the Windows 8 Consumer Preview.

Microsoft is “building” Windows 8 -- and an ex-employee is “fixing” it.

Most reviewers who evaluated the Windows 8 Consumer Preview -- which the company has been describing in excruciating detail in the blog Building Windows 8 -- gave it a cautious thumbs up. Windows 8 introduces a completely new way to interact with your computer and a new vision for the desktop: a touch-sensitive tile interface called Metro.

But what if you don’t have a touch-screen monitor?

That’s the problem underscored by Fixing Windows 8 -- a new site run by user interface designer and former Microsoft employee Michael Bibik Jr.

“Windows 8 is a radical leap forward and may be a phenomenal tablet OS. Unfortunately, 99 percent of Windows users don’t have a touchscreen. I’m a UX designer and want to help Microsoft improve Windows 8,” Bibik writes on his blog.

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Reached by email, the author of the blog told FoxNews.com he could not confirm his name.

“While I am not trying to keep the site anonymous, I'd rather not give any interviews at this time,” he wrote. But the website is registered to Michael Bibik Jr. of Seattle using a University of Michigan email address.

Bibik is currently a senior user interface designer at Amazon.com in Seattle, according to his LinkedIn profile, and attended the University of Michigan. From 2003 to 2007, he was a program manager at Microsoft who worked on a number of projects.

The blog was launched March 3 with a rant highlighting some user interface issues Bibik identified within the first hour of using the operating system:

  • “Windows 8 just dumps you into the Start screen. No tutorial, no help icon on the main screen, nothing. This will be fixed by launch or Windows 8 will fail.”
  • “The new Windows Start button is invisible. Actually, they removed the Start button and left some dead space where it used to be.”
  • Metro apps do not have window controls. How does a user know how to exit a Metro app? They can’t minimize, they can’t maximize, they can’t exit. I’m pretty sure this is where 75% of first-time users will simply give up. This will be so frustrating, people won’t even try to fix it

He plans to use the blog to identify potential solutions to some of the issues he uncovers.

Microsoft did not immediately respond to FoxNews.com requests.