I have wondered why tile has become the key word for what used to be icon? Is there really a difference other than size?
Programs have become apps. I know tablets changed our reference words but when an app has more code than some programs isn't it really a program?
I know this may sound silly to us but I help a lot of elderly folks (I am one myself) with their computers and believe or not this really threw them for a loop when they went from Win XP or 7 to Win 8. For some of them, when those tiles pop up instead of the desktop with icons they suddenly go brain dead!
Anyone else run into this problem? From now on I am calling them "those big icons" and I am giving up trying to explain what an app is.
Hello graydog. Welcome to Windows windowssh blog. Glad you can join us with your questions. I and others that come along will attempt to answer them the best we can.I have wondered why tile has become the key word for what used to be icon? Is there really a difference other than size?
Programs have become apps. I know tablets changed our reference words but when an app has more code than some programs isn't it really a program?
I know this may sound silly to us but I help a lot of elderly folks (I am one myself) with their computers and believe or not this really threw them for a loop when they went from Win XP or 7 to Win 8. For some of them, when those tiles pop up instead of the desktop with icons they suddenly go brain dead!
Anyone else run into this problem? From now on I am calling them "those big icons" and I am giving up trying to explain what an app is.
Yes, there is much in difference. A "non-live" tile is more like an icon and a "live tile" much like a combination of a gadget and an icon in that it conveys personal data important to any given user. The tile section of the Start menu in 10 or the Start screen in 8/8.1, which is customizable in shuffling tiles into customizable-titled groups, is an at-a-glance means of conveying information that's important to any given user. This idea has been ported over from the Windows phone onto PCs, laptops, hybrid convertibles, and tablets to be familiar across all those devices.
There was a thread on this forum so far as app vs program in great discussion of the difference. "Apps" seemed to have been tagged when referring to a Modern WinRT Store app. Not necessarily written in WinRT API, but that name or "tag" was really introduced by Apple and Google via their stores and now with the Windows Store, which by the way is a Modern Store app. Legacy (traditional) Win32 desktop programs on the other hand seems to have held their reference as programs. To me, all in all, they are basically one in the same. The only difference is the environment (API) they were written in.
The reason for the new WinRT API is so Store apps open and can be displayed on any size screen on any type device, whether it be a phone, large desktop PC monitors, or what have you. Win32 legacy programs are not written in an environment (API) to do such. Download and install a Store app, whether free or purchased, and run it on any device. Up to ten devices to be precise.
This is a goal that Microsoft (MS) has reached. An OS platform (not necessarily the same edition, but similar) to run across multiple devices, so much so that it will be familiar to the user, therefore to simplify the use of any device no matter what it is.
Some reading that you may want to do:
Windows Runtime - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Windows API - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A post written in the early days of 8:
The Real Quality Boot Time of 8 Verses 7
I hope that helps somewhat to answer you questions. Also hope I didn't over-simplify it for you mentioned DOS in another post.
