mtrostyle.net

[A new site from Bardi Golriz](http://www.mtrostyle.net) has me all sorts of intrigued. The site, as you might be able to guess, is all about Windows 8 and the Surface RT. Two interesting things caught my eye: 1. “[Multitasking on a Surface is a Snap](http://www.mtrostyle.net/blog/multitasking-on-a-surface-is-a-snap)” Golriz talks about the behavior of the swipe-to-multi-task gesture on the…

[A new site from Bardi Golriz](http://www.mtrostyle.net) has me all sorts of intrigued. The site, as you might be able to guess, is all about Windows 8 and the Surface RT. Two interesting things caught my eye:

1. “[Multitasking on a Surface is a Snap](http://www.mtrostyle.net/blog/multitasking-on-a-surface-is-a-snap)” Golriz talks about the behavior of the swipe-to-multi-task gesture on the Surface RT, which either moves you between the same two apps, or cycles you through all running apps depending on the delay you give between gestures.

This is much like the ⌘+Tab keyboard shortcut on the Mac: You can switch between the same two apps quickly, or hold down ⌘ and keep pressing tab to cycle between all running apps. It’s an ideal system that works well on the Mac due to the visual map displayed when holding ⌘+Tab. On the Surface RT, without that map, I can see this behavior being confusing.

2. “[Tap and Hold (and Release)](http://www.mtrostyle.net/blog/tap-and-hold-and-release)” This is the Surface RT’s most interesting quirk. The post claims that a modal menu pops-up *after you release your finger* from the screen, unlike Windows Phone and iOS where the pop-up appears *while* you have your finger pressed on the screen (after a small delay).

This is another interesting, but confusing, implementation detail of Windows 8’s touch interface.

How and why these decisions were made one way on iOS and another on Microsoft’s Windows 8/RT/Phone platforms is interesting to ponder.

Keep an eye on *mtrostyle.net* if Microsoft is interesting you lately.

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