Windows 8 RC To Get Flatter Explorer UI, Other Changes

[freak180]

If a report from Chinese tech blog win8china.com is to be believed--and they've been pretty accurate so far--the Release Candidate (RC) version of Windows 8 will feature a tweaked Explorer user interface that somewhat matches the flat UI that pervades the Metro interface.

Here are some before and after shots that will drive home the expected change:

http://www.winsupersite.com/blog/supersite-blog-39/windows8/windows-8-rc-flatter-explorer-ui-142728?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

[c3ntury]

I'm not a fan of a better UI, reminds me of the Windows 98 days.

[LightShadow]

English version.

[+Nik Louch Subscriber²]

I'm not a fan of a better UI

Not a fan of "better"?

[bandit_liberty_rumble]

I think they're going in the right direction there. Looks nice! I'm looking forward to the rest of the icons changing as well (at the very least the "refresh" and "up" button). :)

[firey]

English version.

Wow, I thought metro was supposed to be simple. It looks like they are making Aero overly busy and strange looking to make people WANT to use full Metro apps. It's like they are trying to make the Desktop so ugly to work with you just want to get away from it.

[pack34]

That looks a lot cleaner than the current CP version. I hope that they eventually add transparency to the tab area like in the Office suite.

[giantpotato]

It look slightly nicer, but it still looks like a mashup of two UIs. Maybe it would look better if they got rid of the gradients on the icons that make them look '3D'.

[bogas04]

New icons and cursors , yay! :p

[Dot Matrix]

I'm loving the straight corners are coming back. Rounded was just awful. Especially on XP where they weren't aliased.

[freak180]

[Jan Veteran]

New icons and cursors , yay! :p

New cursors??

[spaceelf]

Wow, I thought metro was supposed to be simple. It looks like they are making Aero overly busy and strange looking to make people WANT to use full Metro apps. It's like they are trying to make the Desktop so ugly to work with you just want to get away from it.

And people who feel that way can hide the ribbon, or use the customizable Quick Access Toolbar instead.

[freak180]

[Bioran]

That actually looks great! Here's hoping they'll be consistent about it across the whole Desktop UI.

[Brandon H Supervisor]

are they going to finally fix the scroll bar too? in the CP the only place that has the new flat scroll bar on the desktop is IE

[LightShadow]

are they going to finally fix the scroll bar too? in the CP the only place that has the new flat scroll bar on the desktop is IE

That's something I was quirked about. It appears in IE but then even not in Windows Explorer. Also I'd prefer if it was a little thinner, as it's thicker than the current default one which bugs me a bit.

[neo1911]

Looks ok. But they need to change all the Vista era iconset to match metro and complete the experience.

[bogas04]

New cursors??

This flatter new Explorer is just the beginning, folks. We've learned separately that other UI changes are coming to the RC build, including new icons, new cursors, new controls, and more. Looks like Rafael and I will be retaking all of the screenshots for Windows 8 Secrets ... as expected.

http://www.winsupers..._medium=twitter

[nominak]

Why must apps and menus take up a gigantic % of screen real-estate?

[efjay]

Nice.

[bogas04]

Why must apps and menus take up a gigantic % of screen real-estate?

Problem?

[insanelyapple]

Reminds me Whistler's Watercolor shell theme

[redfish]

Wow, I thought metro was supposed to be simple. It looks like they are making Aero overly busy and strange looking to make people WANT to use full Metro apps. It's like they are trying to make the Desktop so ugly to work with you just want to get away from it.

I think they have the mentality that the Desktop can be the "geek interface" or "advanced interface" and they can throw the kitchen sink in, while novices will just use Metro. Why else would you have Disk Management on the Start area right-click menu? Thats also why they put the up one folder button in I think.

[soumyasch]

Why can't they go with the Office 2010 style of drawing the ribbon tabs on glass. That blue bugs me like ant that somehow got inside my pants. :p