My concept for the Windows 8 desktop

[+Anarkii Subscriber²]

Mate that looks SO much better than Metro and what Windows is doing at the moment! Id actually use that if it was themed into Windows 8.

[Nazmus Shakib Khandaker]

Wow, nice job. They look really good. I hope future versions of Windows resembles something like this. :)

[Sheza]

I made an account here just so I could comment on how much I love this UI design. This is absolutely 100% how it should be. I started using the Office 2013 preview yesterday and I like it so far, and the use of "watermarks" as subtle patterns to personalise and break up the white-ness are fantastic.

There's no doubt I would pay for this theme if it were to somehow be made for Windows 8. You've nailed it, IMO.

[+Anarkii Subscriber²]

I made an account here just so I could comment on how much I love this UI design. This is absolutely 100% how it should be. I started using the Office 2013 preview yesterday and I like it so far, and the use of "watermarks" as subtle patterns to personalise and break up the white-ness are fantastic.

There's no doubt I would pay for this theme if it were to somehow be made for Windows 8. You've nailed it, IMO.

I have to agree. This looks fantastic :)

[Gaffney]

Nice but needs to support customisation more, currently doesn't look like you can tweak the colours that much.

[giannisgx89]

This looks nice but a bit over done imo.

I really like the combination of white windows with dark taskbar (Y)

[myownfriend]

really hate all this "white" stuff! hope this will be change soon

but i like your concept, wheres the show desktop button?

Just as with the current Windows 8 theme, it's hidden but it's still there.

@ OP

Can you make a quick mockups where whites are replaced by very light greys please? Let's see how that looks!!

Like this?

I made an account here just so I could comment on how much I love this UI design. This is absolutely 100% how it should be. I started using the Office 2013 preview yesterday and I like it so far, and the use of "watermarks" as subtle patterns to personalise and break up the white-ness are fantastic.

There's no doubt I would pay for this theme if it were to somehow be made for Windows 8. You've nailed it, IMO.

Wow, what a compliment! Thank you!

[Windows Nashville]

I'm not a Metro fan but at least, these screenshots are all Metro. Not the half-metro half-Aero crap Microsoft made with Windows 8's desktop.

+1

I'd much prefer that Microsoft further developed the Aero style, but this is at least a consistent Metro look rather than the thrown-together mess in Windows 8.

[Sheza]

Asked several people if they prefer the official version or this concept. They all said the concept without hesitation. As I expected.

[myownfriend]

What do you think of this idea?

File Explorer's file menu = Control Panel

[oliver182]

It's a shame the Office team and the Windows team work separately, Windows always seems to lag behind the Office team in UI concepts recently

I was going to say the exact same thing, for example windows 7 (paint,wordpad) never added the glass-like tabs from office 2010 :( .

This concept looks great!.

[myownfriend]

Throwing a nod to the Zune social tab in the account settings.

[neo1911]

Like this?

Wow!! That's epic!!

I believe, if Microsoft wants to get explorer anywhere near that concept, they will have to rewrite it completely.

[JonathanMarston]

Awesome work, much better than the RP and what has leaked so far of RTM! Your Control Panel concept is exactly what they should have done with it 5 years ago...

It's actually kind of sad how much better your version is...it really makes me wonder: did Microsoft even try to make the desktop look good?

[Sheza]

Holy cow, all of your ideas are brilliant.

Agreed with JonathonMarston, when I saw the RTM screenshot I felt really disappointed. They kept icons from Vista/7 and the design was a complicated Office 2007/10 rip off. It just felt completely amateur. Office 2013 looks nice and your concepts are exactly how it should be.

I'm warming to Metro and its simplicity, I admit looking at Windows 7 after these concept images make me want to get Windows 8 ASAP... but then I realise it won't be as good as this. Microsoft has no metro style in the desktop view at all, and it simply doesn't make sense.

Now, who wants to bet if we send these screenshots to other tech sites they'll say this is the final RTM version? Hahaha :p

[encarta]

@myownfriend

MS should offer you a job. This is how Win8 should look like. Those fugly full screen apps are a joke. They should refine the Zune Software Metro and use it across the OS. Just look at how awesome it is:

This is the metro that looks cool. This is the metro I LOVE, not those disgusting Win 8 metro apps. Zune software and Windows Phone have that "premium" look & feel. Windows 8? A bad joke.

[patseguin Global Moderator]

I'm not a Metro fan but at least, these screenshots are all Metro. Not the half-metro half-Aero crap Microsoft made with Windows 8's desktop.

I gotta agree with this.

[Dot Matrix]

If it's OK with you, I just tweeted this link to the BuildWindows8 handle. This deserves to be seen. However, I think it might be too late since Windows 8 has hit the RTM builds now.

[encarta]

If it's OK with you, I just tweeted this link to the BuildWindows8 handle. This deserves to be seen. However, I think it might be too late since Windows 8 has hit the RTM builds now.

I bet MS has seen a lot of great concepts, including this one: http://www.theverge.com/2012/2/24/2822891/windows-desktop-ui-concept

Unfortunately, it looks like they don't care what people have been trying to tell them. I love MS, but I also hope that ugly Metro will kick them in the head. If they went with this new paradigm, they could also make metro beautiful (the link in your signature shows that they have excellent designers). I've deleted all metro apps, I just can't stand them.

[Dashel]

I prefer the Zune inspired ones personally.

[Sheza]

I bet MS has seen a lot of great concepts, including this one: http://www.theverge....ktop-ui-concept

Unfortunately, it looks like they don't care what people have been trying to tell them. I love MS, but I also hope that ugly Metro will kick them in the head. If they went with this new paradigm, they could also make metro beautiful (the link in your signature shows that they have excellent designers). I've deleted all metro apps, I just can't stand them.

That one's nice, but I would say it takes too much away from the desktop experience. This concept features full functionality for advanced users, but looks the part. It would also be easier to implement than that one.

[myownfriend]

If it's OK with you, I just tweeted this link to the BuildWindows8 handle. This deserves to be seen. However, I think it might be too late since Windows 8 has hit the RTM builds now.

Thank you very much, it's better that someone else do that then if I did it. I was thinking the same thing the entire time though, I made this concept too late to hope to do anything with it. :-/

[JonathanMarston]

the link in your signature shows that they have excellent designers

The problem is that the concept video you're talking about was done by the Office team, not the Windows team. The Office team "gets" UI while the Windows team seems to be clueless in it...

[.Neo]

Amazing how hobbyists at home are able to come up with Metro system icons themselves, yet Microsoft refuses to do so.

[.Neo]

The problem is that the concept video you're talking about was done by the Office team, not the Windows team. The Office team "gets" UI while the Windows team seems to be clueless in it...

From what I read a while ago unlike Apple's OS X team, Microsoft's Windows team doesn't have any real interface graphics designers on board. It sure would explain the perpetual inconsistent state Windows is in. It also explains why third parties are hired by Microsoft to design the icon themes.