Windows 8 Mock-ups

[.bin]

I hope they scrap the traditional taskbar and use something "launchy".

[Ci7]

I hope they scrap the traditional taskbar and use something "launchy".

i hate docks !

[Jase]

Sorry but the mockups are beyond disgusting, Looks like you took MetroTwit and hacked it up (N) I am all for GUI concepts/ Mockups.. but this really isn't good.. Sorry.

[Lazure]

I hate this whole minimal style things are moving towards. After having something beautiful like Aero, I would NOT be able to stand a UI so plain, so flat, so ugly. I cannot stand the windows 95 classic theme crap for the same damn reason. and HELLO, no transparency and no shadows? Give me a break.

This kinda style would be a huge leap backwards instead of forward. Our technology and artistic abilities are FAR greater than plain solid colored rectangles. Logos are trending towards this type of MSpaint rubbish (look at RARE's rebrand, for instance), and people expect our next UI to do the same thing? Hell no. I will not use such a sterile look, devoid of any artistic passion or vividity. In any case, not a UI that could have been done in Mspaint with a rectangle tool, fill tool, and the text tool.

[LightShadow]

I hope it looks like that Copenhagen (Or Whatever) project. That UI just looked so awesome!

[IronSkull]

Windows 8 isn't going to come out, apparently they're jumping straight to Windows 15.

For the lulz.

[deactivated01032015]

They will probably use some design pointers from the Metro concept, but this mock-up is far from anything.

[XerXis]

no, just no

[Jan Veteran]

I thought why not, so here's my mockup of what an app would look like from the marketplace:

[remixedcat]

I think they should just release more UI customization things like Linux does!

That interface looks very un-MS but I kinda like the black one.

[Kriz]

Id rather go back to Windows 98 than have an OS looking like that :|

[Soulsiphon]

Totally reminds me of the old "Whistler" screens.

1.) Don't Panic

2.) Remain Calm

3.) The UI will change.

[andrew_f]

IE9 uses 'Metro' elements. In the past IE has been an indicator of upcoming UI changes in Windows, so I think we'll start to see more Metro-like elements coming in but not to the extent shown in the screenshots. I think squared off corners, simpler colour palettes and less transparency in parts will be integrated into Aero rather than out-right replace them.

[Digitalx]

UI changes... just like when happens to facebook...

[amon91]

In the end it'll have to make sense. They're just not gonna take metro and slap it on a desktop OS. That said I'd love to see Metro on larger touch devices.

[Steven P. Administrators]

Metro might be useful if the desktop is more than one (side by side for example).

[Soulsiphon]

The Metro look would be win, however I think we'll see a Metro "2.0" by then. As sleek and minimalistic as Metro is, there is still some room to build upon an already great idea.

[andrew_f]

The Metro look would be win, however I think we'll see a Metro "2.0" by then. As sleek and minimalistic as Metro is, there is still some room to build upon an already great idea.

Metro isn't a design in itself, it's more of a philosophy. Some implementations such as Windows Live Messenger or Xbox 360 mix up where they use elements and put their own spin on it to make it a unique experience. I think metro will prove to evolve very organically.

[NateB1]

I'm hoping Microsoft will take the concepts they've learned from the development of Windows Phone and apply it to a desktop paradigm - the way it is integrated, the way it flows together, the animations - it is heavily apparent that they put a whole lot of thought into the design. The mere fact that anyone can pick up a Windows Phone and inherently know what to do via subtle visual cues (the bouncing of the lock screen, the bits of the next screen in a panorama control, etc.) is absolute genius. If they could take that same thought process and apply it to the desktop version of Windows, it could completely change the way we interact with desktop operating systems. After using Windows Phone 7, Windows 7 feels clunky and un-integrated - remnants of old and outdated UI paradigms exist in Windows 7 that make tasks less efficient. A couple *big* areas come to mind:

-The file system- normal people don't want to keep a complicated folder structure in their head - they don't care where a file is stored, they just want it to be easy to access. It's a shame Drive Extender went the way of the dodo, because I truly believe something like that is the future - people add more storage to a pool when they need it, but don't care on which physical hard drive the individual files are stored.

-UI elements - today's operating systems (all of them) use UI paradigms that were developed in the 70s - scroll bars, menu bars, etc. Windows Phone does away with all of them and uses subtle visual cues instead - freeing up more space for actual content. I'm not sure how this would work in a desktop environment, and I'm not suggesting directly porting the WP7 UI paradigm to Windows, but I'm sure there are some clever solutions to this problem. The Ribbon paradigm is a *huge* step in the right direction.

-Roaming profiles - with WP7, once you sign in to a new phone, all the apps you've downloaded are automatically downloaded to your new phone. The same goes with your contacts. There's no reason this couldn't happen with a desktop environment - Steam is a good example of this for games. Imagine going to someone's house, signing in to their computer with your Windows Live ID, and all your apps, files, and settings are automatically there. There's no configuring, there's no 2-day app install process, everything just shows up.

-Integration - Windows 7 is a huge step in the right direction, but it just doesn't have the same integrated feel Windows Phone has. Windows Phone is incredibly integrated - play a video on Youtube, and the video shows up in your video history. Take a photo, and it's a 2 step process to upload to Facebook. Tag a song with Shazam, and it's a 2 step process to download the song via the Zune marketplace. Post to someone's Facebook wall in the Contacts section. Etc. There's no reason these same use cases couldn't be addressed in the desktop version of Windows. People shouldn't think of what app to launch to achieve a specific task, they should think of the task and the steps to achieving that task should be apparent, minimal, and easy to follow. WP7 *nails* this, and there is no reason the desktop version of Windows can't follow suit.

The bottom line is - I really don't care much if Windows 8 has a slightly different theme or the Start Menu button looks different - that's really not important. What *is* important to me are the above points - even if a few of them are addressed in Windows 8, I'll be happy.

[BumbleBritches57]

no,

the windwos 8 UI will be about transparency, hi quality icons, and the windows frames will be square

it might take on some of the simplicity from metro but not the darkness of metro ui

they WILL NOT go back to the 2000/XP ui

it will be all about simplicity, eveness and they wont go back to the ugly ass xp style

the future is transparency, beauty, gradients,

i dont know how to explain it but it will be just elegant and simple and fading and nice smooth animations

it wont be bulky and dark and ugly and big

it will be elegant like Mac OS X but it wont feel like mac os x it will feel like Zune PC Software with transparency

here is a screenshot of zune 4.07 for anyone who hasnt seen zune before

pay close attention to the top left

[remixedcat]

My eyes!!!!!

Looks like something from 98 era.

Can someone be a little more imaginative then just a white box with grey text these days?

reminds me of the change in the comedy central logo.

[sean l]

@Anarkii - I really like the stuff in that video :)

This stuff, to me, is always the most exciting part of an operating systems life span. Yeah, I know. I remember the early days of XP with all the Whistler stuff. I still enjoy the Whistler theme to this day, and always wanted to see something like that implemented into a Windows release. To see how they would update it.

Once they started with the traditional XP start bar, it was down hill for me.. :p

I certainly do hope that they try to stick with a unified theme. I dig the Windows 7 theme, but I think something similar to Metro would be awesome.

[morphen]

each time microsoft says they have started developing the next version of windows, everyone screams "NEW UI","NEW UI","NEW UI".

When information is leaked/confirmed that there will be gui changes, people react like this;

- "OMG! They will give us a revolutionary new desktop with 3d drawers, etc.etc.etc.etc. It will be like playing tetris in 3D!!!!"

these people will be dissapointed, along with

- "YAAAAY! I hope they bring back the classic startmenu:D"

these people and

- "YAWN! Why do they always need to change things that work? after they released the fisherprice-gui in xp, it has all gone downhill!"

these people. whiners all of them.

-" Ahh, looking forward to what changes they will bring to it :D"

these people on the other hand, will almost always be happy with the changes:)

Since Windows 95/NT4.0 there are actually minor adjustments to the main start-menu concept. Eyecandy all of it....and I LOVE IT :D

even if you haven't used a computer since Windows 95 was new, you could still sit down with a Windows 7 computer and understand how to use it.

[+Anarkii Subscriber²]

I think it won't look much different to windows 7 actually. If anything it might look visually the same, but with hard corners and a more sleek feel. I do agree with the points made about the windows phone 7 though, if the UI was redone with those visual cues, (even as a setting so older users can keep the start bar look) then it would be a step in the right direction. One thing ms need to do however is have a way that people can implement themes without changing system files. We love customization, we shouldn't have to potentially damage our installations to do it...

[remixedcat]

OMG They can harness the power of Linux's theme customization and it would be amazing. You can customize so much. This would make Linux fanbois jelly. I can get GNOME+Compiz to be so sexay awesome. With no UXTheme patching needed or third party cracks.

I also hate the fact that certain updates that MS issues disables UXTheme patching. When I upgraded to S2008SP2 it broke my UXTheme patching! Very annoying! Why on earth would MS want to break this?! I gotta restore the unpatched files to patch them again..... a headache after every major update.

I would prefer a nuetral theme like W7 that agrees with everyone, start from there, then customize further. The Metro UI concept will not appeal to as many people as the W7 UI. W7 UI feels classier and more professional. The Metro UI looks too 'bleeding edge' hipster feel and a tad cold. No warmth to it that W7 UI brought. This is a step backwards to the W98 era.

this UI would look downright silly with the way my office setup is!!!!! I got a dark red office with a classy dark desk! Most people have normal houses and it would look so silly in most settings. it would only co-ordinate in a white minimalist house that is very clean to the point of OCD. it would bring out the inner OCD in most people. UIs have more effects on the phsycie then one thinks. Not to mention this UI would be hard to a lot of people's eyes.

it was silly and stupid of MS to make the 360's dashboard brighter. Playing the dark game of Fallout NV and L4D2 and then having to look at a bright-as-hell dashboard sears the corneas like mad! Ouch! Don't they think of these kinda situations. No wonder a lot of people have vision problems!