Windows 8 appears to adopt Mac OS X Lion's monochrome, iPad-like icons
A video demonstrating a new feature in Microsoft's upcoming Windows 8 also appears to out a bold new design decision by the company to closely copy Apple's controversial shift toward monochromatic, high contrast icons.
Microsoft's Windows 8 video was intended to highlight the new ability of the future operating system to mount and eject volumes, similar to Mac OS X's disk image mounting of .dmg or .iso files or Mac OS 9's .smi or .img image file mounting.
Windows users have historically needed to install a third party tool to mount and view the contents of a disk image file. Windows 8 will finally add the ability to mount ISO disc images and VHD (virtual hard drive) disk images and work with their contents.
However, the new video also shows another element of the upcoming Windows 8 design: a touch friendly Start menu that abandons most of the typical contents of the customary Windows Start menu, and instead supplies just Settings, Devices, Share, and Search options.
Each option is depicted along with a simple monochrome icon that appears to be pattered after the style of Apple's iOS, and widely employed by the iPad's minimalist user interface (shown below).
With Mac OS X Lion, Apple brought its minimalist black and white icons to the Mac desktop, replacing the often photorealistic color icons in many apps' menu bars with highly simplified iPad-like icons.
A history of iconic innovations
Apple's original Macintosh graphical user interface popularized the term "icon" in computing. Prior to the Mac, "icon" held a distinct connotation of religious artwork associated with Orthodox Christianity, related to presenting ideas packed with simplified, metaphorical analogy.
Microsoft copied Apple's iconic desktop, even hiring the same artist (Susan Kare) to craft similar representations of such ideas as folders, documents and applications (all of which were, like "icon" itself, similarly coined by Apple to make the existing concepts of subdirectories, files and executables more accessible to non-technical users).
Apple's attempts to advance the sophistication and look of the original Mac desktop culminated in 1994's Copland, a scuttled effort that had some of its elements salvaged by Steve Jobs to sell the existing Mac System 7 as Mac OS 8 and 9, using a refreshed visual appearance that made heavy use of cartoonish, colorful icons.
Microsoft subsequently adopted the cartoonish look of Copland/Mac OS 8 with Windows XP. Apple then moved toward photorealistic icons first pioneered by NeXT in the release of Mac OS X, where documents and icons were given highly detailed representations complete with translucency effects to take full advantage of higher resolution displays.
Six years later, Microsoft released Windows Vista with similarly detailed, photorealistic graphics and transparency effects. Since the release of the iPad, Apple has reverted the tool bars and other elements of Mac OS X (such as the iTunes source list and Finder sidebar) to use high contrast outlines, reminiscent of the original icons of the black and white Macintosh from 1984.
Microsoft's Windows 8 video was intended to highlight the new ability of the future operating system to mount and eject volumes, similar to Mac OS X's disk image mounting of .dmg or .iso files or Mac OS 9's .smi or .img image file mounting.
Windows users have historically needed to install a third party tool to mount and view the contents of a disk image file. Windows 8 will finally add the ability to mount ISO disc images and VHD (virtual hard drive) disk images and work with their contents.
However, the new video also shows another element of the upcoming Windows 8 design: a touch friendly Start menu that abandons most of the typical contents of the customary Windows Start menu, and instead supplies just Settings, Devices, Share, and Search options.
Each option is depicted along with a simple monochrome icon that appears to be pattered after the style of Apple's iOS, and widely employed by the iPad's minimalist user interface (shown below).
With Mac OS X Lion, Apple brought its minimalist black and white icons to the Mac desktop, replacing the often photorealistic color icons in many apps' menu bars with highly simplified iPad-like icons.
A history of iconic innovations
Apple's original Macintosh graphical user interface popularized the term "icon" in computing. Prior to the Mac, "icon" held a distinct connotation of religious artwork associated with Orthodox Christianity, related to presenting ideas packed with simplified, metaphorical analogy.
Microsoft copied Apple's iconic desktop, even hiring the same artist (Susan Kare) to craft similar representations of such ideas as folders, documents and applications (all of which were, like "icon" itself, similarly coined by Apple to make the existing concepts of subdirectories, files and executables more accessible to non-technical users).
Apple's attempts to advance the sophistication and look of the original Mac desktop culminated in 1994's Copland, a scuttled effort that had some of its elements salvaged by Steve Jobs to sell the existing Mac System 7 as Mac OS 8 and 9, using a refreshed visual appearance that made heavy use of cartoonish, colorful icons.
Microsoft subsequently adopted the cartoonish look of Copland/Mac OS 8 with Windows XP. Apple then moved toward photorealistic icons first pioneered by NeXT in the release of Mac OS X, where documents and icons were given highly detailed representations complete with translucency effects to take full advantage of higher resolution displays.
Six years later, Microsoft released Windows Vista with similarly detailed, photorealistic graphics and transparency effects. Since the release of the iPad, Apple has reverted the tool bars and other elements of Mac OS X (such as the iTunes source list and Finder sidebar) to use high contrast outlines, reminiscent of the original icons of the black and white Macintosh from 1984.
Comments
I never knew MS had a design / R&D department, I always believed the story about them using Apple for that!
Have you been watching their official videos of the ongoing development? They are bad. There are kids on YouTube posting videos with better production value, though in all fairness they probably have a Mac.
I'm liking the monochrome but there is a whole lot of other stuff that seems to be adding clutter and confusion to the UI.
I don't know what were they thinking with that Explorer Ribbon interface.
hey...those icons are from Zune HD and Windows Phone. nice try. :-D
No. This is the Metro UI style. It's been around since the Zune all those years ago. They're just bringing it to Windows.
I was about to say the same thing. I'd prefer to see no Microsoft stuff here on AI at all than articles just dreamt up out of nowhere to get hits/attack Microsoft just for DED's guilty pleasure.
That being said, the Win 8 screen shot is hideous. No consistency whatsoever.
I don't know what were they thinking with that Explorer Ribbon interface.
"It worked well forcing people to become dependent on it in Office, we may as well force people to become dependent on it in Windows proper."
Something like that?
"It worked well forcing people to become dependent on it in Office, we may as well force people to become dependent on it in Windows proper."
Something like that?
Office Ribbon interface is messed up. Everything in the wrong place. I was and still feel frustrated with it. If you don't use Office on daily basis you will never figure it out.
... This is the Metro UI style. It's been around since the Zune all those years ago. They're just bringing it to Windows.
Where do you think they got Metro from?
Anyway, this is just pathetic copying. I always thought they copied a bit but since everyone calls them on it you'd think they would start to move away from it and try to be more original. This is even closer copying than ever before.
It's not just the icons but the changing of the start menu from programs to mostly settings. If you put this bar on the top of the screen instead of the bottom it's basically a copy of the Apple menu. I've seen this stuff for years but I find this just shocking. It's like they aren't even trying to hide the copying anymore.
How incredibly, incredibly pathetic.
Office Ribbon interface is messed up. Everything in the wrong place. I was and still feel frustrated with it. If you don't use Office on daily basis you will never figure it out.
I don't plan to ever use Office on an ever basis.
Have you been watching their official videos of the ongoing development? They are bad. There are kids on YouTube posting videos with better production value, though in all fairness they probably have a Mac.
No I haven't seen them, I must go look ...
A video demonstrating a new feature in Microsoft's upcoming Windows 8 also appears to out a bold new design decision by the company to closely copy Apple's controversial shift toward monochromatic, high contrast icons.
I wonder if Microsoft has also copied number of icon rows and columns? Anyway, let's sue Microsoft. Do you think Steve's bilogical father can get a cut? It really depends if the Dutch judge would be envolved
WINDERS 8 DOES NOT EXIST! It's a Power-Point slide show..... It's a FAKE!
I wonder if Microsoft has also copied number of icon rows and columns? Anyway, let's sue Microsoft. Do you think Steve's bilogical father can get a cut? It really depends if the Dutch judge would be envolved
Sad, really.
Don't you clowns get it yet??
WINDERS 8 DOES NOT EXIST! It's a Power-Point slide show..... It's a FAKE!
So you're either drunk, a troll, or completely [can't say due to forum rules]…
There's a good reason why artist types and professional creative people have always embraced the Mac, Windows has always looked horrible. From the fonts to the layout to the color schemes, it's just terrible. Most people who choose windows have no sense of style. Not everybody is born with a sense of style and creativity flowing through their veins, so I guess it's good that Windows exists, because it provides an alternative for those unfortunate people who are not creatively endowed.
Agreed, but I always thought they used a nice blue on the screen of death though.