The Windows 8 UI - An evolving design

The Windows 8 user interface has generated a fair bit of debate since it was first unveiled by Microsoft. Loved by some, hated by others, it is certainly a radical departure by Microsoft. Designing the interface that they hope will replace the Windows system you have been using for years isn’t something that happened overnight. A recent blog post over at istartedsomething uncovered some screenshots from a 2010 mockup of Windows 8. Taken from a presentation by Microsoft’s Jensen Harris, they show how Windows 8 started out, and how closely this vision has been followed.

The screenshots show a few noticeable differences to that which consumers will find today on their own Windows 8 machines:

1. The famed Tiles on the start screen are present and correct but are a little wider and longer.
2. The mocked-up Start screen sports a clock, the date, and a WiFi signal indicator.
3. The Charms bar is in the mockup-ups but this one is much more crowded, with a lot more icons. The finished version is a lot nicer.

To take advantage of everything the new Windows 8 interface can offer in your own applications requires careful thought and planning. You can, however, make the process a whole lot easier by looking at our very own beta controls for Windows 8. NetAdvantage for WindowsUI ships in early 2013, but you can get a head start by downloading the Running Total reference application and reading the associated blogpost by our very own Brent Schooley.