Well I guess it is time to update the logo for this category!
After much speculation across the tech world in the last week or so, Microsoft has now officially shown off the new Windows logo.
In a blog post at Blogging Windows, Redesigning the Windows Logo, Sam Moreau, the Principal Director of User Experience for Windows, shares some background into the decision to redo the flagship logo.
We have said that Windows 8 is a complete reimagination of the Windows operating system. Nothing has been left unexplored, including the Windows logo, to evaluate how it held up to modern PC sensibilities. The Windows logo is a strong and widely recognized mark but when we stepped back and analyzed it, we realized an evolution of our logo would better reflect our Metro style design principles and we also felt there was an opportunity to reconnect with some of the powerful characteristics of previous incarnations.
But if you look back to the origins of the logo you see that it really was meant to be a window. "Windows" really is a beautiful metaphor for computing and with the new logo we wanted to celebrate the idea of a window, in perspective. Microsoft and Windows are all about putting technology in people’s hands to empower them to find their own perspectives. And that is what the new logo was meant to be. We did less of a re-design and more to return it to its original meaning and bringing Windows back to its roots – reimagining the Windows logo as just that – a window.
The blog post also contains a great look back at Windows logos all the way back to Windows 1.0 until the latest version with Windows 7.
Microsoft is already making a huge leap with Windows in the upcoming Windows 8 to introduce a new Metro interface that focuses on the touch experience while relegating the desktop, a very functional desktop though, into the background.
So with such a change already moving forward it makes a lot of sense to go ahead and continue the overhaul of Windows by updating the logo.
I like the change but I also agree with one of the commenters on the blog post – I am looking forward to seeing it implemented in the OS.
