Thanks to two German tech sites, we now have our first real leak of Windows 9. It shows us a couple of the major features being implemented into Microsoft’s flagship software.
ComputerBase and WinFuture posted screenshots intended as a technical preview that were not set to launch until October. In them, we can see a couple improvements that have Microsoft moving on from the lackluster results of their previous Windows 8.
In addition to screenshots, there is also a video that demonstrates changes to the Start Menu. As in, they have brought back the start menu icon, since everyone pretty much loathed the start screen replacement of the last incarnation of the software.
This was kind of a surprise. Microsoft was so go-hard-or-go-home about how awesome the start screen was. Even with the mass of complaints, I honestly expected them to stick with it and just make people deal. The box heavy nightmare of the main screen seemed like a permanent fixture to the new face of Windows.
Apparently Nadella’s company is a lot less harsh than Balmer’s. Because the start menu button is back, and while it does incorporate box grids into the design, it doesn’t dominate it. You have the expected first column of frequent programs, then the second column on the right that leads to system features like feedback.
Feedback is associated with the Microsoft Insider Preview Program, so it won’t be around for the full launch. Developers will probably be more happy with Windows this time around than they were last time, however.
Probably the coolest feature seen so far is the expandable nature of the start menu. You can pin more programs, and it moves into multiple columns. It makes the overall design more intuitive and usable, and it is a real departure from what we have seen from Microsoft in the past.
This is what Windows 8 should have been, honestly. Rather than jumping to a whole new system, this incorporation of settings into what has always otherwise worked makes it far more innovative than a complete overhaul.
In the end, this is a limited preview. But it shows good things on the horizon, and it looks like a fair number of mistakes are being fixed.
Source: The Verge
