Windows 8 Rebrand

[CS85]

The rumor of the next gen console being the XBOX Loop or XBOX Infinite signals that it's only going to become more round.

[hailstateunis]

Microsoft really nailed this Windows 8 logo. Wait...

[The_Admiral]

Don't get me wrong. I understand the value of simple, effective design, and the "pffft I coulda made it" complaint is usually false. I suppose I could have designed the Apple logo, or a reasonable facsimile thereof, but I wouldn't have done it as well as they did it. However, this is one case where I could say it and mean it.

Go to the marquee tool and hold down shift while selecting space

fill with paint bucket

nudge the marquee

fill with paint bucket

repeat

And I will have made that logo. I don't want gradients out the ass (they might hurt, at least in the beginning until they taper off a little), but nothing should be this rudimentary.

[vmd9]

And as one more aside, I was thinking about the XBOX logo the other day, and while it's very sharp and now recognizable, the idea that the XBOX logo is an X-Sphere has started to drive me crazy...

Filed under the things you can never unsee folder. Thanks.

But on the other hand, they did adopt that logo when XBOX 360 came out.

Still doesn't quite make sense, but....

I feel like they could just take the new windows logo, rotate the + to make it an x and make it green. Would solve the sphere issue, and relate more to the "box" name.

But back to windows 8. I've been trying to decide which new computer to buy in october and just saw that Dell is coming out with a new convertible laptop/tablet. I've seen tablet PC's in the past but they always seemed bulky and cheap. Not as leek as some of the laptops coming out. No price tag yet for the Dell but I think the idea is great, will have to see how it works in person though...

[BBTV]

Convertible laptops / tablets were around in '02, and people were like WTF? Funny how things come around.

[STL FANATIC]

I get how having a touch screen on my laptop might sometimes be nice, but I'm not sure I'm on board with needing it to convert into a tablet. Then it's just a bulky tablet. But hard to say until I had some sort of experience with it I guess. Could be one of those things that we don't realize we love until we have it.

[andrewharrington]

Don't get me wrong. I understand the value of simple, effective design, and the "pffft I coulda made it" complaint is usually false. I suppose I could have designed the Apple logo, or a reasonable facsimile thereof, but I wouldn't have done it as well as they did it. However, this is one case where I could say it and mean it.

Go to the marquee tool and hold down shift while selecting space

fill with paint bucket

nudge the marquee

fill with paint bucket

repeat

And I will have made that logo. I don't want gradients out the ass (they might hurt, at least in the beginning until they taper off a little), but nothing should be this rudimentary.

Well, sure, but what does that have to do with how well it's associated with Microsoft and/or how well it's recognized in the brand universe by the majority of the general public? The answer, of course, is nothing. Again, I'd point to Target, H&R Block, Bass, 3M, Mobil, etc., all of which could be recreated with comparable ease by many computer-literate people.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

So I got my Windows 8 today. So far, it's awesome. Check out this neat packaging!

[drdougfresh]

I have to say, I'm loving all the advertisements for Windows 8. Bright, simple, and eye catching. Packaging looks great, too. I'm curious enough to consider upgrading, but I'm not quite sure yet.

[wyopokes2]

I have to say, I'm loving all the advertisements for Windows 8. Bright, simple, and eye catching. Packaging looks great, too. I'm curious enough to consider upgrading, but I'm not quite sure yet.

Funny story. I upgraded to 8 about a month ago (students get it free from Microsoft Dreamspark) and I hated it at first. I downgraded back to Windows 7. Well about a week ago I decided to try it again and go back to 8. Now that I've seen the features used and have gotten comfortable with the interface I must say that I absolutely love it! Some little things bug me but I definitely am glad I decided to give it a 2nd chance.

[dgthree]

just installed Windows 8, so far very cool. However, I wish there was more google integration. I love everything google does, but not having it easily usable as "windows" is a let down. It would be cool if you could use gchat in the "messaging" app. Also, I wish the store had more apps to help get away from using the browser as much.

[Magnus]

There probably are some great examples of "simple" logos. Offhand I can think of...

...just to name a few. I even remember my graphic design teacher giving us a lesson on making a logo out of the letters of a company name, which is how I came up with this:

[STL FANATIC]

just installed Windows 8, so far very cool. However, I wish there was more google integration. I love everything google does, but not having it easily usable as "windows" is a let down. It would be cool if you could use gchat in the "messaging" app. Also, I wish the store had more apps to help get away from using the browser as much.

As a side note, Messages is one of my favorite parts of Apple's Mac OS and iOS.

On Mac, you can include AIM, GChat, Jabber clients, in addition to your iMessages. Regular texts of course just remain on your phone but any iOS to iOS communication will show up on any of your iOS devices in addition to your Mac. I love being able to send iMessages from my laptop to my friends' phones.

With that said, one thought I've had recently is that it appears Microsoft decided to make a really sudden jump to making their desktop OS and mobile OS be consistent. On the other hand, Apple has slowly been merging the two experiences with each no release.

One approach is not necessarily better than the other, but the reviews I've watched of Windows 8 suggest there's a shock factor in the sudden switch and that it's not necessarily intuitive. So that could be a struggle.

[vmd9]

Microsoft has a hit in Windows 8. Especially from a design standpoint everything is top-notch. I'll admit that it is different, but after a short time using it I realized how much easier it is to use. I easily prefer it to my Mac, and will probably be buying a new touchscreen notebook in the near future and using the macbook as a backup. The only downfall is that so many apps are still in development, but that's the case with any new OS like this.

[DG_ThenNowForever]

Microsoft has a hit in Windows 8. Especially from a design standpoint everything is top-notch. I'll admit that it is different, but after a short time using it I realized how much easier it is to use. I easily prefer it to my Mac, and will probably be buying a new touchscreen notebook in the near future and using the macbook as a backup. The only downfall is that so many apps are still in development, but that's the case with any new OS like this.

Once people realize that their next laptop will have a touchscreen and a touch-capable OS that still allows Office, all bets are off.

[STL FANATIC]

Here's a complaint that's neither here nor there as far as the actual OS goes, but just a Microsoft thing.

Their commercials have the cool appearance thing going on, but I have no freaking clue what any of them are advertising. For a product so new and different and something you're proud of the features on, they really should be giving some details about why I'd want to buy it.

They're all in on the appearance thing, and I'd say they've been relatively successful with that. But they need to connect it to the substance.

[Quillz]

Here's a complaint that's neither here nor there as far as the actual OS goes, but just a Microsoft thing.

Their commercials have the cool appearance thing going on, but I have no freaking clue what any of them are advertising. For a product so new and different and something you're proud of the features on, they really should be giving some details about why I'd want to buy it.

They're all in on the appearance thing, and I'd say they've been relatively successful with that. But they need to connect it to the substance.

To me, it seems more like advertising for the brand name itself (Microsoft and Windows) rather than any specific set of products, akin to Apple's "Think Different."

[STL FANATIC]

Here's a complaint that's neither here nor there as far as the actual OS goes, but just a Microsoft thing.

Their commercials have the cool appearance thing going on, but I have no freaking clue what any of them are advertising. For a product so new and different and something you're proud of the features on, they really should be giving some details about why I'd want to buy it.

They're all in on the appearance thing, and I'd say they've been relatively successful with that. But they need to connect it to the substance.

To me, it seems more like advertising for the brand name itself (Microsoft and Windows) rather than any specific set of products, akin to Apple's "Think Different."

Perhaps, but they mention the Surface as the end of one of them, and in the other one they mention a feature calls Picture Password or something.

So they seem to be marketing the existence of these things without marketing anything about them.

I'm reasonably smart, so I think I MAYBE figured out the Picture Password thing... but I'm not entirely sure and I'm not sure where in the OS experience it comes into play at all.

It will be very hard for me to ever look at a Microsoft product with a completely fair view, FWIW. Might as well admit that.