CrunchGear

Those are some interesting new shell layout prototypes. I’m not sure I like any of the designs, but I’m glad they are trying some stuff beyond just adding some polish to the existing start menu + task bar layout.

Wow. I’m usually a sympathizer, but they’re just not getting it.

1.) 7 has to be radically different than Vista with “Quicksilver built in”.

2.) There is no consistency. There’s an OS X dock in one. There’s a translucent thin start bar at the top in another. There’s a fat solid start bar at the bottom in another. This only confuses the home user and adds unnecessary complexity to a consumer product. Sometimes there’s spinning dial stuff, and sometimes there’s not. No identity means unnecessary complexity.

3.) I’m listening to Seth Godin speak in another tab in my browser, and the interesting divide between what he’s saying and what these screenshots are presenting me speaks volumes. It’s not about the technology, it’s about the benefit. Obviously the consumer couldn’t care less about the “new kernel” built on Vista if they’re happy using XP. I mean, when Microsoft marketing talks to actual customers about what’s wrong with their operating system, is “the kernel” really at the top of the problem list?

“I mean, when Microsoft marketing talks to actual customers about what’s wrong with their operating system, is ‘the kernel’ really at the top of the problem list?”

The One True Thing that you need to remember when thinking about Microsoft is this:

MICROSOFT’S CORE CUSTOMERS ARE CORPORATIONS, NOT PEOPLE.*

Once you accept that, it’s easy to sort out the design priorities. Corporate IT managers can and will get all hot and bothered over kernel refreshes and enhanced DRM.

* Note - this may not apply to Microsoft’s Mac Business Unit. Yet.

“MICROSOFT’S CORE CUSTOMERS ARE CORPORATIONS, NOT PEOPLE.”

Maybe. Not sure what the current state of market share numbers are for home users re: Windows vs. UNIX.

“Corporate IT managers can and will get all hot and bothered over kernel refreshes and enhanced DRM.”

Really? I know about half a dozen f500 CIOs and not many of them are “hot and bothered” over kernel refreshes. They are hot under the collar about the costs of supporting a new OS in their environment.

I trust you know the F500 CIO’s, but have you wondered about the role of CIOs.

Should they worry about OS kernel or cost of supporting new OS? Worrying about both of those microscopic things won’t help their F500 firm.

CIO’ should worry more about the following (not an exhaustive list; order is not important) a) Focus on right business priorities (right projects) that can help them deliver better services with higher efficiency and productivity & compete effectively with others in the industry b) Application Integration (internal and with partners/suppliers) c) Preservation of Intellectual Property d) Enterprise Architecture Frameworks e) Standardization f) Security g) Privacy h) Set great principles and infuse/encourage culture of openness and collaboration i) Think about creative ideas to reduce cost in resources (people are more expensive, and there’s lot of fat in most of the organizations) and big ticket items (server consolidation, app virtualization, etc) operations j) Promote nuetral vendor and unbiased approach to doing business k) etc. POints listed above can help him/her become a partner and CFO and CEO.

Are your CIO friends doing this or worrying about OS kernels and costs of mere dekstop OS? In my opinion, CIO’s should let the a) IT client (deskptop/laptop and moible) and server administratrators and b) Business Unitt enduser representatives plan for migration of OS.

“I know about half a dozen f500 CIOs…”

Or just barely more than 1%.

Ooooh… There’s a representative sample.

“MICROSOFT’S CORE CUSTOMERS ARE CORPORATIONS, NOT PEOPLE.”

It’s even narrower than that, depending on how one perceives, “corporations.”

That is, the computer OEMs — Dell, HP, Gateway, etc. — are the bulk of their business. Then comes the businesses large enough to have a volume license with MSFT directly — GM, Merrill Lynch, etc.

If the MSFT sales dept. deals with more than 1000 customers, I’d be surprised.

That’s it, I’m getting a Mac. Microsoft is definitely not getting it. They’re more interested in a flashy looking interface than one that’s ergonomic. Haven’t they ever heard that more is less.

Wow, how many interfaces are we expected to work in? These must just be trials, I doubt they release that many UI’s to the public. No way. That being said, nice to see some different ideas floating about.

I like that first pic with the bar docked at the bottom.

I use Vista…have since it came out…Yeah I’m that crazy. These screens are very interesting. A lot of different concepts… All very new, but they all seem less workstation-ish. Which I guess is good for a home user. If you could customize your desktop to choose any one of those themes at any time that’d be real cool…but if they’re just going to narrow it down to one that’d be not cool. But yeah…interesting…very interesting…

Holy shit, that’s one cluttered interface.

Your mind is cluttered, I guess.

Where’s the one with the BSoD?

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL hahahahahahaha you’re the n1!

I’m kinda of ADD, so the really cluttered interfaces work best for me. Looks like they talking my language with some of these…

These can’t be real, surely? They are so bad I just refuse to believe they are legit.

Yeah, they look awful tbh. But then I think things have been going downhill since Win 98. I’m gonna stick with XP for a bit then probably go Mac eventually.

oh joy, more extraneous graphical nonsense to waste resources on. there go my hopes of it being better than vista…

“I’m gonna stick with XP for a bit then probably go Mac eventually.”
why the hell would you do that to yourself? pick up a *n*x OS and stick with real computers instead of apple’s scrapheaps, if you can’t stay with XP.

I heart my task bar
Quick launch is pretty cool too

These are surely not confirmed designs seeing as some have been around as mockups for over a year.

http://digitalsoft.deviantart.com/gallery/#Interface-Concepts

Windows 7 Ultimate
“Version 6.1″

lol

Why are you laughing? The actual leaked builds of Windows 7 are version 6.1. It’s a poor choice for a codename, but “7″ is just that, a codename. I’m not expecting the final version to be 7.0, especially since Sinofsky’s interview suggested there weren’t going to be too many under-the-hood changes in this release.

The about box screenshot is the only legitimate image of the whole bunch — the rest are all fakes; they aren’t even Microsoft mockups.

Dear Mac,

I don’t think you’re gonna like this.

Sincerely,
PC

Why does the second image have a firefox icon?

Actually there is a Firefox icon AND an Opera icon.

Weird…

Out of all those screen shots I really like the wallpaper on the last one.

Apart from that I think I’ll wait and see what does turn out to be a real part of Win7

That wallpaper is on that deviantART site referenced earlier
http://joker84.deviantart.com/art/Dream-s-Path-69996290

I could easily confuse any of those with OS X. One of them even has a dock. People like Macs better, so Microsoft is making every OS more and more like Macs. They should try to find their own market, and stop stealing it from everyone else. They should give people a reason to buy their product over OS X or Linux, and not just copy them.

This is a serious rip off from Mac OSX and KDE4 (Linux). Can Microsoft be ORIGINAL for once?

“This is a serious rip off from Mac OSX and KDE4 (Linux). Can Microsoft be ORIGINAL for once?”

A good idea is a good idea. May as well put it in an operating system that people actually use… :P

Tell that to all the companies amassing software patents in order to stifle the competition.

I use mac osx… pf

Ever heard of terminal (bonus).

I really like how the firewire interface is setup with the audio sync as well. :P

Since when does Mac implements transparency in their GUI design. Last I checked it was solid brush metal everything. Transparency seems to be a big factor in future windows. The only similarity I find is the dock in the first picture which hopefully will never be implemented in windows.

btw. Anyone notice what looks to be OSX running in the bottom left hand corner of the 3 picture down. As well as Mac office in the upper right hand corner. These pictures are very fake.

Since when does Mac implements transparency in their GUI design. Last I checked it was solid brush metal everything. Transparency seems to be a big factor in future windows. The only similarity I find is the dock in the first picture which hopefully will never be implemented in windows.

Since the last major OS update, more than a year ago. Crawl out of your cave, dude. These screenshots show an OS that steals blatantly from Mac OS X 10.5 and Linux KDE4. No doubt about it.

“Anyone notice what looks to be OSX running in the bottom left hand corner of the 3 picture down. As well as Mac office in the upper right hand corner. These pictures are very fake.”

Not necessarily. (Or at least, not on that basis alone.) OSX runs just fine in VMWare under Windows. See:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/hal_seattle/389620413/

hey PC,

bet your new os will punk out just like vista, all hype not enough well written nuts and bolts to function efficiently, bet your reqs to run are dual quad core, 8 gb ram, and a 512 video card…cough/ cough/

good luck….yes i stick with minesweeper

mac

this is hillarious, all of this stuff looks like its coming straight from linux and fusion

it will take the gang in redmond quite some time to copy the apple os again!

add in the swiss-cheese security , and you have even more time to wait.

This sounds and as well as amzing.,…

All that and the “About Windows” still looks like it did in Windows 3.1? That’s progress!!!!!!

osx + kde = windows 7

>osx + kde = windows 7

fixed: osx + kde +/- security = windows 7