Microsoft is betting it all on Windows 8, it's even putting the corporate logo behind it

Aug 23, 2012 14:41 GMT  ·  By

Microsoft is going on a limb and betting big on Windows 8. The fact is, it's so far behind in the phone and tablet markets that its only option is to cannibalize its huge desktop market to get ahead in the first two. If it works, it will pay off well. If it doesn't, well, Microsoft probably doesn't want to think about it.

But just to show how serious the company is about the whole deal, it's getting a brand new logo.

That may seem trivial, but it's anything but. Granted, its Windows and Office brands are better known than the actual Microsoft corporate logo, but it's one of the big ones nonetheless.

It's not a major overhaul, obviously, but it is telling that Microsoft opted for the "Metro" look for its logo as well, even as it's not called Metro anymore. The new logo is already live on some Microsoft sites.

The new logo is simple, four squares with the Windows colors, along with the Microsoft name written in, what else, the Segoe typeface, the same one used extensively in Windows including the upcoming Windows 8.

Apart from the typeface change, this is the first time the logo will include something besides the name, a symbol, the four squares.

Previously, it was just the Microsoft name. In fact, the four squares symbol, is going to be used prominently, many times without the actual name behind it. One thing that stayed the same though is that the 'f' and the 't' are linked together.

The current, well, the old Microsoft logo has been around since 1987. In that time, Microsoft transitioned to Windows, launched the revolutionary Windows 95, the longevive Windows XP, the crappy Windows Vista, its search engine has gone through more name changes than Prince and so on and so forth. The logo stayed the same, until now.

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The new Microsoft logo in ultra HD glory
The logo breakdownThe old Microsoft logo
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