Windows 8 Explorer UI Redesign Sparks Massive User Interest

The ‘Building Windows 8’ blog is just a couple of weeks old, but it’s already attracting a lot of eyeballs, and their number is only bound to increase.

There are already over 3,000 comments posted on the blog in response to various articles published by Steven Sinofsky, the president of the Windows and Windows Live Division, as well as additional members of the Windows team.

However, by far the star of the feedback show is the ‘Improvements in Windows Explorer’ post which went live just two days ago, but managed to catalyze in excess of 1,000 comments.

This particular ‘Building Windows 8’ blog entry is dedicated to the user interface overhaul of Windows Explorer.

For Windows 8 Explorer, Microsoft opted to scrap the traditional file menu, and drastically redesign the UI using the Ribbon / Fluent look and feel.

Customers that have used Office 2007 or Office 2010, or Paint and WordPad in Windows 7, are already familiar with the Ribbon UI. Those that didn’t can always watch the video embedded below for a taste.

According to the software giant, the ribbonized Windows 8 Explorer is designed to optimize the component for file management tasks, to streamline the command experience, all the while respecting Explorer’s heritage.

“The ribbon would allow us to create an optimized file manager where commands would have reliable, logical locations in a streamlined experience. The flexibility of the ribbon with many icon options, tabs, flexible layout and groupings also ensured that we could respect Explorer’s heritage,” revealed Alex Simons, director of Program Management.

“We could present a rich set of commands without removing access to previously top-level commands, something we knew was really important to our customers. As it so happens, while not primarily a touch interface, the ribbon also provides a much more reliable and usable touch-only interface than pull-down menus and context menus.”

Whatever your opinions may be on the evolution of Windows 8, head over to the official blog for the OS and share your feedback with Microsoft.