14 DAY TRIAL // The Windows 8 Metro user interface demos that Microsoft has shared with the public so far need to be considered representative of only the tip of the Metro iceberg.
There’s much more to Metro than just a pretty UI, according to Steven Sinofsky, president, Windows and Windows Live Division.
Only the surface of the operating system, Metro acts as a new platform designed to catalyze the creation of next generation applications. Windows 8’s shiny new look and feel in combination with Metro apps will provide an immersive UX to users of the OS.
“As we looked at Metro style for Windows 8, as we talked about [earlier], we see much more than a more monochrome set of visuals and fewer controls (when there are fewer commands),” Sinofsky said.
“We see a new platform, a reimagining of Windows. For Windows 8, Metro style means a new type of app—an app that learns from and improves upon the current (and most popular) platform.”
Personally, I look at the UI evolution of Windows 8 as the first example of an NUI + GUI from Microsoft for a Windows client release.
Metro is the sum of concepts such as natural user interface and graphical user interface, tailored by default to next-gen form factors that have shed more traditional interaction models.
The promise from the software giant is that BUILD, the Windows 8 conference scheduled for next week will be focused not only on the operating system but also on Metro UI immersive apps.
“At BUILD we’ll talk about the attributes of those apps, and the tools and languages you can use to create those apps. What we’ve said is that there is a very deep platform that provides for a rich opportunity for apps of all types—from media to social to games to productivity. We don’t see any limits to where this will go,” Sinofsky added.