The new windows 8 logo

Microsoft has unveiled the logo for Windows 8. It’s certainly a fresh approach, and I think it’s a bold and beautiful one too. Despite the complaints.

The Windows 8 logo has been unveiled, and you can see it below in all its glory. And it is glorious, and fantastic. Even though that makes me sound like some kind of Microsoft fanboy. I do think a little love for the new logo is appropriate given all the hate being directed its way.

In a Windows Team Blog post, Sam Moreau, principal director of user experience for Windows, outlined the process of redesigning the Windows logo for the forthcoming release of Windows 8. He takes us through the various iterations of the logo over the years, from the basic design of Windows 1.0, the introduction of four colors for Windows 3.1, and the waving flag look of XP, Vista, and Windows 7.

We end up with the new Windows 8 logo, which is a back to basics affair with one, solid color and the name of the operating system. Simple yet effective.

Complaints are to be expected. Whenever any company changes something, especially in such a significant way, they get lovers and haters. Some will go along for the ride, appreciating the vision, others will reject what’s new and different. Often just for the fact it’s something new and different.

There is an argument to be made for the four-pane window to have been given a flat perspective rather than the tilted perspective Microsoft opted for. But then that would have generated more complaints along the lines of it being simplistic. I buy the whole “welcoming you in” angle, having thought that before reading about that being the thinking behind it.

What I see is a logo that will work on desktops, laptops, tablets, and keyboards. A logo that sums up the product – the Metro UI is reflected pretty clearly in the logo design – it’s selling. And a logo that could be as iconic as the half-eaten apple of, well, Apple. Stop the hate, embrace the change. As long as the actual Windows 8 lives up to the hype…