back to article Microsoft explains bland new Windows logo

Microsoft has detailed the thinking behind the latest change in its logo for Windows, saying the new design brings the software back to its roots. “If you look back to the origins of the logo you see that it really was meant to be a window,” blogged Sam Moreau, principal director of user experience for Windows. "Windows really …

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  1. Thomas 18
    Thumb Up

    I will always love

    3.1 / 95/98 that brings back memories. This new one is way too bland.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Linux

      Memories

      Indeed, memories of replacing Windows with Yggdrasil Linux.

      Good times.

      1. Clare (web specialist)
        Thumb Down

        Re: Memories

        Every time that there is an article about Microsoft out come the freetards extolling the virtues of Linux. If you are going to run business computers you need to use commercial grade software.

        1. Ben Tasker

          Re: Re: Memories

          Clare funny you should use the phrase commercial grade when talking about Windows.

          From the free dictionary

          Commercial Grade - of the kind or quality used in commerce; average or inferior;

          So what you're saying is that to run a business system, you should perhaps settle for something inferior to other options? Does seem to work for a good part of the world, but it does seem a little under-ambitious!

          Incidentally, one of my favourite factoids - The word 'bodge' as in 'to bodge' is actually derived from 'bodgers' who were considered master craftmen!

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Free Dictionary

            That Free Dictionary of yours has to be commercial grade, since it's free.

            ...

            I'll get my coat already, the one which costs a lot because cheap is oh so degrading for any serious man!

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          @ web specialist

          I'd love hearing the great web specialist you are explain how come "commercial grade" software fares so bad in areas like... web servers for example.

          Surely technical reasons have nothing to do with it, all those high profile companies who make billions out of the internet are just cheap asses who can't be bothered to pay a few bucks for proper software, right?

          Just like those Top-500 supercomputers owners: who would have thought that after investing so much in the hardware, only one out of 500 would have enough budget left to buy decent Microsoft software?

          In these days of rampant amateurism, it's reassuring to see professionals like you stand up against the unwashed masses.

          1. Luke 12
            Windows

            Re: @ web specialist

            A super computer is soo comparable to a desktop/notebook PC ... oh wait it isn't.

            Windows works pretty well as a web server and a desktop OS.

            1. Anonymous Coward
              Anonymous Coward

              @ Luke 12

              Who talked about Personal Computers here? I thought this was about business computers (and yeah, research has become just another business now, whether we like it or not).

        3. N2

          Re: Re: Memories

          Your post is somewhat unfinished,

          If you are going to run business computers you need to use commercial grade software...

          ...that dosnt go wrong, needs little maintenance, is utterly reliable & performs well on any hardware you choose to run it on.

        4. Steve Taylor 3
          Happy

          Re: Re: Memories

          > If you are going to run business computers you need to use commercial grade software.

          You most certainly do. And for that very reason nearly every job I've had for many years has been based around one Linux flavour or another.

          I did work for one place that used Windows, but their hands were tied, as they'd allied themselves with a Windows only GIS server. Poor guys...

  2. LarsG

    LOL....

    I wonder how much that cost them to develop?

    1. Jim in Hayward

      Re: LOL....

      30 million from what I read. WOW!

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Re: LOL....

        Compared to the 2012 Olympics logo, it's not too bad. It's shit, but it does look vaguely like what it's supposed to represent as opposed to fellatio.

        1. Peter Murphy
          Stop

          The logo vaguely looks like a window.

          The logo more definitely looks like a windmill blade.

          1. Euripides Pants
            Windows

            Re: The logo vaguely looks like a window.

            Sweden should sue - it's a blue rectangle with a cross on it.

    2. Lord Midas
      FAIL

      Re: LOL....

      Why did they need to get a design company in, when they simply copied the logo from the 80s. 30million for no work. Good work if you can get it.

      The logo is shit though. I mean, look at it. Dull as fuck, bland, boring. This is the message they are getting across for their new OS? Sigh.

      Also, this version of Windows is so radically different in design to any previous version (all of which have looks pretty much the same - just shinier), they should have called it a new name. Left Windows in the past and moved on to new new pastures with Metro. I know it's all about branding and Windows is a mega-bucks brand name. But this is Microsoft, and a new brand name from them would've created massive waves.

  3. Anonymous Coward
    Windows

    Back to basics?

    Or totally out of inspiration? Perhaps they fired the only guy who was capable to come up with new logo design every time ?

    I know I've become quite the critic when it comes to Windows 8 but here I simply see yet another fail. Ever since 3.1 the logo has always been RGB-Y, its very distinguishable and plain out recognizable. Even computer illiterates will pick the logo up as being Windows.

    And now that everyone knows that this specific logo represents Windows you're going to change it into something which is so plain that its not even remotely fun to look at ?

    otoh; maybe its a change for the best after all. Should Win8 indeed turn out into a disappointment (which I personally think is going to happen) then maybe some people won't associate it with Microsoft Windows due to the changed logo ;-)

    1. Phoenix50
      Stop

      Re: Back to basics?

      Yes that's right, the last time I went to buy an operating system for my computer, I thought "you know what, I'm going with Windows this time becasue the logo looks cool".

      Get real. It's just a logo - it's simple, effective, and everyone knows what it represents - which is precisely what good marketing is all about - brand awareness, conveying your product in a useful manner.

      "Less is more". Or in the case of your predictable anti-Windows tirades, "Less is a God-send".

      1. Ken Hagan Gold badge

        Re: Re: Back to basics?

        "It's just a logo - it's simple, effective, and everyone knows what it represents - which is precisely what good marketing is all about - brand awareness,"

        Bzzt, sorry, but if you remove the text and just show the "flat flag" to a random person in the street, I absolutely guarantee that none of them will know what it represents, which is precisely why this is bad marketing -> brand anonymity.

        It seems to me that the only thing "marketing consultants" are *really* good at is selling their own company. Maybe that's not so surprising, but you'd think that a company the size of Microsoft could protect itself against such sharks.

        1. alexh2o
          Windows

          Re: Re: Re: Back to basics?

          "Bzzt, sorry, but if you remove the text and just show the "flat flag" to a random person in the street, I absolutely guarantee that none of them will know what it represents"

          In all fairness they would probably say something like "I dunno, a Window? Maybe some tiles?" - which pretty much fits the whole Windows and Live Tiles business.

          Once people start using Windows 8 and the logo is on the charms bar, it'll soon get recognition...

          1. Robert E A Harvey

            Re: Re: Re: Re: Back to basics?

            St Pirin's flag. All over Kernow.

            or conceivably Saint Petroc's

            1. Norman Hartnell
              Headmaster

              Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Back to basics?

              @Robert E A Harvey. It's St Piran, not Pirin, but the same thought crossed my mind. I wonder if MS will do them in black and white in time for March 5th?

          2. Jim in Hayward

            Re: Re: Re: Re: Back to basics?

            I'd say 'Flag of Greece?'

            Win8 Logo == Fail !!

            1. Euripides Pants
              Trollface

              Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Back to basics?

              OK. I was wrong, Greece should sue - they have prior art going back to 1822.

            2. This post has been deleted by its author

      2. Jim in Hayward

        Re: Re: Back to basics?

        @Phoenix50 - Actually, last time I went to buy an operating system for my computer none were available (pre-Linux days and Unix was too expensive). I had to buy a new PC to get the current Microsoft OS (granted, I had not purchased a PC in 4 years but the new OS would not work on my existing hardware). One of the reasons I went out and bought a Mac instead.

    2. The Indomitable Gall
      Megaphone

      Re: Back to basics?

      "Ever since 3.1 the logo has always been RGB-Y, its very distinguishable and plain out recognizable."

      I'm not so sure. Starting with Google and Playstation, bright, bold colours have become something of the norm. The iconicity of the Windows logo was that it was four colours -- which colours they were doesn't really matter. Then there's the individual colour branding of MS Office apps, which has bled across to LibreOffice, imitating the ancient art of crisp-packet design (that's potato chips for those who get up late in the morning), which has further devalued Windows-colours as a brand.

      And aside from that, colour technology has moved on. With fades and wipes and grades and alpha-channeling, on-screen colour works in ways that are far more different from what came before. The Start button (which is on it's way out anyway) has become increasingly out of step with every generation of Windows since 95, because it's a product of its time -- when Windows 3.x ruled the roost, there wasn't much more than a few bright, bold colours, and that was exciting. The Windows logo screamed "look, we're in colour!!!!", nowadays it just screams, and delivers no message.

      1. Michael Wojcik Silver badge

        Re: Re: Back to basics?

        > The iconicity of the Windows logo was that it was four colours

        I have to wonder how many customers even notice this, frankly. I've used, and developed commercial software for, every desktop and server version of Windows since 2.0 (except Windows ME; presumably some of what I wrote would run on it, but I don't know that anyone ever tried). I couldn't have told you what the logo for any of those versions looked like without looking it up. If I saw one of those logos without the accompanying text, I'm not sure I could identify what product it was associated with.

        Now, it's entirely possible that I'm in the minority here. Certainly I seem to care less about color than many other people (doesn't help that I have deficient green response, a mild form of "color blindness"). And I have never had any patience for brand loyalty or suffered marketers gladly, so perhaps I am biased against remembering logos. But I too have to wonder about Microsoft's ROI on this sort of exercise. Is it really going to mean $30M in additional profits?

    3. Mike Flugennock

      Re: Back to basics?

      Knowing Microsoft, my hypothetical money's on "out of inspiration".

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "Not even Apple fanbois take things that far."

    Surely? Appletards seem to buy just about anything that has a nibbled fruit on it.

    1. FrankAlphaXII
      Trollface

      And they'll attempt downvote you to Oblivion if you criticize them, as you see.

    2. Michael Thibault

      Official!

      Everything that you buy from Apple does, indeed, have the nibbled fruit on it. Curiously shocking fact, that. Also curious is that it's the same logo--in shape, at least--as Apple has used for... wait for it... decades. Something bold, yet decisive, in that.

      Bitter much?

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Official!

        Not bitter, no, just observing that Apple could slap a bitten apple on a broken desk, call it the iSpace and sell it to apple fanatics at ten times the price. And the apple fans? They'd think it was the best desk ever.

        1. I think so I am?

          Re: Re: Official!

          Could you imagine if they stuck the nibbled apply logo on a can of Carling -

        2. Armando 123

          Re: Re: Official!

          Like all the success they had with XServe, the Cube, dominate the field with Apple TV, ... Oh, wait.

        3. Dana W
          Meh

          Re: Re: Official!

          I still don't own an iPad, or an Apple TV. So, not so much, no.

      2. Yet Another Commentard

        Re: Official!

        I had to take an LC II to the Apple shop to see if they could mess with it and get it to boot. They were very nice, and could find all the technical manuals,but could not. That's not the point.

        In the box was a series of pristine Apple Logo stickers from 1995ish. They were the apple bitten out bit, but in rainbow colours. The blue t-shirted masses nearly collapsed in fruitgasms over them.

        So two points "Not even Apple fanbois take things that far" is wrong, some do. Second Apple has changed its logo through colour apples to minimalist single ones.

        Downvote away...

        1. xenny

          LC II not booting

          replace the 3.6V motherboard battery and then zap the PRAM - hold command-option-p-r when you switch it on until you hear a second start up chime.

          1. Silverburn
            Gimp

            Re: LC II not booting

            Fanboi downvotes. You should see the voting trends of the fandroids...

            Fandroids = new fanbois.

            And cue the QED downvotes...

            1. FrankAlphaXII

              Re: Re: LC II not booting

              Absolutely right. Actually the Fandroids might even be worse.

      3. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Official!

        Is that the one The Beatles didn't use?

      4. Michael Wojcik Silver badge

        Re: Official!

        Not as bold and decisive as IBM, apparently, who've stuck with their "8-bar" logo since 1972, while Apple's fiddled with the coloring on theirs. (Of course Apple didn't even exist in 1972. Bunch o' uppity kids.)

        [Further trolling on this topic is left as an exercise for the reader.]

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Apple Fanbois...

      Won't even look at this page because it is windows, you'll be safe from downvotes.

    4. Armando 123

      Not entirely

      We're a Mac household, by and large. We do use iPhones, Macbooks, and got an Apple TV as a present. The youngest son uses an iPod touch because it came free with a computer as part of a promotion.

      Partly it's a quality issue; the hardware (aside from one fan bearing after eight years of heavy use) has been very reliable. That also means that we don't need to buy replacement hardware as often, so the total cost of ownership is, at worst, comparable to Windows. Software stability is another; our work Windows machines need a lot more handholding and seem to fall over a good bit. And I won't even get into security issues (though MS seems to have improved over the years; about time, too.)

      However, I'm converting my old G5 to a Linux file server and we have no iPad because we have no need for it. And the only reasons whymy older son hasn't bought an XBox is because 1) he's too lazy to earn the money, and 2) if he had the cash, he wouldn't buy something that unreliable.

  5. Ned Ludd
    Thumb Down

    Tiles

    Looks like tiles to me... tiles cleverly arranged to look like a window. I'm sure the designer still can't believe he got away with it.

    1. Voland's right hand Silver badge
      Joke

      Re: Tiles

      As usually it is also half-baked.

      Whoever has stuck those tiles has forgotten to grout them properly :)

    2. Anonymous Coward
      FAIL

      Re: Tiles

      a whole day's briefing and 3 minutes on Windows Paint.

    3. TRT Silver badge

      Re: Tiles

      Hmm... wonder if they're wipe clean? Which, by a staggering coincidence, is most likely part of the installation instructions.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Err...

    I quite like it... It'll probably have grown on people by the time that 8 has been released. Like many new designs, people hate them to start with and they're completely normal later on - People hated the Ford Ka, when it was released, but it's totally normal now.

    1. ThomH

      Re: Err...

      On the other hand, to me the London Olympics logo still looks breathtakingly awful even five years after its unveiling. Though it's possible I'm a minority?

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Re: Err...

        Nope: it still looks like Lisa Simpson giving a BJ. I'm surprised Matt Groening hasn't sued yet.

      2. Chad H.

        Re: Re: Err...

        It looks to me more like Canada and Australia crushing Ireland and Britain....

      3. Ken Hagan Gold badge

        Re: still looks breathtakingly awful

        Actually, it's getting worse. I think the original logo was just one colour, but people have now started shading the areas differently and this merely strengthens the perception. Check out the logo as used on http://www2.sainsburys.co.uk/activekids/.

        I thought there was a law against the depiction of minors performing sex acts?

        1. Audrey S. Thackeray

          Re Olympics 2012 logo

          Is the purpose of these logos to be liked?

          Or is being recognised more important? Being talked about?

          Is the aim to evoke a positive response for the product (rather than the logo itself) - in the case of the Olympics, who doesn't like at least one of Lisa Simpson and blow jobs?

          Design / marketing's not my area so I'd hesitate to suggest that the people who do do this for a living are doing it wrong.

    2. DJGM
      Flame

      Re: Err...

      The 1996 original design of the Ford Ka still looks like a heap of hideous fugly junk! Even about 2-3 years after it's been replaced with a better looking design, there are still way to many of the grotesquely awful original Ford Ka's on UK roads.

      Every one of them needs to be taken away and violently destroyed.

      Anyway ... that's off-topic. The new logo for Windows 8? Meh!

    3. Piro Silver badge
      Pint

      Re: Err...

      Bad example. The original Ka is still a mess. They took an a previous generation Fiesta platform, then stuck plastic to it in all areas.

      Another example: The Olympics 2012 logo. Still looks like Lisa Simpson performing a sexual act. Still looks awful. I can't believe they stuck with it.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Re: Err...

        The original Ka wasn't that big a gamble as it was a complementary model to existing models. They already had the Fiesta for sale that it was based on, it was almost a styling exercise to dip their toe in the water with "New Edge Styling" such that they didn't repeat the same mistake in launching the Ford Sierra in 1982 to a market that wasn't ready for it.

        I'd say the Focus was more of a gamble, as it was going after the conservative mid rangers. They even kept the Escort alive just in case it backfired.

        I actually think that the old Windows 1.0/2.0 logo looks more Metro-ey, with different sized panes.

        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Windows_1.0_logo.svg

  7. Chad H.

    So

    I can draw 4 quadrilaterals and fill the colour, and I can make up bullshit... How do I get a job in Marketing?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: So

      I was done in mspaint too

  8. Nanners
    Go

    Dude, you are getting a ...

    That dell logo is the most annoying thing I've ever had to look @..ever.. Perhaps also one of the most effective because of that fact. The flag is horrible, and has to go, but perhaps this is a case of any publicity is good publicity...we are talking about it.

  9. Robert Heffernan
    FAIL

    Metro

    Looks like Metro Tiles to me. BLEH!

  10. Adze

    It's a bit...

    ...St. Ivel Gold isn't it? With a bit of Lurpack lurve for the colour scheme perhaps?

    Will the tag line be:

    "I can't believe it's not Windows!"

  11. -tim
    Facepalm

    My first impression...

    Finland, Finland, Finland, The country where I want to be, Pony trekking or camping, Or just watching TV.

    Why do graphics designers over think things?

    1. Anomalous Cowturd
      Coat

      My first impression...

      Was of a fallen over flower in a pot...

      Just me then?

      1. Jim in Hayward

        Re: My first impression...

        fallen over flower in a pot...

        LOL! Very funny! Glad to seem some humour here instead of all the iHatred.

    2. Allan George Dyer
      Paris Hilton

      Re: My first impression...

      and a guy called Linus Torvalds comes from Finland.... I'm sure there's a connection there, but I can't quiet put my finger on it. Perhaps an albatross would have been better?

    3. amanfromearth

      Re: My first impression...

      Ah, so the subliminal message they are putting out is "Windows is Finnished"

  12. lemmac

    back to where it all began

    straightened out and added perspective to the original logo - great stuff

  13. Eddy Ito

    Did they put the window in perspective and give it sharp corners so as to avoid a problem with Apple? Just asking because it certainly might look enough like an iPad, or four, to draw the attention of Cupertinian hell hounds if MS hadn't made that choice.

  14. ElReg!comments!Pierre
    Pint

    ... and now I'm confused

    That logo looks suspiciously like my usual workspace on the laptop I am posting from right now, in negative: TWM with a light blue-green background, with 4 xterm widows, one at each corner.

    I originally posted that arrangement* on 4chan some years ago and I still have the screenshot, so I might even have proof of prior art. Should I sue?

    *very efficient, since you ask. You can arrange the reduced windows between the xterms, plenty of space.

  15. fzz

    Reminds me of BSoDs

    So what a fitting logo.

    What'll the Office logo look like, 4 pale blue zeros? Maybe one can be a square, one a circle, one an oval and the last an egg.

  16. justadesigner

    Paula Scher is the Principal at Pentagram

    >> "One of Pentagram's designers asked, “Your name is Windows. Why are you a flag?”"

    Dear editor: This quote was from Paula Scher, the Principal of the design firm (Pentagram), highly celebrated as one of the top Graphic Designers in the world, not "one of Pentagram's designers." She runs the company, I'm sure she didn't actually do the design (I'm not sure how I feel about the actual design yet). Still, look her up on wikipedia, and please give her credit like you gave Sam Moreau a name and title next to his quote.

    1. frank ly
      Happy

      Re: Paula Scher is the Principal at Pentagram

      Sam Moreau is the writer of the blog from which the information in this article was taken, so he has been given 'credit', as he ought to be according to established standards.

      If you look carefully at the article, the word 'blogged' is in a mid-blue font. You may have thought that this was a crude attempt at the use of graphic design aspects by the author. It is not, it is an indication of technical functionality. If you click the blue word, you will be taken to the blog which is the source of the article.

      In Sam Moreau's blog, Paula Scher is given full credit for the design. So, unlike you, I am sure that she actually did the design. Also, a link is provided to Pentagram (using the magic blue word technique) in case anybody wants to read more about Pentagram.

      Personally, I'd be more interested in the team that designed the cardboard box that the computer ships in, because they really are interesting and very useful.

  17. Steven H Taylor
    Thumb Up

    New light through old windows?

    Looks like tiles indeed. Clever, but probably too subtle for most folks.

    1. Jim in Hayward
      Thumb Down

      Re: New light through old windows?

      All the windows fanbois and shills are squeezing a 'tee-hee-hee' from the lungs as they look at the logo. Bunch of grade school girls blinking their lashes and giggling at the Win8 mock-ups.

  18. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    A whole day

    If MS could spend a whole day 'briefing' the design company about what they wanted, why couldn't they just go the last yard and design the damn thing themselves?

  19. Muckminded

    Light blue means

    It's a boy! Congratulations.

    I'm grateful that somehow, the perspective keeps leading my eye to the left, away from the company name. Someone earned every bit of the five minutes spent doodling.

  20. Dan 55 Silver badge
    Facepalm

    "Back to its roots"

    Nope, it's forward to Metro.

    They've obviously decided to carry on digging.

  21. Tom 35

    I think

    They just ran out of yellow and Magenta ink.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: I think

      Even MS can't afford to squander yellow and magenta ink from their inkjet cartridges. That tells you all you need to know about HP and Canon prices...

  22. Wanda Lust

    Finesse

    While it's a simple design it lacks finesse.

    The typeface is horrible and the windows are out of proportion as a simple visual device.

    However, to have corrected those to create the real subliminal messaging that excellent graphic design brings to "marketing" would have made it Apple'ish.

    So, to reflect the true value of Windows the designers were left with no option than to create something second rate, visually.

    One of Steve Jobs' strengths was a strong understanding of visual impact.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      "One of Steve Jobs' strengths was a strong understanding of visual impact."

      Eh? W O W. And here's me thinking Slackle has 1000's on the pay role, but everything was down to Jobs!

      Go Woz!

      Binned! Next comment........

  23. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Compression

    Can we see a version that hasn't been completely trashed by JPG Compression?

    No logo is going to look good like that!

    PNG please!

    1. Piro Silver badge
      Pint

      Re: Compression

      I absolutely agree. The official one on the 'Building Windows 8 "blog"' is also in JPG. What a horrible sight.

  24. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Can someone please find out how much Pentagram were paid for this? Actually, on second thoughts don't. It's probably about ten times what I earn in a year and I'm already feeling grumpy enough, this morning.

    Surprised no-one has picked up on the "Redmond, start your photocopiers!" aspect of this; namely Microsoft abandoning garish rainbow-coloured logo in favour of a more understated monochrome one... only a decade or so after Apple did similar.

    [Oh noes. I has dun a fanboi!]

    1. Nuke
      Facepalm

      @ madra

      Dunno, but a company I worked for had a new logo designed by graphic arts consultants and it cost about £50,000 we understood. We did not just get the logo for that though, we also got several pages of unparalleled bullshit about the inspiration behind it.

      The logo was simply the company's initials (two letters), one in red and one in white, on a blue circular background.

      Everyone immediately discovered that when you photocopied it (on a B&W copier) the red letter came out exactly the same shade of grey as the background, so only the white letter remained visible!

      In response to this cock-up the company announced that, although the logo was "perfectly satisfactory for most purposes" they would commission an alternative logo (from the same graphics company!) "for any material that would need to be photocopied". Since practically everything was photocopied at some point, and no doubt would be at the recipient's end too, this was piling BS on top of BS.

      I lost my respect for the company, and felt ashamed to send letters with this logo and my name on the same piece of paper. That is how important a logo is.

      1. Bruno Girin

        Re: @ madra

        Indeed. First rule of logo design: make sure it works in black and white too!

    2. Dana W
      Meh

      I was tempted but its just going to get thumbed down into the pavement by Microslaves.

  25. Si 1
    Trollface

    Looks like something you'd see when booting into safe mode... Is MS trying to tell us something about Win8?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Troll is right!

      Your assumptions may not be so!

  26. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Logo

    Well, it's the one thing they can make that won't crash all the time!

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Used vista since it's release and it's not crashed once! What you doing wrong?

  27. Ottman001
    Facepalm

    "the new design brings the software back to its roots."

    They can't possibly regress THAT far, can they?!

  28. MOV r0,r0

    I've seen worse. The logo might have been sat on its fat butt as if doing nothing while failing to make eye contact with the viewer, possibly in the form of some animal that goes to the end of the Earth to avoid competition, one that fails to implement basic functionality (I don't know, say - a flightless bird) and poos itself when challenged.

  29. Winkypop Silver badge
    Coat

    Windows 8?

    Why then, are there only 4?

    1. Nuke
      Headmaster

      Re: Windows 8?

      In fact there is only one. There are four panes in it.

      1. Chemist

        Re: Re: Windows 8?

        Real windows have panes. Windows is a pain

  30. Destroy All Monsters Silver badge
    FAIL

    "Windows really is a beautiful metaphor for computing"

    Just. What.

    1. TheOtherHobbes

      Well

      "Windows really is a beautiful metaphor for computing"

      'S true. Windows really is a beautiful metaphor for *Windows computing*:

      Breaks easily

      Needs constant cleaning and maintenance

      Not the most secure part of any home or enterprise

      Easy to see through (especially when you're selling double glazing) but hard to avoid

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Well

        .....because every other os doesn't do those things? Eh?

  31. Michael Thibault
    WTF?

    What hutzpah!

    To actually trademark that... thing. And, for Scher, to cash the cheque.

  32. magnetik
    FAIL

    As crap as the Olympic logo is, it does at least get your attention. How can Microsoft sanction something so dull? And the font kerning is pretty crap, they should have at least moved the dot on the i down so that the top lined up with the top of the W.

    As with the Olympic logo whatever they paid the agency was far, far too much. An intern could do a better job in MS Paint.

    1. Old Handle

      It seems to me they're deliberately cultivating a kind of "rough edges" look. Why, I have no idea. But it is reminiscent of the styling used in Metro, so I assume they're doing it on purpose.

  33. unklehomered
    Flame

    huh?

    "Windows really is a beautiful metaphor for computing and with the new logo we wanted to celebrate the idea of a window, in perspective.”

    Kill me...

  34. BrandNewIdeas

    Branding

    'why do Microsoft spend so much money on this sort of thing' WHY! because it is so important and they actually spend a lot less time and attention on it than Apple. People do actually buy IT for any number of reasons BUT one of them is definitely design of the product brand. This is one of the reasons Apple stay on top. (Not the only reason but a significant one). But you guys at the Register surely get this! Brand design is about tuning in to the mindset of your customers and helping them connect with the experience. Do I like the new Windows logo? Do I like the London Olympics branding. YES, I like new, I like different, it lets me know something has changed. Maybe in this world today BRAND design is the only thing that makes your product really different... now I expect that will get the technical guys really going... answers on a postcard...

    Stuart Greenfield -

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Branding

      Cannot tell if marketing dribbler or troll...

      Kindly state which you are.

      1. Mike Flugennock
        Alien

        Marketing Dribbler or Troll?

        "Brand design is about tuning in to the mindset of your customers and helping them connect with the experience."

        Marketing dweeb, no question about it. One of the few downsides of my work is that in the course of designing a campaign, I'm forced to work with marketing dweebs, and this is how they talk. No, really; this is pretty much the way they talk normally -- not just in meetings or press releases, but in the cafeteria, in the bar, at lunches. It's like they're mutants, something not human, but something weird and creepy and oily.

        (space alien icon, because, honestly, marketing dweebs are from another goddamn' planet)

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      >"tuning in to the mindset of your customers and helping them connect with the experience."

      “…counterpoint the surrealism of the underlying metaphor…” Hm-hm. Death’s too good for them.

      1. Sweaty Hambeast
        Coffee/keyboard

        Re: >"tuning in to the mindset of your customers and helping them connect with the experience."

        > “…counterpoint the surrealism of the underlying metaphor…” Hm-hm. Death’s too good for them.

        Brilliant! You owe me a new keyboard :-)

      2. Milo Minderbinder
        Thumb Up

        Re: >"tuning in to the mindset of your customers and helping them connect with the experience."

        What a brilliant exposition of ad-speak!

        The rest fits in perfectly as well:

        "Of the poet’s compassionate soul which contrived through the medium of the verse structure to sublimate this, transcend that and come to terms with the fundamental dichotomies of the other. And one is left with a profound and vivid insight into… err…

        FORD:

        Into whatever it was …

        FORD:

        …that the poem was about…

        Just substitute "poet's" with "adman's" (or should I rather say "adperson's"? I'm not good with pc-speak) and Bob's your uncle.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Branding

      ...let me know something has changed... (and I paraphrased your line).

      So, the fact that there's a huge "8" next to Windows isn't enough to tell customers that this is the new version of Windows?

      I have always been under the impression that the only real reasons for a new corporate logo are either 1) to waste resources or 2) an attempt to distance the company from a recent mistake.

  35. Aebleskiver

    No substantiated reports of a faint essence of joss sticks and whalesong in the area at the time?

  36. Falcon
    Headmaster

    As a designer...

    Maybe it's just me, but apart from being incredibly boring, I'd say this logo has technical flaws, that really don't look good for a tech company. The blue shape is in perspective, but the white lines are not. The horizontal line should taper towards the left, as the blue shape does. The fact that it doesn't leads to a weird, presumably unintended optical illusion, which makes the windows on the left and right sides seem to be different sizes (maybe they are! But that would be strange window design). Maybe they did this so it would still work at low resolutions, but that's not a good reason.

    The old flag designs may have been a bit garish, but I thought they were clever, by taking the Windows metaphor, and making it 'flexible', 'dynamic' and 'iconographic'. I wish they'd sort it out, I do like windows, but all of their marketing seems to fail and confuse.

  37. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Doesn't do much for me

    just makes me wonder what's behind the square window, for some reason.

  38. annodomini2
    WTF?

    Marketing...

    ... dept. working hard as usual!

  39. Doug Glass
    Go

    well ...

    ... oh forget it; few sheople give a shit.

    1. ElReg!comments!Pierre

      Re: well ...

      > ... oh forget it; few sheople give a shit.

      It's written "sheeple", and keep your voice low or they'll wake up.

      http://xkcd.com/1013/

  40. John Brown (no body) Silver badge
    FAIL

    Never understood this re-branding thing...

    The logo doesn't matter.

    What matters is shoving it in the [potential] customers face as often as possible. If the logo is already recognisable from years of use, why change it?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Never understood this re-branding thing...

      It all makes work for the marketing men to do...

      The old logo has been around a long time, everybody knows it: sketch a monochrome version in a cartoon and people will recognise the reference. It is a brand, stamp it on a product and, love 'em or hate 'em, we know who's product it is.

      But where's the marketing glory in that? So bring out the whale song and joss sticks, someone want to show how clever they are. Or not.

    2. annodomini2
      Thumb Up

      Re: Never understood this re-branding thing...

      Marketing dept. trying to justify they're overpaid, overvalued positions.

  41. Anonymous Coward
    Go

    wtf there's no Windows 89

    anyway,

    Imho it looks like M$ is getting a bit back to it's roots with the Windows 1.x and 2.x logos, and naturally of course (as others have said) it also looks like Metro tiles. You'll have to excuse me for being an old Windows flag guy but I think I can live with this new one.

    1. Tom 35

      Like Windows 1.x

      It has a CGA colour monitor look.

  42. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Oh, dear - Made on a Mac

    Pentagram is, and always has been, a Mac house, according to Ms Scher:

    “We didn’t invest in anything else. We started that way, we bought better Macs, we bought faster Macs, we bought more Macs, we still buy Macs.”

    http://www.apple.com/ca/pro/design/scher/

    Isn't this fun?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Oh, dear - Made on a Mac

      My apologies - the quote I used actually comes from page 2 of the Scher article:

      http://www.apple.com/ca/pro/design/scher/index2.html

      Still fun though.

  43. ratfox
    Trollface

    Return to the roots?

    Like a 55-years-old woman after a messy divorce who dresses and makes up as if she was 18?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Pint

      Re: Return to the roots?

      As long as she has fun, who cares?

      1. Steven Roper
        Facepalm

        @ theodore

        Actually, I care, and I'm sure quite a few other people do also, who'd rather not have to hold in our vomit while forced to look at some hideously deformed collagen and botox monstrosity with miniskirted tree-trunk legs and varicose veins like the Amazon river system trying desperately to recapture its youth, down at the local shopping mall!

  44. Mike Flugennock
    Coffee/keyboard

    Speaking as a graphic designer with 30+ years' experience...

    B'WAHH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HAAAHHHHH.

    Jeezus H. Bicycle-Riding CHRIST. That goddamn' logo looks as if it were done in about ten minutes, as soon as somebody realized that the client pitch meeting was in fifteen minutes. The sad thing is that Microsoft coughed up a massive wad of cash for that logo.

    Still, I do have to give the designers credit for making sure that the shade of blue they used didn't match the value of the infamous BSOD Blue. Still, they couldn't have picked a more bland shade if they tried. It's also worth noting that the shade of blue they've picked is very much like the kind of electric pastel shades common in the Rounded Rectangle School Of Web 2.0 Pseudo 70s Retro Mod Design, which is already pretty much "played" (as we designers say). Seriously, man; colors like that belong on the shelf with such relics as your Late 80s Designing With Two Colors Which Should Never Appear Together (remember all those goddamn' print pieces designed with teal and purple? Sadly, I do).

    So, just to reiterate: B'WAHH HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HAAAHHHHH...

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Speaking as a graphic designer with 30+ years' experience...

      Well, I can see why you'd be laughing - I'm sure all Pentagram's best and brightest will be deserting them for your company now. Hope you ace the next Windows logo once Microsoft realise what a blunder they've made (if they can afford you).

    2. Steven Roper
      Thumb Up

      Re: Speaking as a graphic designer with 30+ years' experience...

      Hey, don't knock the ol' teal and purple! That horrendous colour scheme is what got my company a major contract with our state government!

  45. Henry Wertz 1 Gold badge

    Not distinctive...

    I don't use Windows anyway, so I don't REALLY give a toss. But I think those who point out it's not distinctive are right on

    Firstly, they've used variations of the Windows 3.1 on up Windows logo for a looong time, and it is certainly recongizable by a lot of people. Throwing that out the window is not smart. Although, they are completely redoing the interface anyway.

    But, more significantly, using 4 blue squares as a logo, umm... it doesn't stand out, and it's easy for some unrelated on-screen element to look like some blue boxes, especiallly given the fvwm-like (or dare I say it twm-like?) interface they seem to be favoring.

  46. DEAD4EVER

    windows 8 logo

    does that mean this will appear on start-up when its loading oh wait you may not catch it quick enough if Microsoft claims that windows can boot in 8 seconds lol. doesn't look impressive to me think ill stick with windows 7 its better than xp and I see no need to upgrade for a long time windows 7 works for me and does what I want it to do.

  47. Kurtis

    Eugh

    I think a child could design that logo, or one that is better! It looks cheap and tacky!

  48. Jim in Hayward

    The best logo?

    Frankly, their logo in '89 was the best. Everything after that sucked. This includes the Win8 logo. Looks like a Greek flag!

  49. Mark Allen
    Windows

    Printer Test Page

    So what are they going to put on the Printer Test Page in Windows 8?

    That little flag in the corner has always been perfect for checking the colour is actually working, while not wasting tons of ink.

    1. Audrey S. Thackeray

      Re: Printer Test Page

      Best post in this thread.

  50. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    I just hope they'll bring back Ted Moult too.

  51. Piro Silver badge
    Pint

    It's shite..

    Really, not worth a penny..

  52. Matt Devney
    Megaphone

    I read all the comments...

    And no-one said the most obvious statement: all that matters in the way it looks is that it must be inoffensive. It achieves that simple goal.

    And why should it be inoffensive? Because the vast majority of computer users/buyers have their OS chosen for them by someone else. And that 'someone' does not care about the quality of the brand logo. So it really really REALLY doesn't fecking matter.

    Marketing? WGAFF?

  53. fLaMePrOoF
    FAIL

    It is a flag - a Shetland flag...

    http://mynokiablog.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/shetland.jpg

    1. Nuke
      Holmes

      @ Flameproof

      Isn't that the place that the BBC weather men (aat least the ones with provincial accents) used to pronounce "Shitland".

      I do believe it was a private joke of theirs.

    2. Gordon M
      Joke

      A Flag, yes - but not Shetland...

      It's a reverse-Finnish Flag - to symbolize the reverse-takeover of Microsoft by Nokia. Oh, those cunning, cunning Finns! Well, I for one welcome our new Finnish-Microsoft Overlords...

  54. DrXym

    Monochrome tiles

    For some unfathomable reason Microsoft have decided with Windows Phone 7 and Metro that everyone really likes a single colour scheme across all their tiles. Apparently the days of being able to pick out an action by a familiar shape AND colour are gone.

    So in that context the logo makes sense I guess.

    Fortunately most 3rd party apps put colour into their icons. to brighten things up but it still looks extremely bland in the default apps and I don't believe for a second that it makes things more usable either. Can't even change the background colour of a tile in WP7.5.

  55. ZiggyZiggy
    Holmes

    “Your name is Windows. Why are you a flag?”

    That'll be three million dollars please.

    1. poohbear

      Re: “Your name is Windows. Why are you a flag?”

      Your name is Windows. Why are you a parcel?

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Re: “Your name is Windows. Why are you a flag?”

        Your name is Windows, why are you a window?

  56. Hatless Pemberty
    Facepalm

    All the right notes, sunshine

    Poor sods. You almost have to feel sorry for them.

    No matter how much time and money they throw at a problem Microsoft always manages to come out with a solution that looks derivative and rather wonky. Must be a curse.

    1. FrankAlphaXII

      Re: All the right notes, sunshine

      Its no curse. Its management stupidity to the highest level. Microsoft has the ability to be a damned good and innovative company. They just have idiots/dolts/dumbasses/whatever in leadership positions.

  57. cherkoguy

    With apologies to "Love is Blue"

    With the introduction of this logo, now we can do things like "Blue, Blue, my World is Blue, Blue is my World 'cause Windows 8 My Data."

    Stare at the the blue boxes long enough, and the lines separating them will start to fill in with the blue color. Windows is all illusion!

  58. David Gale

    "Yes that's right, the last time I went to buy an operating system for my computer, I thought "you know what, I'm going with Windows this time becasue the logo looks cool".

    Aesthetics over function? With the exception of the design (sic) community, isn't that exactly what the majority of people do when they're choosing a Mac?

    A very apt logo given that the IT world is dumbing down and Microsoft couldn't recognise a strategic advantage if it jumped up and kicked them in the head...

  59. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    It's not even windows any more!

    How ironic that they are still calling it Windows, when along with Gnome 3 and Unity et al, the trend is away from windows altogether - to one task at a time, fully maximised!

    1. /dev/null
      FAIL

      Re: It's not even windows any more!

      Perzackly! Most of my cow-orkers seem to like to run everything full-screen. I'm the only one who sticks with the "messy pile of paper on a desk" metaphor. "Windows" was always a rubbish name for an OS, nowadays its both rubbish an largely irrelevant. Especially "Windows Server"...

  60. hopkinse

    Looks suspiciously like the ultra-gaudy blue Nokia Lumia colour scheme. Subliminal association intended perhaps?

  61. Sceptic Tank Silver badge
    Windows

    Windows H8

    I personally h8 this design. But I don't think it was done in MS Paint. It's got more of a Jobsian minimalist feel to it so I think the designer was using a minimalist Apple tool.

    Show these windows designers the door.

    1. Mike Flugennock
      FAIL

      Re: Windows H8

      Apple's marketing design style may be minimalist, but it's always had a certain amount of elegance to it. The Windows 8 logo has all the elegance of a brick.

      As someone who's done graphic design exclusively on Macs since he moved over from "traditional" design in 1985, I find it embarassing that this boring-assed logo was designed by a Mac-based studio, likely with Adobe Illustrator -- not a minimalist tool at all -- which makes it even more embarassing.

  62. Nixon

    It's a Window, not a flag.

    Sorted.

  63. Iain Leadley

    Why?

    Whats the point? If you like Windows you will buy it. If you don't you won't.

    It's not as though they are a really small company in a market of hundreds.

    It looks crap, wonder how much it cost?

  64. Identity

    Cheaper to print

    not that they need to worry about that...

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