Windows 9 Concept Shows That “Windows are not Dead”

The debut of Microsoft’s Modern UI in the Windows 8 operating system made many believe that Redmond might at some point turn its flagship product into a touch-optimized platform, but that’s very unlikely to happen in the coming years.

What’s more, Microsoft is slowly making some significant changes to its operating system in order to better work on desktop computers, adding options to run Metro apps on the desktop and even a Start Menu to bring back the user-friendly look of the platform.


A concept created by designer Jerry Jappinen shows that Windows aren’t dead yet, bringing options to launch Metro apps in their own windows and making the desktop a lot more useful.

“Windows 9 unifies previous contrasting paradigms, taking design cues from all platforms and recent innovations,” the designer states.

“The new design stays true to the Windows design principles but also shows maturity and focus. Windows 9 simplifies consumer computing experience without sacrificing capabilities or introducing radically new paradigms with no clear return of investment.”

His concept comes with window previews, so you get full window previews instead of icons or tiles, but also so-called smart settings that allow Windows 9 to adapt to various input methods. More personalization options are also included, and so is a greatly improved All Apps view on the Start screen.

“Windows 9 lays its elements firmly on a space that is natural to use in an environment of 2D display and input. While this space is proudly digital, it feels authentic and does not conflict with the way humans expect natural objects to act,” the designer stated.

“Touch, mouse + keyboard and other input methods do not require a fundamentally different UI structure. While touch input requires large hit targets, for example, cursor-based interaction benefits from them as well. On Windows 9, apps can easily optimize their interface for the user based on detected input device.”

Windows 9 is expected to see daylight in April 2015, but Microsoft is finally expected to share more information on this new project this year at the BUILD 2014 developer conference.