Microsoft Is Developing A New 3D User Interface For Windows Phone

2023 Author: Gordon Kinson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-11-26 08:36

Back in October 2011, Microsoft revealed a new user interface called " Metro " for Surface tablets and smartphones. However, later, after the losing trial of the Metro retailer, the project name was changed to Modern UI.

The interface is based on live tiles that can be moved and resized. Metro was conceived as a response to Apple's winning, more icon-centric mobile interface, iOS. Nevertheless, despite the invested effort and money, the Modern UI project initially turned out to be unprofitable and unable to compete with the operating system from Cupertino. Recent information about a new patent for the next possible user interface for Microsoft's mobile OS only confirms this fact - the corporation is developing an alternative to Modern UI.

In 2011, Metro interface director Jensen Harris, director of Windows UI Development, firmly insisted that icons are an outdated way of presenting programs in an operating system's workspace, a "past century" in application management.

Nevertheless, despite the bravado on the part of the company's management, the devices equipped with the new interface from Microsoft showed extremely low sales results. In fact, when Harris and the team began to implement this user interface on the desktop, and especially after Microsoft decided to abandon the Start button, there was a small uprising in the Windows world.

As time went on, it became increasingly clear that Microsoft's idea of unifying the user interface on smartphones, tablets and desktops using Modern UI had failed. In 2011, before the launch of Windows 8, many wondered whether Microsoft would benefit or lose from the new concept. Now, in early 2014, it can be argued that Microsoft has lost.

Recently, on the pages of the resource Patently Apple, information was published about a new Microsoft patent registered with the US Patent and Trademark Office. According to this patent, the Redmond-based company has a back-up plan for developing a user interface for mobile operating systems. It is reported to be a 3D interface.

The new user interface is designed to eliminate the need to flip through many pages of icons and tiles, scroll through the workspace in search of the desired application. Instead, users will have the ability to manipulate a 3D polygon, each side of which will be occupied by one application, or a set of icons or documents.

Will Microsoft position this 3D interface as a replacement for Modern UI, or will it be a completely new product? Only time can answer this question.

See also:

• Microsoft makes fun of the iPad Air by pointing out the lack of a USB connector.
• Windows vs. Mac OS X - A comparison of the popularity of desktop operating systems.
• Empty Microsoft stores amid Apple Store hype during Christmas sales (photo).
• Forbes: Microsoft will become the leader of the mobile market in 3 years.
• Tablets in 2013: Leaders, Outsiders and General Trends.
• Steve Ballmer: Microsoft's success is a thing of the past.