Posts Tagged ‘UX’

(Follow me on Twitter: msftkitchen)

Well, if the build hasn’t circulated yet, the motherload of screenshot collections of it has hit the net, courtesy of WinFuture.de. Click the photo of the desktop below to be taken to the site where you will currently find 115 screenshots of the build!

Reference: WinFuture.de

-Stephen

(Follow me on Twitter: msftkitchen)

Update: Content from thinknext.net has been removed.

Zhou, the guy from thinknext.net who fears not the powers of the Sinofsky, has come through again and posted some videos of Windows 7 build 6780. I’ll direct-link to the videos, then below are links to all of the screenshots currently floating around out there of this build (including the ones I posted). Lastly, I’ve written a summary of what we know about this build up to this point. If more surfaces, I’ll just update this post. Feel free to comment if you know of anything elsewhere that I’ve missed. If (or when) the build leaks, I won’t bother keeping up with this thread any longer.

Videos:

Screenshot Links:

Link 1: UXEvangelist WordPad UI
Link 2: UXEvangelist MS Paint UI
Link 3: ThinkNext Plethora of Shots
Link 4: ThinkNext Sidebar Search

Windows 7 Build 6780 (M3) Miscellaneous Information:

- The sidebar appears to be missing from this build. Gadgets still “snap” into place, though.

- There is a “light” version of WMP in this build which supposedly has a very quick load time.

- This build contains new wallpapers.

- Those with the build have commented that 6780 is a very responsive build and great on performance.

- WordPad and Paint have been given a UI overhaul with the ribbon bar being integrated in place of the traditional menu. Additional functionality has been added to Paint. The Calculator and PowerShell UI’s have also been overhauled.

- Slight UI differences are present throughout various places in the build; start menu, taskbar, explorer, etc.

More if/when it comes in!

-Stephen

(Follow me on Twitter: msftkitchen)

Update: Content from thinknext.net has been removed.

This week has definitely been productive! Here, we have brand new screenshots of build 6780. They’re running on hardware with Aero enabled. Here are a few shots (out of 35+). Check out the site below the pics for the rest, which includes more shots of the ribbon-laden Paint and WordPad applications (but with Aero enabled). I wonder if this is the guy who sent me some shots anonymously… lol. Anyway, on to the pictures!

Reference: thinknext.net

-Stephen

(Follow me on Twitter: msftkitchen)

Here is a glimpse at what Microsoft appears to have in mind for advertising on MSN in the future. The technology behind it is undoubtedly Silverlight, and by the looks of this video, I’d say clicking on and watching ad content just might end up being enjoyable! lol. Or annoying, depending on to what extent the ads autoplay to page loads and accidental hover-overs/clicks. Check out the video and see what you think. It weighs in at just over 10 minutes but the visuals are nice and they’re accompanied by some good music most of the time:

-Stephen

(Follow me on Twitter: msftkitchen)

Let me start by saying I am extremely grateful to the people who are giving me the opportunity to post this information. I’m not one for acting over-priviledged, so let me clarify that I’m just a medium here. I don’t know who the people are behind these screenshots, but as far as I’m concerned, all the credit goes to them, so, thank you, whoever you are!

This time, I’m able to bring you a screenshot of the WordPad UI. As you can see, it essentially looks just like Word 2007. These two screenshots show that the ribbon UI is indeed making its way into even the most basic applications of Windows as Bill Gates stated it would earlier in the year. How useful that implementation will be in the end won’t be fully determined until Windows 7 goes gold, but for now, it’s cool to see their ideas being implemented up to this point. What do you think about the continuity of the ribbon UI being used in Windows 7? I’ve mainly seen 2 types of opinions up until now and they’re both the extremes of one another; people either love the ribbon bar or they despise it. See my write-up a couple of posts down to make the link between my previous notation of generalized specifics and this screenshot. For the record, .docx files are not yet supported. I certainly hope they are by 2009/2010. Anyway, onward to the screenshot!

Windows 7 M3 Build 6780 WordPad UI:

(Click the picture for the full-resolution image)

Until next time, friends!

-Stephen

(Follow me on Twitter: msftkitchen)

Just a couple of hours after writing my little general overview of the new Paint and WordPad in Windows 7, some anonymous kind soul slid a screenshot my way of Paint to share with all of you wonderful readers of my blog! In conjunction with what I wrote below, the screenshot tells it all and should get some of you fairly excited to see the rest of this build. Blah, blah, blah… I’ll save the blabber for another post. =)

Windows 7 M3 Build 6780 MS Paint UI:

(Click the picture for the full-resolution image)

-Stephen

(Follow me on Twitter: msftkitchen)

UPDATE: If you’re coming to this page via a direct link, I’ve since received a screenshot I could make public. Scroll up and click “Start”. It’ll take you to my main page.

Yes, both Paint and WordPad have finally received the royal treatment. Via permission given to me to remotely access build 6780 to play around a bit, Paint and WordPad both look great and have much-needed updates. I’ve got to work within the permissions granted to me by my source and unfortunately, screenshots don’t fall within those permissions (yet), so you all will still have to wait to actually see this stuff. (Don’t worry, there is a LOT of chatter about this build going around by people who have it. I can’t help but think the next week or two will be quite fruitful for the community in terms of information, screenshots, and perhaps the build even leaking if someone is brazen enough. Just beware the wrath of Sinofsky if any of you dare the latter of the aforementioned choices…) Something I have been given the liberty to do is give a very broad teaser explanation of Paint and WordPad in their current 6780 state, so here goes.

MS Paint: In terms of functionality, imagine a software somewhere between the currently-existing MS Paint and the wonderful Paint.NET freeware application. Make everything accessible through a ribbon bar (tabs ‘n all) ala Office 2007 and voila. Even remoted in, the performance was quite nice. All of you users who love MS Paint but still need a second photo editing application just to do that one thing or two that Paint won’t do (like working with transluscent/transparent .png files)will be delighted to know that you may very well no longer need said second application. Bear in mind that this is MS Paint as it currently exists in a milestone 3 build OS not scheduled to be completed until mid to late 2009, so a lot could still change between now and then. Long story short, regardless of what changes, rest assured that MS Paint is going to be the cat’s pajamas!

WordPad: Basically, imagine Microsoft taking Office 2007 Word, slimming it down, tweaking the ribbon bar UI a bit, and calling it WordPad. While not as functional as Office 2007 Word (hence, the “slimming it down” mention), this version of WordPad is coming along nicely. It’s much easier to perform tasks such as adding a picture, editing text (I know this seems like a very generic mention, but trust me when I say that everything you do to edit text is made much more accessible thanks to the ribbon bar), and even cooking up your own drawings right there in a document. Office 2007 document converter no longer needed to view .docx files? Perhaps. =) Just wait until you get your hands on this build. Many of you will have a field day.

Well, that’s it for now. I know all of that is just generic info and I really wish I was at liberty to say and show more at this point, but I’m not. Trust me, I’m as excited as the rest of you to actually install this build locally, so… even if it’s not until after PDC, the excitement and anxiety is definitely there!

All @ Microsoft: Keep it up! Personally, I think 7 is shaping up to be one hell of product thus far. You guys and gals are doing a phenomenal job!

-Stephen

(Follow me on Twitter: msftkitchen)

According to a user by the nickname, “seveninsider” on AeroXP, build 6780 has gone out to the very, very select number of TAP customers. Usually designated for large companies and colleges, the TAP program is the mother of trust between Microsoft and whoever they accept. Members of a TAP receive very early builds of whichever program they’re accepted for. (There are various TAPs… Windows, Office, etc.) Anyway, though it’s very, very little to go by at the moment, “seveninsider” left a very miniscule teaser in addition to a couple of tidbits of information:

“…it has some nice new features that are not yet publicly known and major improvements to some old friends (WordPad, Paint, Calculator)… They also seem to have worked on the performance-side quite a bit… (I am running it inside Virtual PC 2007). This might also be the build that gets distributed at PDC an WinHec in October, who knows….”

With PDC right around the corner, it very well could be. With Microsoft undoubtedly thinking about the PDC build, it would make sense to gather all the information they could from TAP testers prior to compiling the PDC build.

That’s it for now. Oh, and here’s the teaser he left: (I realize all of this could very well be fake, but I’m going to take this guy’s word for it for now)

Update: This is the real deal. Paul Thurrott has written a little entry regarding some of what he knows and has heard. It matches with things I’ve heard as well. Check out his article here.

-Stephen

(Follow me on Twitter: msftkitchen)

If you’ve been a viewer of my blog for a while, you know that I love posting these “future vision” videos that Microsoft shows at conferences and meetings. True to form, I’ve managed to somehow get a hold of yet another one. This one boasts some pretty far-out ideas that I doubt I’ll ever see the fruition of in MY lifetime, but this is cool stuff (see: manipulating a 3D model in mid-air, a giant conference table that acts like Surface with tablet PC’s that interface with just about everything, and the chick with the legs at approximately 0:39), none-the-less. I was going to post some screen caps but it’s a short watch (and definitely entertaining). So, without any further adieu, SOUND THE TRUMPETS! *DUN, DUN, DUHHHHHHHHNNNN!*

-Stephen

(Follow me on Twitter: msftkitchen)

Ahh, just another build screenshot I ran across during my travels. I knew you hardcore enthusiasts would dig it. I really, really wanted the glass WMP in the taskbar. Not to mention, that weather gadget looks freakin’ awesome but maybe it’s actually out there and I just don’t know about it. (I still haven’t made the move to Vista yet… lol) Imagine that! Microsoft UX enthusiast guy is still using XP! PREPOSTEROUS! =) (Click the thumbnail below to see the full-sized image)