This year it appears to me that Microsoft have been working hard at the way they appear to consumers whilst being able to release useful applications and services for businesses. Obviously over the past few years Microsoft have come under fire from the media for things like Vista (which I really don’t see why there was such hate for the OS) and it seems now Microsoft is doing a good job at reversing all the negitive media they have been receiving.

Below I have a selection of some of the best designs from Microsoft over the past year with a very brief reason why I think the design is an improvement.

Logos

Visual Studio 2010

I much prefer the new logo for Visual Studio however I am not sure what the new logo has to do with development, at least the old one looked like “all the pieces came together”. An addition improvements to the Visual Studio can be seen in the new splash screen. More information can be found about the Visual Studio 2010 beta here.

This new logo follows the update to the MSDN site and new logo, I talk about the MSDN site a bit later but you can see the new logo below; sorry, couldn’t find a bigger version.

Windows Phone

When Microsoft released its updated operating system for mobile phones on October 6th it also came out with a rebranding for new phones to raise consumer awareness about phone powered by Windows Mobile. With the rebranding came a new logo for the phones. The looks ok but would surely only be good on screens as when printed it would lose some of that glossy look, it also separates it from the Windows that runs on computers but without removing it from the family.

It is also possible to create your own customised Windows Phone button like the one below.

Microsoft Store

When Windows 7 launched on October 22nd it wasn’t the only major thing Microsoft launched that day as they also opened their first retail store. There quite a bit of design involved with the store from the planning of the store to the logo and how the online store would look. I think the Microsoft Store is excellent as it will become easily identifiable to the store as they are few like it and at the same time it reflects the Windows and Office logos.

Interface

Software

Windows 7

Not really sure where to start with this as Microsoft made changes to a lot of the interface of Windows, as I am sure many of you know, but perhaps the best addition to the Windows interface the more function Aero with peek and snap, both features I would never have thought I needed but now can’t live without.

Zune Software

Before this year I had tried the Zune software but didn’t find it to be any better to Windows Media Player as both do the same things (WMP does do some extra things like Play To) but then after I won a Zune 8 I had to use the Zune Software, something I now use all the time.

On September 15th Microsoft released the Zune HD, new software and updated Zune.net, I have to say the interfaces of all three are excellent but as I have only really used the software I have to say that the Quickplay interface is a really useful and functional way to access the music I am most like to play, a great innovation in music player software interface design.

I might be a bit of a Mika fan by the way.

Office 2010

I have been testing Office 2010 for quite a while now, not much is new about the design of the interface, other than the the ribbon is on all the applications and not just a few, but the one thing I did want to draw attention too was the Backstage section of the applications. Its a great way to see all the information about the document but also an easy way to edit a lot of options without having to open up dialogue boxes, as seen in the below image for printing a document in Word.

Online

Zune.net

As I mentioned earlier I have infrequently used zune.net, mainly because users need to be in the US to get the most functionality out of the site, but I have been on there and I have to say the interface it much cleaner since it was updated on September 15th. A great addition to the site is the ability to play music, if you have a Zune Pass, straight from the site.

I hope that some day soon the Zune brand and all of its services (some Zune services will be coming to Xboxes near you soon) will come to the rest of the world.

MSDN

MSDN has recently been given a major facelift, now I don’t use the site much as I am not a programmer however I do know a good upgrade when I see it and I have to say the redesigned site is definitely an improvement over the old one, its a much cleaner, simpler interface and design which displays relevant information in a more useful way.

Microsoft Store

Just thought I would share a screenshot of the updated Microsoft Store just to show how clean it looks and how the use of colour separates it from the another technology vendor’s website.

Branding

Windows 7

With the launch of Windows 7 came, as expected, as large branding/media campaign. When I first first saw the packaging for Windows 7 I thought it had lost some of the glossy look that Vista had and I thought that wasn’t a good thing to, however now I know that Microsoft are looking to show just how simple Windows 7 it makes sense that they want the packaging to be as simple as possible. Also Microsoft were able to make the packaging “greener” by losing that glossy look as the outside of the box can just be card.

The use of simple solid colours has allowed an easy extension of the branding to all kinds of media by just using the colours of the Windows 7 boxes, as seen in the below picture of Microsoft.com on October 22nd.

Along the colours of the splash screens on the Windows 7 ads it looks, to me at least, that Microsoft have been clever with the use of green to encourage the majority of people to purchase Home Premium (comes in a green box) as that is colour most people will associate with Windows 7.

Zune

Now this isn’t new this year apart from the fact the Zune brand will be rolling out to more and more devices, firstly the Xbox over the coming months but I have to say that the Zune brand might be one of the strongest I have seen as it only requires a colour gradient and immediately I know that it is part of the Zune brand and then they added to the gradient to incorporate the Zune HD.

Zune Brand

Zune HD Brand

When those colours are combined with the Zune logo it is an unmistakable brand and with only a gradient that is quite impressive.

As you can see there have been some great design from Microsoft this year in terms of what the user can see straight away, obviously there have been other good designs in terms of software architecture etc etc but they are much harder for me to explain and show. I think it can be seen that Microsoft are aiming more towards the consumer in 2009 and less to the businesses, which is exactly what they need to do to compete with they rivals.

I wonder if there will be any other great designs before the year is out, we still have two months and news of Windows Live Wave 4 to go yet.

They might be some other designs I have forgotten so let me know if you think I have missed anything.