The background was an animated aurora and you could change the views of images.With planning for the OS beginning 2000 and ultimately ending in 2007 as Windows Vista, it saw the end of the Jim Allchin era of Windows and ushered in one Steven Sinofsky, who was recently let go of after the completion of Windows 8.Instead of dividing users and forcing a completely newfangled UI upon its users, Windows Longhorn sought to extend and enhance the familiar.While Windows Vista may have looked close enough to Longhorn, it was nowhere near it to those of us who grew along with Longhorn through its early years.
With this gallery, I seek not only to demonstrate the evolution of a the most exciting UI Microsoft has ever envisioned for Windows, but more importantly, to convey some semblance of the enthusiastic passion developers and users had for Windows: a passion long since lost that I think Microsoft should focus on reclaiming. The sidebar was going to be a centerpiece in Windows Longhorn, giving you instant access to the information you most wanted to see -- everything from contacts, to news, to documents and more. Although a the sidebar made it into Windows Vista, it was more of an afterthought by then, existing as a separate application that was ultimately unutilized and quickly abandoned. Windows Longhorn Code Into WindowsMany different UIs were created, but only one was chosen to be the model designers and developers would code into Windows development. This particular demo spawned the Plex (the name of the theme used in M3-M4 builds) era of Longhorn development at Microsoft. Subsequent themes used were Slate, Jade, and various forms of Aero. As you can see in this screen shot, there were massive changes planned for the Windows shell. Presumably, pressing the left and right keys on the keyboard would make items spin left or right, accordingly. Heres an example of an extremely wild Longhorn UI concept that never saw the light of day much beyond what you see here. This is one of countless login screens that were mocked-up by designers working on Longhorn. Though you cant tell from this screen shot, the background, called Aurora, animated and was to be realized via a then-new markup language called XAML. To note, this presentation was only a mock-up made and demonstrated in Macromedia Director (flash-based, basically). This look would directly inform visual development of Longhorn straight up through its cancellation with build 4094. Though the Aero name and some of its properties (like transluscency) would carry on through the completion of Windows Vista, the lack of many of the shell changes that would have truly shown it off made it nothing like its earliest incarnation, as showcased throughout the next handful of screen shots. Windows Longhorn Windows 7 Pranks YouIt was an awesome, awe-inspiring vision of the Start menu Related: 10 epic Windows 7 pranks you absolutely must try. The thumbnails feature seemed odd and out of place, but at this point in time, the focus was on showing off the potential of a sleek, clean, and glassy UI that Windows users would hopefully drool over (and we did). If you viewed this window in a non-maximized state, Aeros translucency would kick in. That said, Phodeo was to be a completely new experience for browsing, sorting, and working with photos in Windows.
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