Microsoft Updates Its 25-year-old Logo

Microsoft is hoping to reinvent the desktop experience with Windows 8 and its Modern UI. The OS represents a massive change in the traditional desktop user interface, and it looks like Redmond is looking to give itself a little makeover, too. Microsoft today unveiled a brand new corporate logo. This is the first major Microsoft logo change in the company's history.

 

Speaking via the Official Microsoft Blog, Microsoft's Jeffrey Meisner said that the change comes in anticipation of one of 'the most significant waves of product launches in Microsoft's history.'

"It's been 25 years since we've updated the Microsoft logo and now is the perfect time for a change. This is an incredibly exciting year for Microsoft as we prepare to release new versions of nearly all of our products," he wrote, later adding, "This wave of new releases is not only a reimagining of our most popular products, but also represents a new era for Microsoft, so our logo should evolve to visually accentuate this new beginning."

Over the next year, Microsoft will launch Windows 8, Windows Phone 8, its brand new Surface tablets, the next version of Office, and updates to Xbox Live. There's also rumored about an Xbox 720 announcement at E3 in June 2013. For those interested, the logotype uses the the Segoe font, the same font used across Microsoft products and marketing communications, and the colored squares are supposed to represent Microsoft's diverse portfolio of products.

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  • zulutech
    Does this mean that microsoft is going square?
    Reply
  • dauntekong
    Going back to Square 1...
    Reply
  • A Bad Day
    How much money did Microsoft spent on designing their new logo? Some companies spent a large sum, only to get terrible results.

    Such as Enron, the name cost the predecessor InterNorth company around $100k (either in 1960's or 2010's money), but neither InterNorth or the design company realized Enron was also a Greek term for the digestive system or intestine.

    The correction attempts nailed Enron another few millions after the market and competitors reacted accordingly.
    Reply
  • beayn
    Ugh... it's even worse than when they flattened the IE logo. This logo looks like something from 1983. I want contours, transparencies, gradients, and shadows, not... blocks.

    The same goes for Metro.
    Reply
  • jhansonxi
    Kind of like a warning label - "Caution: This PC has Metro Inside"
    Reply
  • hotroderx
    I pefered the old logo somethings just dont need to change.
    Reply
  • sliem
    What the hell is that. I like the old one better.
    Reply
  • kcorp2003
    :bounce: yay

    i'll just throw this out there because its funny.

    http://img.labnol.org/di/googlechrome.jpg
    Reply
  • spartanmk2
    Reminds me of the old Simon handheld game.
    Reply
  • edogawa
    They should just make it look like metro tiles instead of squares. (Troll Face)

    Seriously though, I think it looks clean and simple, but I think the old one was better.
    Reply