Developer Bringing Windows 8 UI to Windows 7

News
By Marcus Yam
published

Indie developers inspired by tiles.

The Windows 8 tile interface that Microsoft showed off a couple weeks ago has been a big hit. The video that Microsoft released has hit 3.7 million views to date. (Click here to see that bit of news.)

While not everyone is thrilled by the tablet inspiration, Microsoft has made it clear that the new interface simply just exists on top of the current, familiar Windows desktop.

With that in mind, some independent developers are working to bring that tile-based UI to Windows 7. WinRumors has highlighted the early work of Italian developer Sergio James Bruccoleri, who is working on a public beta of a Windows 8-like interface that will layer on top of Windows 7.

Bruccoleri says that this demo is in a pre-beta state, and that a public beta will come with "effects and some cool stuffs."

Check out the video demo of his early work, which are clearly free of transition effects.

Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam served as Tom's Hardware News Director during 2008-2014. He entered tech media in the late 90s and fondly remembers the days when an overclocked Celeron 300A and Voodoo2 SLI comprised a gaming rig with the ultimate street cred.
51 Comments Comment from the forums
  • ben850
    nope.jpg
    Reply
  • Mobile UI looks good on only mobile
    Reply
  • SpadeM
    The Windows 8 tile interface that Microsoft showed off a couple weeks ago has been a big hit. The video that Microsoft released has hit 3.7 million views to date.

    Sugarcoating s**t at it's finest. Just because it has 3.7 million hits doesn't mean it's a big hit. The rating/comments sections have been disabled so should I speculate on why that happened or should I take your word for it and Microsoft "invented" the coolest thing ever since sliced bread. That UI for desktop users is a piece of crap, 0 productivity benefits therefor it won't (or let's hope not) replace the tried and true desktop. I for one would much rather see WINFS spring back to life then this ... but since cloud computing is all the rage now...
    Reply
  • Ragnar-Kon
    Interesting?

    Not sure why anyone would want this type of UI on a desktop machine. Not even Apple is bringing their Mobile iOS UI to the new version Mac OS X next month, and Apple is the king of taking functioning technology and making it less functional.

    Won't be getting this and I am hoping that this UI is optional in Windows 8. Otherwise I'll be sticking with Windows 7 for awhile.
    Reply
  • killerclick
    Don't want.

    Windows 7 is fine, just like XP. Tablets and phones? Don't care what they'll run on.
    Reply
  • carlhenry
    SpadeMSugarcoating s**t at it's finest. Just because it has 3.7 million hits doesn't mean it's a big hit. The rating/comments sections have been disabled so should I speculate on why that happened or should I take your word for it and Microsoft "invented" the coolest thing ever since sliced bread. That UI for desktop users is a piece of crap, 0 productivity benefits therefor it won't (or let's hope not) replace the tried and true desktop. I for one would much rather see WINFS spring back to life then this ... but since cloud computing is all the rage now...chill out. you haven't even tried the #$*(%% tiles yet and you try to sound you know everything. those tiles might look like crap but give it a chance. i'm sure some brilliant genius may be at MS or a 3rd party developer would make it useful.
    Reply
  • phatboe
    I for one think that the interface is great, for mobile devices. Would I ever want that interface anywhere near my desktop machine though, hell no.
    Reply
  • JOSHSKORN
    Oh whoopee...3.7 million views. I wonder how many viewed it multiple times to accumulate this many views. Out of those who actually viewed it, AND currently run Windows 7, I wonder how many of those actually care. At risk of sounding like a MAC user (I hate MACs), why would we upgrade from Windows 7 to Windows 8 when "it (Windows 7) just works" ?
    Reply
  • guardianangel42
    Did you guys even read the article? Better yet, did you comprehend it?

    "Microsoft has made it clear that the new interface simply just exists on top of the current, familiar Windows desktop."

    Though I don't know where they got this information or where exactly MS "made it clear" I have seen a demo where this new UI was replaced with the traditional desktop so I'm inclined to give them the benefit of the doubt.

    That said, this article is about an independent developer creating a skin for Windows 7 that enables Windows 8 like functionality. For most people, like me, that's interesting but far from noteworthy. However, for Windows 7 tablet consumer owners of owners of any of those cool touchscreen all in ones, this could prove very cool.

    So I'm failing to understand where nearly all of these comments are coming from. I can come up with a few things, but I prefer to give people the benefit of the doubt rather than label them something they aren't.

    This article isn't about how Windows 8 is the best thing since sliced bread. It isn't about the benefits of this UI for a regular desktop user. It isn't even really about Windows 8. This is about an indie dev making a rather good looking skin for an existing OS just because they can.
    Reply
  • reggieray
    Sits on top of the current Windows 7 interface, kind of like their UI sitting on DOS for years with a 640k barrier.
    I'll take Gnome sitting on a Linux kernel first.
    Reply