The desktop in Windows 8 will drop the Aero look in favour of a cut down, "flattened" UI to better fit with the Metro style.

The Windows 8 desktop will preserve the "familiar feel" of Windows 7, while looking more like Metro to have "visual harmony" across the new OS, Microsoft said.

"In the end, we decided to bring the desktop closer to the Metro aesthetic, while preserving the compatibility afforded by not changing the size of window chrome, controls, or system UI," said Jensen Harris, director of program management for user experience, in a post on the Building Windows 8 blog.

"We have moved beyond Aero Glass - flattening surfaces, removing reflections and scaling back distracting gradients," he added.

Microsoft has removed the "glass and reflections", "glows and gradients", and traded in the rounded corners for square edges. "The default window chrome is white, creating an airy and premium look," he said. "The taskbar continues to blend into the desktop wallpaper, but appears less complicated overall," Harris explained.

The Windows 8 desktop won't look exactly like the Metro interface. Rather than Metro's white text on colourful backgrounds, the desktop will use black text on "light-coloured chrome" like Windows 7, in order to avoid compatibility issues with existing software and to keep it familiar to Windows 7 users.

Windows 8 desktop

The changes won't all be ready for the Release Preview due in June, so users will have to wait until the final version to see exactly what Microsoft has planned.

Moving to tablets

The lengthy post - which also includes a "brief" history of Windows UIs, in which Vista is dubbed "cheesy" - also reveals Microsoft's thoughts on moving to a more tablet-focused design.

Harris points out that when work on Windows 8 first started, the iPad hadn't been released. Now, users have different expectations from their computers, he claimed.

"People want a product that just works," he said. "They want to sit on the couch and enjoy their favourite apps and games and websites and not worry about the vagaries of the Registry or a million control panels or power profiles. They want to pick it up, enjoy using it, and then set it down."

Windows 7, on the other hand, is "almost absurdly configurable", he said. "We recognise that in the proper hands, or in the hands of someone who is willing to tolerate the downsides, these are not features to be critical of, but assets of Windows," he said.

"Our intention is not to lock down Windows, but to provide a platform that meets consumer expectations for how a device should work," he added, saying Windows 8 will be just as configurable for those who know how to do it, but people who don't want to fiddle with settings will be able to pick up their device and simply start using it.

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