
Microsoft gets a new logo for the first time since 1987 - cleverjake
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2018972097_microsoftlogo23.html
======
sudonim
The logo is O.K. Their homepage <http://microsoft.com> looks like a mix
between a "corporate" website template you'd buy for $50 and a domain
squatting page with amazon referral links.

Gosh I want to cheer for microsoft but they make it real hard.

~~~
colanderman
Not to mention the URL… <http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/default.aspx>, really?
Have they not heard of internal/external URL mapping and Accept-Language?

Not to mention it won't even load for me; I guess they don't cache this stuff
either.

~~~
rhplus
LCIDs in the URI remove ambiguity about which language to serve (do you use
Accept-Language? Or IP sniffing? Or user prefs in cookies?), they remove
ambiguity about which storefront to show for a market and - most importantly -
they make alternate language/markets indexable by search engines because each
has a distinct URI.

Why are Apple, IBM, Amazon, Google doing it if it's such a terrible design?

<http://www.ibm.com/us/en/>

<http://store.apple.com/us>

<http://www.apple.com/ca/fr/mac/>

<http://support.google.com/adwords/?hl=en>

<http://www.amazon.ca/fr/>

~~~
colanderman
Accept-Language is clearly the correct solution. It's easy to set in browsers
(at least it is in Opera, if it's not in some other browser then I contend
that's a UI bug), and OEMs should set it to a sane default for the region in
which the browser is distributed.

The indexability is an interesting argument, but my response is that there
should be a standard mechanism to query, via HTTP OPTIONS, in which languages
a resource is available. By doing so, a user agent or search engine can easily
index all versions of a resource.

Whether or not such a standard _exists_ I do not know, but Google certainly
has the clout to standardize such a mechanism (viz. sitemaps and #!).

~~~
simonw
Unfortunately Accept-Language simply doesn't work - if you talk to engineers
at Google they'll tell you that they've done the research and an enormous
number of browsers have the incorrect setting and hence send an inappropriate
header.

~~~
Dylan16807
How often is an accept-language that isn't set to English wrong?

------
quarterto
I... don't hate it. What's wrong with me? It's bold, it's fresh, it does a
pretty damn good job of shrugging off the Microsoft of the past 25 years.

~~~
astrodust
You mean the one that utterly dominated the computer market and made money by
the truckload when other companies could barely survive?

Well, at least that's over now.

~~~
pyre

      > made money by the truckload when other companies
      > could barely survive
    

The other companies would probably have fared better of Microsoft wasn't
dominating the market. This phrasing makes it sound like the market wasn't a
zero-sum game.

~~~
Prophasi
The market wasn't then, and isn't now, zero-sum.

Microsoft's domination was achieved by making passable-to-excellent browsers
in the beginning and putting them on the desktop, which made the web more
accessible to millions of people, boosted commerce, and pushed feature
development forward much more quickly than Netscape (or any company) would
have done absent competition. Bigger market, bigger pie, more investment, more
jobs, more consumers.

Netscape died, of course. But it didn't have to be that way; and Microsoft won
far more than Netscape lost.

~~~
pyre

      > The market wasn't then, and isn't now, zero-sum.
    

How many desktop operating systems are normal people going to use? Operating
systems don't tend to be complementary (people running multiple OSes and
desktop VMs are the exception, not the rule... especially back in the 90s).

~~~
astrodust
For desktop, probably only one, but who uses "desktop computers" any more?

Now that your phone, your music player, your computer, your notebook, your
tablet, your game console(s), your television and your video playback device
all need an OS, I'm guessing the number of operating systems people use on a
daily basis is higher than you think.

~~~
pyre
Now? Yes. In the 1990's? Not so much.

------
buro9
For me... personally, the logo doesn't work.

I am slightly colour blind.

The logo in the article I see just fine, and all of the squares are the same
size. And I get it... Metro theme.

The favicon.ico and small logo on Microsoft.com

Those don't fair as well. The red and yellow squares are much larger than the
green and blue, and my eyes see a throbbing line around the bottom and left of
the red box, and a black line at the bottom of the blue box.

Now... I know that those boxes don't have those lines. For I know what the
Metro style guide looks like. But there it is, the logo has not been viewed by
anyone colour blind with the ability to have it modified. There should be more
space between the boxes when it's shrunk.

The red box is literally 20% wider than the blue to my eyes.

You know how much of the population is colour blind? A very significant chunk.

Also... those colours... very bad choice. When you print this logo
(greyscale), all of the colours come out too similar a shade of grey. There is
no distinction between them.

~~~
untog
I'm part of that colour-blind chunk, and I don't see anything like what you're
seeing. The squares appear to be an uneven size, but what would that have to
do with our lack of ability to see colour?

Colour-blindness comes in a great many varieties, and to be honest, if you're
making something involving colour, you're going to displease some of them.

~~~
DominikR
Arguably (for this logo) seemingly wrong proportions are worse than too
similar looking shades of grey, since no writing or visual metaphors lost are
lost when you convert this logo to greyscale.

And I personally believe that this could (and should) have been worked around
in some way since about 7-10% of the population has some kind of color
blindness.

------
toddmorey
Jokingly: That logo cost them $50 [1]

My real questions are whether there will be a one-color variant, whether the
symbol will be allowed to be displayed without the type, and how you could
ever secure international trademark on four squares. My guess is that you'd
have to be, well, Mircosoft. More than the logo designers, I'm really
impressed by the legal team. My trademark lawyers would laugh at me.

[1] <http://www.bestlookinglogos.com/2009/07/four-square-logo/>

Edit: fixed to read 'international trademark'

~~~
Jabbles
Should I make a FourSquare reference?

I'm just amazed that the colours are a rotation of Google's Favicon... Red
Green Blue Yellow. (Alright so it's orange, not red.)

[https://www.google.com/search?num=10&hl=en&site=imgh...](https://www.google.com/search?num=10&hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1600&bih=1088&q=google+icon&oq=google+icon&gs_l=img.3..0l10.1847.3183.0.3384.11.11.0.0.0.0.117.806.9j2.11.0...0.0...1ac.NvWvYh2x8Po)

Is there any way to get a compressed google search URL that's not a redirect?

~~~
tptacek
Those are the Windows colors. They predate Google.

~~~
Jabbles
Oh.

I wonder why Google chose those colours then? There was a rumour about their
first server being made of various colours of lego bricks, but maybe someone
put more thought into it...

~~~
tptacek
The full-saturation primary colors, plus green? Because they're obvious.

~~~
odajay
Aa

------
VMG
Interesting... I've never seen this before: <http://i.imgur.com/Ag3fl.jpg>

Edit: found better res

~~~
fuzzix
I did vote for that one, but I am listening to 80s metal right now - that may
have influenced me.

~~~
wprater
I voted for that one too! Never seen it; spitting image of MegaDeth or
Metallica! Haha

------
mbesto
You know the greatest lesson I learned from the tv show The Wire? When your
brand lacks credibility you make a change to the brand.[1][2] Good move by
Microsoft.

On other hand, I'm still trying to grok why Twitter changed it's logo
recently[3]? Was something inherently being tarnished about the Twitter brand?
As far as I know, the answer is NO.

I'm going to make a major assumption here, but I think it had to do with it
being driven by a Creative Director and not by a Marketing (i.e. Business)
person. The blog post and title at least reads that way.

[1]-
[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Undertow_(The_Wire)#Barksdale_t...](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Undertow_\(The_Wire\)#Barksdale_trade)

[2]- <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KbbZc2pab9k>

[3]- [http://blog.twitter.com/2012/06/taking-flight-
twitterbird.ht...](http://blog.twitter.com/2012/06/taking-flight-
twitterbird.html)

~~~
notatoad
Microsoft isn't changing their brand, they're updating their brand. It's
something virtually every company does from time to time, and it's not a sign
of the apocalypse. Microsoft isn't escaping any of their past with this
change, they're still very recognizable as the same company as before.

Your assumptions about the reason for updating a brand are even wronger in the
case of Twitter. They didn't update their brand because it was weak, quite the
opposite. The twitter brand is currently so strong, it afforded them the
unique opportunity to drop the words from their trademark and use just an
icon. Twitter's rebranding was them stepping up to an exclusive club of the
worlds most highly recognizable brands.

~~~
mbesto
> _Microsoft isn't changing their brand, they're updating their brand._

Semantics.

> _it's not a sign of the apocalypse._

I'm sorry if I implied it's a sign of the apocalypse. I didn't mean it that
way. The point is Microsoft has suffered greatly due to the massive success of
Apple. This is no news to anyone. They're not going to die anytime soon, but
they have a MASSIVE threat. The Wire's portrayal of the character's brand and
that of Worldcom, are not a 1:1 match, I agree, but the theory is the same.

My point was to draw the real reasoning behind branding and why companies
shift and update brands. I've personally been trapped in this before, and
thought "God that logo looks like shit! That company, or my company, should
change it! They would do so much better if they did!" Branding/Logo is about
associations of an image with the company and its values. When the values of
the company deteriorate, lack credibility, etc, than the association of the
logo starts portraying those negative values (or lack thereof).

For example: How many people here think Google should change it's logo? The
logo itself lacks any sort of design principles and very clearly was created
by a techie with lack of graphic design. So why on earth hasn't Google changed
it?

> _Your assumptions about the reason for updating a brand are even wronger in
> the case of Twitter.Twitter's rebranding was them stepping up to an
> exclusive club of the worlds most highly recognizable brands._

I apologize, I wasn't aware that the logo before explicitly included the name.
Regardless...

> _Twitter's rebranding was them stepping up to an exclusive club of the
> worlds most highly recognizable brands._

8 of the top 10 brands in the world have their name in their logo...[1] What
exclusive club are you talking about?

[1] -
[http://images.businessweek.com/ss/06/07/top_brands/source/1....](http://images.businessweek.com/ss/06/07/top_brands/source/1.htm)

~~~
notatoad
>How many people here think Google should change it's logo? The logo itself
lacks any sort of design principles and very clearly was created by a techie
with lack of graphic design. So why on earth hasn't Google changed it?

They have changed it. They subtly update it every couple years to keep the
shading and the bevel in line with current trends.

In any case, you're either missing my point, or you're missing the point of
the scene in the wire. That was about a brand escaping their old image.
Microsoft isn't doing that. They're embracing their old image, celebrating
their old brand, and remaining recognizable as who they were before, even
though they had the new logo. That's pretty much the exact opposite of what
worldcom and the barksdale crew were trying to do. If they wanted to escape
their old image, now would be a perfect time to do it, with their most
different products ever, but they are sticking by both the windows and the
Microsoft brands.

~~~
notatoad
and your link to the top 10 brands only shows coke for me, but here's what i'm
thinking of: golden arches, chevy bow tie, nike swoosh, apple logo, playboy
bunny, wikipedia crossed W.

~~~
mbesto
Apparently you didn't scroll through.

1\. Coke (name only, stylized)

2\. Microsoft (name only, but recently changed)

3\. IBM (name only, slightly stylized)

4\. GE (name in a circle)

5\. Intel (name with a swoosh)

6\. Nokia (name only)

7\. Toyota (no text regularly)

8\. Disney (name, highly stylized)

9\. McDonalds (normally has name in logo)

10\. Mercedez-Benz (no text regularly)

So, Toyota and Mercedez-Benz I discounted.

------
uvdiv
Microsoft should sue the _Seattle Times_ for desecrating their beautiful logo
with compression artifacts.

edit: I retract that, Microsoft is doing the very same thing:

[http://blogs.technet.com/b/microsoft_blog/archive/2012/08/23...](http://blogs.technet.com/b/microsoft_blog/archive/2012/08/23/microsoft-
unveils-a-new-look.aspx)

~~~
Livven
Same with the Windows 8 logo. Without the artifacts it would look so much
better.

[http://windowsteamblog.com/windows/b/bloggingwindows/archive...](http://windowsteamblog.com/windows/b/bloggingwindows/archive/2012/02/17/redesigning-
the-windows-logo.aspx)

------
jere
>Ironically, Windows 8's new logo is now single-colored.

While I don't enjoy the perspective on the Windows 8 logo, I at least respect
the single color. As usual, it doesn't seem like the right hand is talking to
the left hand. I actually like the previous logo. It feels like it has some
character and I'm not surprised it lasted 25 years. This new logo feels so
damn generic, like a generic brand you would pick up at the grocery store...

* _Compare to the active ingredients in Apple._ _

------
chuinard
I wonder if that independent Microsoft re-design seen on HN a few weeks ago -
[http://www.minimallyminimal.com/journal/2012/7/3/the-next-
mi...](http://www.minimallyminimal.com/journal/2012/7/3/the-next-
microsoft.html) \- had anything to do with this.

~~~
karlshea
I doubt it, this was probably in the works for much longer than a couple of
weeks.

That said, I like the minimally minimal redesign _much_ better.

------
ThomPete
Many commenters here are predictably unable to look at this as the business
decision it is.

What people don't seem to understand is that the price of a logo is not based
on how it looks. Aesthetics have nothing to do with this. It's based on how
much the ability to make sure that the entire system is implemented properly
is worth to MS.

This is not a question about whether the logo "works for you".

~~~
ricardobeat
It's a question of whether it works for everybody, and unless somente here
wants to do free research, we can only extrapolate from our on perceptions.

~~~
ThomPete
No it's not a question of whether it works for everybody. The world is filled
with successful companies with ugly logos.

The purpose of the logo is not to look pretty but to identify.

~~~
ricardobeat
That's the definition of _working_ in this context: fulfilling it's purpose as
a logo.

------
sandis
Looks more like a new version of Windows logo to me.

~~~
zerostar07
I assume it's intentional. Isn't OSX full of apples here and there?

~~~
state
But Apple isn't full of OSX logos. It seems weird that the windows association
needs to stay in their primary mark.

~~~
astrodust
It usually one in the top left corner, just as it always has.

~~~
trhtrsh
That's an Apple logo, not on OS X logo. OS X logo is the giant X, which you
only see on OS X marketing material, not on iPods.

~~~
astrodust
Ah, in that case it shows up in the About screen and that's about it, huh?

------
run4yourlives
They should go back to that Metallica logo they had in 1980.

Nothing says corporate dominance like thrash metal font.

------
drcube
Interesting that as soon as they dump the old Windows logo, they just start
using it as the company logo, minus the swoops.

That said, however, I like it. I'm a big fan of color, and, while not a big
fan of Windows, I've always liked its logo. In fact, while I probably won't
ever install or use it extensively, I've really been liking the bold, primary
color design of Windows 8.

~~~
nilsbunger
My first thought wasn't Windows, it's Live Tiles. It seems to have the
allusion of Windows (the past) and "the design style formerly known as Metro"
(the future).

All in all, a big improvement!

Only one thing: I can't believe it doesn't render properly in mobile safari on
MS home page! Bottom line gets clipped...

~~~
rrouse
They should go the "Prince" route. They should just adopt the 4 square logo as
the official name for "The design style formerly known as Metro".

Brilliant

------
dhughes
I can see the anti-Apple mentality of this.

Apple icons are glossy this is flat. The icons on an iPad/iPod are small
glossy "chicklets" but on Win8 they are flat and large tiles; no black space.

I like the look and the design it's a nice change, as for the inner workings
of the OS I have no idea since I only used it briefly in a (non-touchscreen)
VM.

~~~
untog
Different to Apple != anti-Apple

I think it is a tremendous disservice to the amount of work that went into the
Metro (or whatever it's called now) interface to describe it as an anti-Apple
reaction. It isn't, and not everyone in the tech world bases their entire
business around what Apple is or is not doing. It wasn't created to spite the
memory of Steve Jobs.

~~~
dhughes
I'd say different is anti-Apple when you're Microsoft and Apple is your
primary competitor your goal is to gain customers, being the same doesn't make
sense since it already exists.

A great quote I heard once (not sure who) to paraphrase: _Trying to be as good
as your competition just makes you equals. To be better you have to exceed
beyond what is being done._

------
girlvinyl
The 1975-1979 logo is neat. I actually really like it. The new one is so
boring.

~~~
zdw
The 1980-81 looks like Gates and Balmer were trying to start a Metal band.

~~~
jrockway
Their first song: "Developers".

------
narrator
Anybody notice this is basically the AVG logo with the colors flipped around?

See: <http://www.avg.com/us-en/homepage>

~~~
seanalltogether
No, but now I see that the AVG logo has always been the windows icon, but with
the colors flipped around.

------
rkwz
Here's the intro video <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OzkZWvAJUr0>

------
pmelendez
While the new logo is OK what I found intriguing is that for the first time
Windows is associated with the corporate image. Isn't that betting the whole
company on a single product?

Not that is not true since a decade ago but it might reduce the chances in the
future to make a turn around. Apple did remove "Computer" from his name to
make space to iOS devices and to me Microsoft is doing the opposite... let's
see how it goes, at least they are working hard to refresh their selves and
that's good for the industry.

------
runn1ng
I still don't get why Microsoft is pushing Metro SO HARD to bet everything on
it when nobody really likes it that much.

Zune (where I saw it for the first time) failed in the market. Windows Mobile
(that has the Metro theme) failed in the market. Now I don't know XBox (at
all) and its GUI, but its success happened long before Metro was created.

People don't seem to like it in the new Windows preview all that much, either.

Why the big bet on Metro?

~~~
podperson
Similarly the Ribbon. The Ribbon was supposed to make Office easier to use. It
was so incomprehensible (not to mention annoying and wasteful of screen real
estate), Microsoft created a GAME to explain to users how to use the Ribbon.
(How bad a UI fail is that?) Still no-one likes it, so they shoehorn it into
more places.

I think Microsoft gets that Apple doesn't allow itself to be driven by focus
groups, but instead they allow random insane people to drive them.

~~~
SCdF
Well, to be completely fair MS Labs made it, not the office team, and there is
no indication that they made it because it was so hard to use. If that was the
case surely then Office would actually ship with Ribbon Hero, instead of
having it as an unmaintained experiment you can download from their website if
you happen to have heard of it?

IIRC, it was an experiment in gameification and Office and the ribbon was the
thing that was new at the time, and it made sense to write it on top of
teaching users the new UI.

While we're throwing around anecdotes on how incomprehensible ribbon is, I
know plenty of people who are totally fine with it. I don't really use any MS
products (and so never encounter it) and don't have an opinion on it, but I
think phrases like "no-one likes it, so they shoehorn it into more places" are
neither true nor even potentially valid (no one likes it so they use it more
because... they're evil? They want you to hate them?)

~~~
podperson
The fact there's a Ribbon Hero 2 with what looks like pretty solid marketing
behind it would seem to undermine your take. (No, I didn't know it existed
either, but I don't think it was is a lab demo any more.)

------
draggnar
I think MSFT is starting to get a little obsessed with the boxes - excuse me
"tiles". I went to the store opening today in Boston, and I was pretty
impressed. Very clean, bright, lots of screens.. made the Apple store across
the street seem very conservative. We'll see if it ends up being a hit, but it
is definitely standing alone as it's own unique store experience.

------
jasonkolb
Is it just me or does the laptop in this (stock?) banner photo on their
homepage look like a Macbook? (With the Apple logo photoshopped off.)

[http://i.microsoft.com/global/ImageStore/PublishingImages/As...](http://i.microsoft.com/global/ImageStore/PublishingImages/Asset/features/OfficeBackToSchool_0813_800x470_EN-
US.jpg)

------
molmalo
Can someone explain me why do they have that _strange_ blue windows logo at
the bottom of the page?

[http://i.microsoft.com/global/ImageStore/PublishingImages/lo...](http://i.microsoft.com/global/ImageStore/PublishingImages/logos/32x32/windows_symbol_clr_32x32.png)
[http://res1.windows.microsoft.com/resbox/en/Windows%207/main...](http://res1.windows.microsoft.com/resbox/en/Windows%207/main/4300ae64-546c-4bbe-9026-6779b3684fb9_61.png)

I mean, it's not the current Windows 8 logo, nor the Windows 7 logo. It's a
merge of both worlds: Old logo with Win8 colors.

Are they planning to change it in the very last second? (I don't think so) Or
do they want to make a slow transition between the old and the new Windows
logo?

Or... probably, according to Occam's razor, someone just failed to put the
right logo there.

------
zafriedman
The article starts of by saying that a lot is at stake when a company rolls
out a new logo. I'd like to point out the Microsoft has, either intentionally
or unintentionally, been piloting this logo-style in their products for the
past few years, which is ostensibly a lower-risk proposition. Rolling out
their parent brand logo to conform to this arguably successful re-branding
that their individual software products have underwent over the past three or
so years seems like a reasonably sound decision. Furthermore, if Microsoft has
intentionally been piloting this new brand on parts of their business that are
subordinate to the brand as a whole, then I'd have to say bravo for likely
reducing a huge business risk in the making of a relatively permanent, long-
term decision.

------
SoftwareMaven
_[The logo] is intended to "signal the heritage but also signal the future — a
newness and freshness"._

Does _every_ marketing exec have to say that about their new logo? Must be the
same effect as sports players saying "We just gave it 110%" when they win.

------
fratis
As much as I just __loathe __saying "I told you so," I direct your attention
to this prediction 55 days ago:<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4174622>

------
ricardonunez
The logotype would have been better alone. The symbol should have been the
Windows 8 symbol. It makes me think that they used two teams and they didn't
communicate during the process. Overall I like it, is refreshing.

------
tankbot
Personally, I'm a big fan of their short-lived 1980-1981 logo. I realize it
has no place among today's clean, "Metro" look, but I love Metal and this just
speaks to me. :)

~~~
MartinCron
It's not just metal. It's full of "tech" and "science" and "future" and
"enthusiasm" and even "fun".

Re-adopting the 1980-1981 logo would send a signal that I would love to hear.
That Microsoft is rebooting Microsoft and that things are going to be new and
fun again.

~~~
tankbot
I totally agree. Honestly MS really needs this sort of overhaul if they want
to remain competitive down the road. They still have a pretty good hold on
enterprise IT (slipping with the cloud) but I personally think they are in a
bad position in just about every other market.

Though I've never had much love for Redmond despite using their products for
20+ years, since they feel like an underdog now I instinctively want to cheer
for them. But, like someone said in another post, they sure make it difficult.

------
JGuo
I prefer the windows 8 logo much more:
[http://www.fastcodesign.com/multisite_files/codesign/imageca...](http://www.fastcodesign.com/multisite_files/codesign/imagecache/inline-
large/post-inline/inline-2-windows-8-logo-pgram.jpg)

The unsolicited redesign "slate" logo is cool too:
[http://www.minimallyminimal.com/2012/7/3/the-next-
microsoft....](http://www.minimallyminimal.com/2012/7/3/the-next-
microsoft.html)

------
yew-right
Does your TV need a "user-interface"?

Does your secretary need a touchscreen?

MS's last remaining market is business. As others bring to business the old
power of UNIX, for less cost, and repackaged with now commonplace buzzwords
like "opensource", "linux", and "cloud", MS is in big trouble. For most of the
business world, software is an expense, not an asset. Inexpensive wins.

But those guys who could say "FU" in 1992, why should they care? MS has had a
GREAT run.

------
makmanalp
I'd have preferred a thinner, longer variation of the font like they had in
their win8 demos or Zune menus. This one looks a bit short and stocky imho.

------
KingOfB
Interesting that 3 of the squares represent Windows, Office, XBox. I'm
guessing the 4th square will represent Surface once it de-vaporizes?

~~~
rhengles
Condensates.

------
zubr1768
"The new logo, which incorporates a multicolored Windows symbol in addition to
the "Microsoft" name in straightforward, lighter type, is intended to "signal
the heritage but also signal the future — a newness and freshness," said Jeff
Hansen, Microsoft's general manager of brand strategy."

Freshness? The most underwhelming design "innovation" yet... Playing it safe,
boring, square as ever.

------
septerr
The Google+ button (right towards top) in this article about Microsoft's new
logo is totally spoiling it for them.

[http://thenextweb.com/microsoft/2012/08/23/microsoft-now-
bra...](http://thenextweb.com/microsoft/2012/08/23/microsoft-now-brand-new-
logo-first-since-1987/)

------
te_chris
Bahahahaha, it's pretty much the old telecom New Zealand logo [1] . that makes
me laugh. a lot

[1]
[http://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/telecom_...](http://www.underconsideration.com/brandnew/archives/telecom_logo.gif)
\- the one on the left.

------
outworlder
Did they hire the same designer that created the game "Simon Says"? Even the
colors are the same.

Image: [http://www.digitalrendezvous.net/wordpress/wp-
content/upload...](http://www.digitalrendezvous.net/wordpress/wp-
content/uploads/2007/10/simonextreme.png)

~~~
progrock
You mean simply 'Simon.' The Chrome logo has been called into question about
it's similarity in the past. Weirdly I now associate those primary colours
with Google rather than M$.

------
nostromo
Reminds me of Philip Morris' rebranding ([http://taxtrials.com/wp-
content/uploads/2012/05/altria_logo1...](http://taxtrials.com/wp-
content/uploads/2012/05/altria_logo1-1.jpg))

Problem is, I'm pretty sure "Altria" was trying to be generic and forgettable.

~~~
drstewart
It seems to be the common theme among all giant multinationals -- they're
trying to soften their image by using pastel colors, rounded, clean fonts,
minimalist shapes.

See also: BP, Walmart

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alphang
They started using the new wordmark in June, in the Surface promo materials:
[http://photos.allthingsd.com/photos/i-vGmfLVB/0/M/i-vGmfLVB-...](http://photos.allthingsd.com/photos/i-vGmfLVB/0/M/i-vGmfLVB-M.jpg)

I guess this is the official launch.

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imd
"is expected to unveil its new, more colorful logo"

Picture of logo already available in the article.

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Akhena
It seems it is NOT the first logo change since 1987. Some previous logos are
displayed here : <http://facts.swebee.com/microsoft-logo.html>

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rkwz
I wonder why they didn't choose this logo (colorful tiles) for Windows.

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mandeepj
At the top left corner, I think the text "menu" should be replaced with
"Start" and dropdown icon should be replaced with the icon found on windows
start button (the MS logo)

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campuscodi
Actually quite impressed. Not because of the logo's quality, since it's not
that a radical change, but because Microsoft finally got the guts to make a
change.

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AtTheLast
It's nice to see Microsoft putting some effort into design. The logo doesn't
take my breath away or anything, but I think it's an improvement on the old
one.

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AndresOspina
Good change!! the new logo is simple and direct the point.

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tsurantino
I like how from 1980 to 1981 it was not Microsoft but really a front for
Metallica to make it's big step in disrupting the corporate technology
industry.

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gradstudent
Interesting. Is it just me or does their new logo seem to suggest that
Microsoft has given up on trying to be anything _other_ than Windows?

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bwhmather
It seems odd that they chose to post the logo as a jpeg. The compression
artifacts stop it from appearing as crisp as it should be.

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davidedicillo
Something I noticed: beside the M, the rest of the font is very similar to the
font Myriad (the font used by Apple in their logo).

~~~
sp332
I believe it's Segoe, which Microsoft owns and has been using everywhere
lately.

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Millennium
So basically, Segoe is to Myriad as Arial is to Helvetica.

Got it.

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sp332
It's more like they're both similar to Frutiger. And Myriad is barely 2 years
older than Segoe, and it was developed by Agfa not MS, so it's not likely that
it was copied. While Arial was kind of a crappy font, MS's new stuff
(Consolas, Calibri etc.) has been pretty nice.

~~~
ghaff
They're all Humanist fonts so there's a fair amount of family resemblance. So
take the school of thought that finds Helvetica boring and corporate and apply
to the new Segoe-based Microsoft logo. One thing I find interesting is that
there was some legal brouhaha over Segoe a few years ago which appears to be
all resolved but still makes it a little surprising to me that they'd go so
all-in in such a visible context.

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tharris0101
The four boxes don't bother me, but the segoe font is way too plain. I guess
they use that font on everything, though.

~~~
horacio
Their choice to use their own Segoe typeface is what will make this a less-
pleasing logo than it could have been.

Segoe looks good in its intended use for text on screen, and printed text at
small and normal sizes, but Segoe does not look good at very large sizes.

When this logo appears on billboards, and in other large display settings, its
weaknesses will become apparent.

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digitailor
Really not bad looking. Amazing what you can do with MSPaint these days.

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loceng
The colours remind me just a little bit of Google..

~~~
trhtrsh
Because Google uses the same primary colors that MS Windows used.

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progrock
Italics in logos may well be offically out!

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schukin
This logo just screams "compromise".

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Tichy
Are those the Google colors?

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notatoad
They're the windows colours. [http://thegadgetsite.com/wp-
content/uploads/2011/06/windows-...](http://thegadgetsite.com/wp-
content/uploads/2011/06/windows-logo.jpg)

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jcoder
Wow, microsoft.com looks like shit on iOS with a Retina display. Couldn't be
bothered?

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mokeefe
shuffling the deck chairs...

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CyberDroiD
On the homepage at microsoft.com, they are using the same logo for Microsoft
Store as the company name.

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GiraffeNecktie
Very ubuntish.

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despart
The logo from the 70's is so disco.

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astrodust
What the hell is this? Are they trying to take the Gap approach and turn out a
turd so terrible that designers storm the campus and flood them with better
logos?

