How To Get The Windows 8 Interface Now

This is a guest post by Ken. If you want to guest post on this site, then please read our guidelines here.
Windows 8 is coming in the spring of 2012, bringing with it a whole new interface.  The Windows 8 desktop is taking a lot of cues from Windows Phone 7, by implementing the Metro UI and live tiles.

Not everyone thinks this will be a good desktop interface and it looks aimed at tablets.  I found three free programs that can let you get a feel for the Windows 8 interface on your current Windows 7 desktop.

Mosaic is in the alpha stage – so it’s still pretty limited.  I found that it works best on the 32 bit version of Windows 7 over the 64bit version.  Since it’s still in the alpha stage, a lot of the
widgets currently lack functionality.  It’s very basic in terms of what you can do with it, but you get a good idea of the look and feel of the Metro UI on your desktop.

In addition to the widgets you can pin applications and websites to the desktop.  The tiles can be positioned where you want them and you can scroll to the right as you add tiles.

Mosaic

Download

This program is more of a Windows 7 theme based program.  However unlike other Windows 7 themes that usually are prepackaged, this one requires a bit more work.  You have to run a patch file and then move a copy of the theme to the themes folder in Windows.  I found Mosaic easier to run and did a better job at mimicking the Metro UI tiles, as I ended up installing three different things to get the end result.

In the end you get a lot more functionality out of the tiles however.

Zetro VS

Download

In addition to the tile based start screen, Windows 8 will be adding a ribbon interface into the explorer window.  The STDU Explorer adds a ribbon interface for Windows Explorer.  It is not the same as the ribbon interface for Windows 8, but it will give a user the idea of what it will be like to use the ribbon in Windows Explorer.

It’s a simple download of an install package.  This is a standalone application and will not run if you open up Explorer normally.  You will have to click on the executable to get the ribbon.

STDU Explorer

Download

Many people are not that excited to see the new interface that Windows 8 promises to bring us.  However using these three free tools can pave the way for someone already using
Windows 7, to make a transition easier.  Just keep in mind that these are all still development tools and will not reflect the actual user experience with Windows 8 once released.

About the Author: Ken Bell is a System Support Specialist at the Akron-Summit County Public Library.  He is also a staff writer for the IT’s department’s blog http://www.itsitblog.com/ at the library.

View the original article here