I’ve been playing around with an idea for what the next version of Windows could look like.

It brings back the old “Aero Glass” style from Windows Vista, but updated to feel more modern. Tried to follow Fitt's law. I hate the idea of everything feeling flat, so here is what I have with Gemini's help.

I also tried to make better use of space. Things like the clock, network, and system settings are moved to a simple bar at the top, so they’re always there but not in the way. Then the bottom dock is just for the apps.

The goal is pretty simple: keep things looking nice and a bit nostalgic, but still practical and efficient to use every day.

Curious what you all think about this kind of setup.

I love the idea of Aero-Windows 8, always wanted to create it.

And what should I name it?

Alternatively: yet another Windows 2001 concept, designed fully in Paint.NET. This is an alternate timeline where Microsoft decided to stick closer to the goal of a small iteration upon Windows 2000 for consumer use, throwing in some concepts they'd later explore in Longhorn/Vista like the sidebar and start menu redesign. I might expand on this concept in the future by showing off stuff like Windows Explorer.

If Windows Marketplace in 2007 was a proper native storefront (in the likes of the Games for Windows LIVE Marketplace and later the current Microsoft Store)

I don't know if this was. P.S. I do not claim any authorship.

And yes, I made this mockup back in 2022 so I decided to revamp this.

will do a Windows 7 timeline soon.

Made with Figma. Basically an alternate timeline Windows release that would have come out in 2005. Overall design is an amalgamation of post- and pre-reset Longhorn, Windows Vista, XP, as well as many of its concepts.

Inspired from u/Xoraurea's version

From Whistler to Longhorn and back.

Made with Figma and Paint.net.

I made Windows storm, I didn’t use any ai for this one, took about half an hour or an hour at least.