It's a shame that Windows Phone never took off. Microsoft are known for functional but clunky desktop software, but Windows Phone with the Metro UI is, in my vi

It's a shame that Windows Phone never took off. Microsoft are known for functional but clunky desktop software, but Windows Phone with the Metro UI is, in my view, one of their best UIs. It doesn't feel like a Microsoft product and it's quite refreshing that they took a different path from the UI approach of iOS and Android. The simplicity of the live tiles is a neat way of combining widget-like behaviour and launching an app. A single swipe from the home screen gave you a A-Z list of your installed apps (not a grid of icons like iOS and Android). Contrast that with Android phone approach of separate app widgets, separate app icons and even separate home screens. If you love to tweak to the nth degree, you'll love such features. For the rest of us, it all feels stodgy and overcooked for a smartphone. Interestingly, Windows Phone design guidelines contained ideas we'd also see later in Google's Material design guidelines e.g. such as the emphasis on animation as more than just mere decoration. Here is a presentation from the Windows 7 design team that describes the new Windows Phone UI. It's from 2010: https://www.slideshare.net/stevecla/windows-phone-ui-and-design-language-3511859 https://www.slideshare.net/stevecla/windows-phone-ui-and-des...