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Actually, ME was the result of a development disaster similar to the one which resulted in Vista. Microsoft was planning on building an entirely new Internet-f
by TheKarateKid 7y ago
Actually, ME was the result of a development disaster similar to the one which resulted in Vista.
Microsoft was planning on building an entirely new Internet-focused consumer version of NT. It was too ambitious for its time, so to meet deadlines, most of it was scrapped and some UI elements were backported into an updated Windows 98 which became ME. This is why Explorer for both ME and 2000 look similar despite having little else in common.
Other elements of the scrapped project made its way into XP, but barely compared to what it was supposed to be. I think XP’s fancy login screen was one of them.
If anyone’s interested I’ll try to find where I read all of this. It might’ve been on Paul Thurrott’s Windows Supersite or another site that collected Windows betas.
- Lammy 7y agoWindows codename Neptune: https://microsoft.fandom.com/wiki/Microsoft_Neptune https://microsoft.fandom.com/wiki/Microsoft_Neptune It’s interesting to see twenty year old experiments with flat UI designs considering how dominant that style is today with Android 5, iOS 7, Windows 8, etc.
- TheKarateKid 7y agoIndeed. Ironically, I think I remember reading that the Neptune apps’ UI was HTML-based, since Microsoft wanted IE to power everything. And now many apps use HTML/JS/CSS for styling and rendering.
- garaetjjte 7y agoThese apps looks like they are made in IE6-era Electron..
- Lammy 7y agoThey are! The same tech powered Active Desktop and the "smart" Explorer sidebars in Windows XP: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTML_Application https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTML_Application