Updated: July 11, 2020 (April 23, 2012)
SidebarWhat Is Metro?
Metro describes a user interface (UI) design that Microsoft has been emphasizing across nearly all of its current and upcoming platforms. The primary application environment in Windows 8 is based on Metro and applications that run there are called Metro-style applications. Additionally, Windows 8 provides Desktop mode, which is very similar to the Windows 7 UI, but it is de-emphasized relative to the new Metro environment.
The Metro design style was first used by Microsoft in 2004 with the introduction of Windows Media Center and was subsequently used on Zune media devices, Windows Phone 7, and Xbox. The style has become ubiquitous at the company, even appearing in its marketing and presentation materials.
According to Microsoft, Metro’s design philosophy combines influences from several sources:
- The early twentieth-century Bauhaus design school in Germany, which stressed function without adornment in a post-Industrial Revolution world
- Swiss design elements that focus on crisp typography,
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