Microsoft's Early Windows 8 Mock-Ups, How Things have Changed

Windows 8 looked and felt during its early Beta days. The mobile-centric desktop OS has certainly come a long way over the years. What about going back even further? We now have a few screenshots of the early mockup of what Microsoft was hoping to accomplish with Windows 8, these shots are from way back in 2010. Yes, these are official Microsoft mockups. During this time, Windows 8 was known by the code-name Pocahontas. It seems that even from the beginning, the vision of merging the mobile and desktop world was clearly a priority. [caption id="attachment_30646" align="aligncenter" width="640"] The charm bar has certainly changed a lot since the early Windows 8 mockups.[/caption] As you can see in the photos, the overall look and feel isn’t that much different from the actual end-product, which means that Microsoft knew what it was after even from the very beginning. One big change you will notice is that the Charm bar that we know and love (most of the time) today was considerably different in design back during these early mock-ups. What do you think of the prototype design? How does it compare with what we actually know as Windows 8 today? [ source ]]]>