Microsoft debuted the Metro design language way back in 2006, with a typographically-rich reworking of the Zune website and desktop app. The first fully-fleshed-out implementation of Metro arrived ...

With Windows 11, Microsoft shifted from its aging Metro design language to Fluent design, a more mature, minimal, and modern UI with rounded corners and a warmer color palette.

Windows 9 is also expected to feature Metro 2.0 -- some kind of maturation of the current Metro design language that dominates the Windows 8 Start Screen and apps.

Back in 2012, Microsoft took a gamble in releasing its Windows 8 operating system. The desktop OS featured a bold new design language, a new touch-centric UI paradigm, and the infamous Live Tiles.