What’s All the Fuss About?
How a youngturk wants to revolutionise Microsoft’s operating system
Windows 20
What is it?
It could be the next version of Windows, though it’s nothing to do with Microsoft.
Eh? How can that be?
For now, it’s just a concept, a vision of what Windows might look like if it was redesigned.
Phew. For a moment, I thought I’d missed the next 10 versions of Windows during lockdown.
Don’t worry. Microsoft hasn’t changed its official line that Windows 10 will be the final edition of the operating system.
So if not Microsoft, who’s behind Windows 20?
Kamer Kaan Avdan, a Turkish medical student who somehow finds time to reimagine how Windows could work. His portfolio already contains updated versions of Windows 95, XP (pictured below) and 7, plus what Windows 11 might look like. He has even created a version of Windows 10 as designed by Apple.
Can I download these?
No, but you can watch videos of them on his Youtube channel ( www.snipca. com/34677). It’s where you’ll also find his Windows 20 video. It has caused huge excitement online, with many urging Microsoft to take inspiration from it.
Why are people impressed?
Primarily, because it applies a consistent design to every aspect of Windows, making it much easier to navigate (it looks beautiful too). He has also created new features, such as being able to move where the taskbar sits at the bottom of the screen.
What do you mean?
Take a look at the screenshot above, which shows four taskbar designs. Starting at the top 1 , the taskbar is in the centre, with icons for the Start menu, Task View and Search bottom left. Moving down, 2 shuffles the taskbar to the left, nearer the aforementioned icons, while 3 adds a Search bar. The bottom taskbar 4 is the most radical, positioning the taskbar in the centre, but with no icons to its left. It’s strikingly uncluttered.
Indeed it is. What else is new?
The Start menu has tiles that reveal options when you hover your cursor over them, saving you the hassle of right-clicking them. For example, from the Outlook tile you can start writing a new email or enter an event in your calendar. Avdan has also designed a File Explorer with tabs, letting you add tools such as Quick Access.
That sounds familiar…
You may be thinking of Microsoft’s Sets, which adds tabs to the title bar of every part of the operating system, letting you have tabs from different tools – like File Explorer, Word and Edge – open in the same window. Sets was in previous
Insider previews of Windows 10, and was expected to be added to the full version in 2018, but in 2019 Microsoft sources said the idea had been postponed. However, it was such a popular tool with Windows Insiders that we expect it’ll return at some point.
Will Microsoft introduce Avdan’s other ideas?
It’s possible. We think the company’s bosses will be impressed by his other redesigned sections, such as the Settings app and the Action Centre.
Shouldn’t it offer him a job then?
That thought has occurred to people (one viewer wrote on his Youtube channel: “The day Windows hires you would be the day I’ll actually pay for a Windows license”), and is probably Advan’s ultimate ambition. Who knows, he may become the new Panos Panay.
Who’s that?
He’s chief product officer of Microsoft Devices group, and has been pivotal in developing the company’s Surface computers. In March he published a tantalising video ( www.snipca.com/34676) showing changes that will be coming soon to Windows. Judge for yourself whether it’s better than Avdan’s design.