Microsoft took a big gamble with Windows 8. Back in 2012 the tech giant believed that touchscreens were the way we’d all be interacting with our devices, and so overhauled Windows to give it a touch-first design and a Start screen in place of the traditional Start menu — which didn’t go down at all well with the Windows faithful.
Although the company relented and eventually added a Start menu and made various other user-requested tweaks, Windows 8 is viewed by many as one of the worst versions of Windows, which is a little unfair as it had much to recommend it.
8 years on from that operating system’s original launch, Addy Visuals — which previously gave us a vision of what Windows 21 could look like — has created a concept of a remastered version of Windows 8, and it’s great.
His vision of the modern OS has a full-screen Start menu — which will once again divide opinion I’m sure — plus built-in Cortana, and a redesigned File Explorer with tabs.
Addy Visuals’ remastered Windows 8 also introduces the Action Center from Windows10 and a modern Settings experience, plus of course there’s the now expected Dark Theme too.
For lovers of Windows 7 there’s an Aero 8 Theme which makes the OS look more like that.
Personally I like the look of this reimagined Windows 8 — which is referred to as Windows 8.2 in the screenshots — but I’m sure there will be plenty of people who view it less favorably.