You might already be familiar of the Metro UI if you have been reading the Windows 8 coverage, Metro UI offers flattened and tiled look, which has its basis in the Windows Phone 7. Leaked screenshots of the next version of Microsoft Office – often referred to as “Office 15”, have begun to surface around the web. Today, TheHotFix.net leaked a brand new screenshot showing Microsoft Outlook “15” with an overhaul of the Metro user interface: The new Outlook’s interface is much cleaner, simpler and yet seems to offer what users expect from it. The main window structure seems to be inherited from the older versions but the flattened looks and clutter-less environment adds the beauty of simplicity. One thing that Microsoft has lacked since forever is eye-candy and with the Metro UI look, it appears that Microsoft is catching up. Sources revealed that the upcoming Office has reached the Milestone 2 phase of development. For now, not much is known about the features that Office 15 may offer to its users but the new Outlook is expected to include “world class messaging, contacts, calendaring and social collaboration for both enterprise and cloud” suggested a job listing. Those who love the Zune software’s user interface will definitely love to see the striking resemblance here in Outlook “15”. While the screenshot does not show how the “Ribbon” interface will blend in with this new “Metro” UI, this is definitely a great start in blending the beauty of the Metro UI with the efficiency of the Ribbon (or “Fluent”) interface. For those of you who had been using Windows Live Essentials 2011, you would know that most of the applications have already been transitioned to the Ribbon interface (most notably Windows Live Mail, Photo Gallery, Writer, and Movie Maker). With Microsoft Office blending the Ribbon interface with the Metro UI, it would be interesting to see where the Windows Live Essentials apps are going in the next “Wave 5? release, particularly if you consider Windows Live Mail and Writer to be closely related products to Microsoft Outlook and Word. With recent leaks of Windows 8 sporting some elements of Metro UI, and we’re already seeing some elements of “Metro” in apps like Messenger, we definitely see Windows Live Essentials going the same path with Wave 5. What do you think about this new UI? Share your thoughts and experience with us in the comments section below. We will provide updates as they are made available, stay tuned by following us on Facebook, Twitter and/or by subscribing to our RSS Feed. Read more You may also like to read: Authors:

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