John Lamansky

Windows icons aren’t used in just Windows. They’re everywhere: in software and on websites.

I haven’t been able to find any information on the Microsoft website that prohibits the use of these icons, so I guess that means it’s okay, right?

For Windows XP, maybe. But according to a screenshot of the “About Windows” dialog in Windows Vista Business posted on the SuperSite for Windows:

The Windows Vista™ Business operating system and its user interface are protected by trademark and other pending or existing intellectual property rights in the United States and other countries.

Of course, the OS name at the beginning of the sentance will vary if you’re using a different edition of Windows Vista.

But compare this to the legal info found in the “About Windows” dialog in Windows XP:

Copyright © 1981-2001 Microsoft Corporation

Yep, just a copyright notice.

Obviously, the legal information in the About Windows dialog has changed significantly from Windows XP to Windows Vista.

Does this mean that programmers and web developers will be unable to use elements of the Vista interface, including icons? If so, does this interface protection cover just Vista itself? Or does it also encompass programs included with Vista, such as Windows Media Player 11 and Windows Internet Explorer 7? If IE7 is protected with a “trademarked interface,” does that mean that usage of the IE7 feed icon is illegal? What other implications might this possibly have?

I have previously considered the use of Windows XP icons on websites to be okay. Many popular sites use them, and Microsoft hasn’t complained about it as far as I know. In addition, the usage of Windows icons presents a consistent user experience for new PC and Internet users.

But it looks like this might be changing. For me as a programmer and web developer, I would find it very helpful if Microsoft would make it clear what exactly they want to prohibit and what they want to allow.

What do you think?

Microsoft has publicly announced on their website that Office 12 will be removing menus and toolbars in exchange for a new UI element called the “Ribbon” (though note that Microsoft doesn’t mention “the Ribbon” by name on their website).

This move is in an effort to make Office’s hundreds, if not thousands, of features easily available to the user, instead of requiring the user to wade through dozens of submenus and dialog boxes in order to find the option or feature they’re looking for. However, I have heard that there are some disadvantages: in the early beta versions of Office 12 that are currently available the Ribbon is a lot less customizable than the toolbars and menus that it replaces.

So will this daring UI breakthrough set the standard for applications of the future, or will it be doomed to the same fate as Clippy?