Windows vista is the new Microsoft’s operative system; was brought up to light in the beginning of 2007. Promising a lot of changes and new things to incorporate.

(Windows vista presentations-image taken from windows website)
One of the newest and interesting tool of windows vista is called Applefílica , is the ObjectDock , that we already Known from macintosh operative system. It is a nice Tools with big icons, they get bigger when you put the mouse on each icon, can be personalized you can put it on the top of your desktop allowing you to have a handy access to the most used direct access.

Windows vista let us play by changing opacity levels of the menu so we can see what is behind those windows thanks to a new interface developed by windows it is called Aero , it has a big contain of graphic design, if we compare it to past versions; it has dynamic reflexes and animations too. They also did some vectorial drawings using Direct X and XAML

(Image taken from windows website)

The most notorious changes in windows different from icons design .This icons inside vista are pretty much alike Mac’s visual interface, they are colorful, bright, glass-like and simulate a 3D feeling, anyways they keep same icons that have been used since the beginnings of Microsoft but improved with innovative and impressive effects.

They play with shadows to give the icons a dept feeling (avoiding the flat effect past icons had).


As you can see the shadow gives more deepness to the graphic





Photoshop has a graphic tool to make this kind of effects, you just have to use the correct one, pick on the layer you want to change, make the graphic into a selection (pointed lines) then just pick on the Layer style choose drop a shadow option and add it automatically adds a shadow Change the options (angle, opacity, spread and size) by applying the correct shadow you can make stand out your graphics.
 

Designer of windows vista icons thought about giving realistic characteristics to their icons closest to reality using visual resources like perspective to give a 3D feeling to its icons. ( compare the one in the right with the one in the left)




Perspective is the technique used to represent three-dimensional images on a two-dimensional plane. Otherwise the drawing will look plane.


(Image taken from mathforum.org)


To draw in perspective, make a horizon line and draw a vanishing point anywhere on the horizon. Lines which are parallel in real life are drawn to intersect at the vanishing point.

Another trick they used to make cool, innovative and impressive icons was the lightning, colors and saturation of those colors. Lightning makes appear shines and they are a perfect complement with shadows to give a 3D feeling.


(image taken from 3dymax.org )


The windows vista icons use a top left source of light.

Windows vista icons were what everyone was expecting, a great graphic design improving the past static and rigid icons, helping the software look more attractive for its costumers, we are looking forward to see what else is going to develop windows for us to make technology a friendlier tool.

Ms Windows, Windows vista, 3D max , photoshop and macintosh are trade marks.