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Microsoft said Friday that it is abandoning the "Aero" userinterface with Windows 8, calling the UI that debuted in Vista andcontinued in Windows 7, "cheesy" and "dated." In a massive 11,300-word blog post , Jensen Harris, the director of program management for Windows 8'suser experience team, said that the new operating system'slook-and-feel, its graphics user interface, or GUI, would be "cleanand crisp," and would do away with the "glass and reflections" thatmarked Aero. The move was Microsoft's attempt to bring the traditional desktop-- one of two GUIs in Windows 8 -- closer to the new Metro-styleinterface, said Harris. "In the end, we decided to bring the desktop closer to the Metroaesthetic, while preserving the compatibility afforded by notchanging the size of window chrome, controls, or system UI," saidHarris. "We have moved beyond Aero Glass -- flattening surfaces,removing reflections, and scaling back distracting gradients." Aero first appeared in Windows Vista, which reached enterprises inlate 2006 and consumers in early 2007, but Microsoft had beenworking on the GUI for years. The company showed elements of Aeroin 2005 betas it distributed to select testers, for example. Windows 7 also relied on Aero, although Microsoft tweaked the GUI,adding features like "Snap," which automatically sized a window tohalf the screen, and changing the translucency of maximizedwindows. Users will not get to see Windows 8's new GUI until the operatingsystem appears in final form later this year. "While a few of thesevisual changes are hinted at in the upcoming Release Preview, mostof them will not yet be publicly available," Harris acknowledged. Microsoft will offer Windows 8 Release Preview , its last public milestone before completing the OS, the firstweek of June. It's unusual for Microsoft to keep a Windows GUI under wraps untilfinal release: Both Vista and Windows 7 showed the finished AeroUI, or at the least, major chunks of it, months, even years, beforethose editions went on sale. Other than derogatory references to Aero as first implemented inVista -- when Harris said, "This style of simulating faux-realisticmaterials (such as glass or aluminum) on the screen looks dated andcheesy now." -- he did not give explicit reasons for dropping Aerofrom the desktop, other than Microsoft's desire to shift it closerto the new Metro design philosophy. In a long section of his post, however, Harris called out sevengoals of the Windows 8 GUI redesign. Most applied primarily toMetro, and secondly, to touch-based devices like tablets, or in abroader sense, to mobile devices where battery power is tight andlongevity a critical concern. Microsoft won't unveil the full Windows 8 desktop UI until thisfall, but this screenshot of the Windows Explorer file manager is asample of what the final will look like. (Image: Microsoft.) Battery power, in fact, seemed to be the one goal that applied tothe desktop GUI, something well-known Windows blogger Paul Thurrottnoticed when he speculated that the effort to extend battery lifewas the reason for Aero's demise. "It's all about battery life," Thurrott argued on his SuperSite for Windows blog on Saturday. "Aero, with all its glassy, translucent goodness, isbad for battery life. Metro, meanwhile, which is flat, dull, nottransparent, and only full screen, is very good for battery life." To lasso battery issues, Microsoft even considered limiting Windows8 so that only one Metro app would run at a time. Ultimately, itdecided against that restriction, and instead will allow two Metroapps to run simultaneously in a side-by-side view. "Even with multitasking in the existing desktop still present, wedid feel like only offering 'one-at-a-time' in the Metro styleexperience was a bit of a constraint, and not totally true to theWindows history of multitasking," Harris said. Also in his missive, Harris countered naysayers who have hammeredWindows 8 for its touch-centric philosophy or for the lack of a traditional "Start" button on the desktop . He reminded them of early criticism when Windows took to themouse, and the need to coach users of Windows 95 on how to use thatedition's Start button. Harris also promised that GUI elements that have frustrated users-- including difficulty in hitting the "hot" corner of the desktopthat triggers the Start screen -- had been addressed, and repeatedearlier assertions that Microsoft would include tutorials withWindows 8 to show users how to manipulate both the desktop andMetro interfaces. Essentially, his review of Windows GUIs, which stretched as farback as 1985's original graphical shell atop DOS, and his commentsaround mice and usability, seemed to be a call for customers togive Windows 8 a chance. "Yes, there are parts of the Windows 8 UI that have generateddiscussions and even debate, and aspects of the change that willtake some people a little time to understand and digest," Harrisadmitted. "Any change, particularly a change that doesn't justfollow in the footsteps of what everyone else is doing, can be hardto fully grasp at first.... The world changes and moves forward.Windows will continue to change too." Gregg Keizer covers Microsoft, security issues, Apple, Web browsersand general technology breaking news for Computerworld. FollowGregg on Twitter at @gkeizer , on Google+ or subscribe to Gregg's RSS feed . His email address is . See more by Gregg Keizer on Computerworld.com . Read more about windows in Computerworld's Windows Topic Center. 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