Microsoft announces the new Start Screen for Windows Phone 8 (Updated with Video)

Yea, he said more color options.

 
Daniel Rubino, Remember when I said you haven't seen a real WP8 start menu and that you told me that I was the one WHO DID NOT? :) Yep...

Sorry dude, I actually said this over a week ago on Reddit. Tiles are stil uniform in color and there is no background colors like Win 8. I stand by my statement. And trust me, I've seen way more than you have as I have all the developer docs for WP8 ;-)

Hmm, I guess our perceptions differ :)
 

Didn't Joe mention that colors could be changed?

Yes he did say the tiles color could be changed, not sure about the backgroud though..

uhhh you're so cool

Is it wp8 upgradeable! please yes!

Want these on current phones

You'll get it in WinPhone 7.8.

I LOVE IT!  Perfect.  I like the options and tile size as well as the removal of the 'gutter'

I can't say that I agree that removing the gutter is a good thing. It goes so well with the theme.

RIP, gutter 2010-2012. We hardly knew thee!

You didn't even stick with it the whole time so you shouldn't say anything

I know. Where do I turn myself in? Btw, wanna buy my Arrive? I'll give you a good deal.

What is the gutter is It the empty space on the side with the arrow.

correct. :) 
 
So my guess will be a seemless screen and you still swipe to get to the #-a-z apps.

Yes, that is it.

I likes the gutter too. Perfect for moving tiles around

What the hell is gutter? And for a second I was sceptical about the small tiles, but then realized how great it would be not having to flick and search all the time for an application that didn't need a big live tile :D

The gutter is the empty space to the right of the live tiles. I am all for it going away. And I wouldn't worry about the small tiles, because, if I'm reading right, you will be able to customize the size. You can just make them all medium instead of small.

Im perfectly fine with leaving my gutter behind there are better things I can be doing with that space lol

Losing the gutter is a BIG loss. Makes me VERY nervous that the great design that drew me to WP is being diluted / tainted / abandoned. This MS fan went from Bewitched (by Surface) on Monday to Bothered & Bewildered (by new WP start screen) on Wednesday. SO hope its not an altogether done deal.

Can I keep my gutter?

+1
Along with the arrow I think it really added something unique to the WP/Metro look.

^This. I like the little arrow

That neutral space was nice and made it easier to move tiles around.

+1

Put medium tiles in one column and small ones in the next column and you'll have a gutter sort of. Might actually look nice too.

Yeah those were my thoughts. Medium tiles down the left side, small tiles to the right of thos and voila! Gutter (stupid Paul Thurott and his word).

+1

+1
I love the so called gutter :(

same, while i like the idea of small tiles, this looks way to cluttered without that clean gutter off to the left..

Yes

+10000000!

Any word on whether this new start screen rotate orientation for landscape? 

+1

+100000
Please answer this question

+2

That would be perfect for resting my HTC HD7S on its kickstand!

Very nice looking indeed.

Windows phone 7.8..?

Wait. Winphone 7.8? What's that?

It's the watered down version of WP8 that current users are going to be able to upgrade to. We get the cool start screen and some other little things but that's about it.

Damnnnnnnnnnnnn

7.8 will be explained soon guys...

I think 7.8 is the update to current Gen

i fear that current phones will get wp7.8.....Damnnnn Noooooo

Yes 7.8, details please lol

Omg this is amazing, I better get it on my lumia 800 :)

Glad I wasn't alone :(

Stop acting like your on you cycle! if you want leave the tile the way they were natively, you can. So again stop crying.

What's so shitty about it???

Haha! Well, that's what's great about it is, you can customize it to keep it they way it is now... I like that you have that option... Easy solution! Rape avoided! =)

You read my mind. I'm honestly considering skipping 7.8. 

So the small icons are too small and the medium icons are too big? I think you are grasping at straws here.

While you obviously entitled to your opinion I dont see where your getting you can only fit six every picture gas more then six tiles. Unless your referring to something different.

He is referring to the increased size of the tiles. Since they removed the gutter they enlarged the 'medium' tile size to be larger. So intead of the 8 'medium' sized tiles you see on your phone now, you can only fit 6 'medium' sized tiles on the new OS, which is evident you you see the screenshots. As a result, you can't really get it looking the same as the original version since the sizes are all different.

I see it differently.  You can make the tiles all the same size as current wp, but w/out the gutter.  Keep the tiles exactly how you have it.  What you are seeing is what they customized for an example to show off the different sizes, etc.  YOU can make the tiles how YOU want them to be.  That is a good thing.
 
People complain not enough customization, you give them customization they complain they have too many choices.  

You are kidding right?  It is a demo, presentation.  Removing the gutter does not really impact the size much, if at all.  It is just centered.  Plus, you make the tiles how you want to make them.  How is this so hard to understand.

I liked how WP7's design was so simple, the icons were the same size, and the arrow space fitted perfectly with the theme... WHY?? It just looks too messy!

+10

It makes absolutely no sense to say that it is messy because you can customize it which ever way you want and if you want to leave blank spaces you can. You are complaining about having the choice to be (in your opinion) messy as if someone is forcing you to be

So keep the standard sized tiles that you have now. Nobody is forcing you to layout your home screen like that.

Haven't we all complained when theres been a bad photoshop in a magazine or on a website where they copy/paste the tiles and stretch them all the way across the screen? It looks bad every time, and we always notice. Then Microsoft made that the default.... I don't get it.

Be quiet troll we all know it awesome looking and go back to your junk iPhone and android phones those are the ugly phones

I liked the artist mockups better. Glad for the customization though. I wish the nav app would update in the tile and u could make it half the screen and still see other live tiles

I hated the artist mockups, I think this is a much better compromise between current WP7 and people who wanted something similar to windows 8. Just my .02.

yeah. I'm guessing you can customize it by just keeping each row's as 1 medium + 1 small square wide.. but then u can't have double-wide tiles or 2 medium squares side-by-side.. it would be great if there was just an option in settings to scale the whole layout to fit the space it currently occupies, gutter and all..

This is hilarious...first it was not enough customization...now too much.

The new customizability & functionality are great. Muddying the WP design magic - not so great. Losing the negative space.. which has also brought with it altered tile sizes / proportion on screen, and a banal centered alignment.. makes me shudder. SO cluttered & busy, so NOT clean & clear. I hate to say it, but this huge WP fan is really let down - and really worried that the beauty of WP is being sacrificed for gimicry.

On the fence for this one. I hate the way win 8 looks compared to WP7. Hopefully it won't be as ugly as the desktop 8.

It's customizable... You can keep it the way it is... What's the issue? =)

You must not use win 8 because tile size is only a fraction of what makes them different. Thanks for playing though.

Yes!!!!!

Nice. Now we.can use all the screen

Luv'n it. If you want more on you start screen.... You got it! If you want to keep it the way it is... You can do that too! Customizable!!!! Great! =)

how? I can't keep it the way it is now because if I want a gap on the left I can only fit one medium square (current size) and one mini square. that means no two medium squares side-by-side and no double-wide tiles, at all.. they didn't just add a 3rd column as people seem to think, rather they scaled the two columns up to fit the whole width of the screen, and, (separate issue) added smaller tiles.

It looks WAY too busy now...2 columns showed enough for me. This would be horrible on the smaller screen devices. I guess you could make it 2 columns by changing the sizes...

Pretty sure you will have the option to have 2 by 2 tiles r 1 by 4 or 4 by 4

You don't have to use it, stop complaining

Just use a top row of 4 small icons for things like phone, email, texts, and something like browser or whatever that doesn't convey a lot of info, then 6 more medium tile below that and you get 10 items in place of the 8 before minus the arrow/gutter space.  Still looks clean and simple and you gain a bit of real estate with a couple more items.

+1...that sounds like an awesome set up...

maybe you can try it first before talking crap? oh wait, i dont think so. thats the way complainers and idiots acts, they critize something they havent even used.

If it helps you, this arrangement looks very customizable so maybe you can tweak it to your own taste later? 
And on the plus side, that'll also be better than complaining on an online forum.

More tiles badass very satisfied

Amazing!!!

Finally we can use the whole screen!!!! More live tiled apps in less space. Perfect!

Confirm windows 7.8 only for current devices Apollo for next Gen.

1st I've herd of it, but would make sense, since they are improving the hardware... Wouldn't expect a FULL upgrade to be avail on wp7.5

I just saw that 7.8 is for legacy devices. No upgrade for us 7.5 guys :(

You sure? I just read about a month ago, that they would upgrade... Just might not have all FULL features due to hardware upgrades.

7.5 devices are now legacy devices

Still want to know if there is going to be preview messages on the live tiles or options to turn it on or off.

If you make your email into a large tile you will get to preview messages. Same for messaging tile.

I want the new start screen in wp7.8

New star will come with 7.8

im going back to iPhone i would have thought for sure the Lumia 900 would receive the update its been two months and its already been declared obsolete 

So almost all the features of WP8 in 7.8 for current devices are not enough? How about iphone4 users not getting things like siri after just one year? Anyway, ta ta!

I concur theefman... iPhone's looks so lame now! Enjoy!

Shut the fúck up, stupid muthafúcker

Who the f**k cares of lumia users. All I care is OS how fast and fluid it is still and new features. Thank Microsoft save nokia butt from failing

Most rapid growth of WP was experienced after Lumina.

This is exactly what I was scared about - it's the same bloody update, just a different name for us Mango/pre-Mango users because of obvious hardware limitations. They should have just called it WP8 for all and maybe the whining would have gone down a notch. I love it when companies are honest with users and detail exactly what's happening - something MSFT did in this case but it's whining like this that makes me think otherwise.
Honestly, what are you complaining about? You are getting the EXACT same update from a software standpoint, you certainly don't expect Microsoft or Nokia to send down a rep. to put an NFC chip in your phone, do you?

I doubt he has a Lumia 900 anyways.

I must agree the start screen looks like there is too much business going on. Hopefully the organize multiple screens like windows 8. But I bet you can customize it to look like wp7.

but no more arrow and start space! I think that looks great! no background colors or setting individual tile colors either.

Looking lovely can't wait but we need phone specs.

Paul Thurrot just announced on twitter that phones running 7.x will have the new start screen

What about background wallpaper

ahhh, I want that arrow/off-centre back!!

me too!
 

Then don't update

Is there a second screen still? The app list we have now, or do all installed apps have to have a tile on the start screen?

I was curious about this as well.

Told you Daniel!

Cool;-)

Beautiful. I hated the gutter, and am so glad its going:-)

While very welcome and exciting, my initial impression is also mixed with UGLY. To a certain extent too much live tiles loses the elegance of what is found in the start screen of WP7.5 and W8. It feels elementary and cluttered. I'm just glad that it's customizable and with a strategic design in customization (sizes, placement/location), you can retain the elegance WP7.5. 

Awesome Awesome UI and new look. IPhone and android UI are still dead and boring. Windows 8 new look is a total success. So fricken beautiful. Wonder if apple co founder Steven Wozniak gonna love it again hahhaha apple iPhone and android learn a lesson how a smartphone should look and that's. Windows phone 8

Hahha I knew it was going be new look and Daniel says will be same UI look hahaha he just don't know

How is this a new UI look???? Its the same thing with some upgrades. Pretty sure that is exactly what Daniel said...

WHERE IS THE APPLIST??!?!?!
 
I dont want to have 150 icons on my start screen..

....its to the right.

did you see it?

They aren't showing many end-user features of the OS today, this is developer stuff and core functions.  I'm 99.9999999999% sure the app list still exists if you swipe to the left with your finger, just no more arrow tap.

Look up the definition of customizable and you wont have to!

The app list is confirmed to exist on the video of a lumia 900 running 7.8 Apparently the current early builds have bug issues with the swipe to right or app list.

Do we know anything about multitasking? And I agree with microhaxo where is the applist?

Kind of disappointed in it, I understand they want to make the various flavors of Windows all seem the same, but different devices and usage models dictate otherwise. I find the arrow and negative space intuitive...has there been any mention of something like a notification area to the left?

What is that ESPN tile displaying scores? is that new for WP7.8? Or is it available now?

It's available now, just go into the settings and enable the live tile option.

It was displaying scores? Let me look again. Edit: And, so it was. Heat v Thunder. Think that was game 2.

I'm gonna miss the gutter. :'(

And arrow.

hmm, now its ugly from a design perspective.
metro needs whitespace to breath. now windows phone new centered layout looks like the uninspired centered ios layout.
it is a nice feature to spit the tiles, but now it is impossible to have 2 squares AND the gap on the right side.
for me as a designer the gap was a  necessary key part of metro.
 
whats next? a full centered windows 8 screen?  :(
i want the gap and the golden proportion back. please microsoft make it an option.
 
centered for those who fear whitespace.
and well proportioned for the designers out there.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

YES!!! +1,000,000,000,000 agree with everything you just said. this is really sad. the current configuration could have easily supported the addition of mini tiles without killing the beautiful metro aesthetics. people call the so-called gutter 'wasted space' but it's integral to the look and feel of WP, which i feel has (had) the best UI I'd ever seen.

New start screen just is ok. But i believe that thie will be soft wish let us expierence to windows 8 pc transform start screen

I love the new Start screen.  Not sure how those small tiles are going to look on my Lumia 900, though.  I guess I'll find out soon enough!

the possibility of the small icons is great, now you can create a gutter vertically. but i miss the gutter on the right side.
 
 

Can they make the gutter optional? That would be really good, I don't mind having it there.

i hope so. this one is too messy.

I love it!:)

Just amazing!!! Love it!

Am I the only one that noticed that not once during any of todays articles/events did someone swipe to the right to see the app list??

I think they were really focusing on apps and app development. Its not important to developers how their app looks on an applist. I think they are just saving somethings for a later announcement

Apparently there current version contains a bug that prevents that functionality. I guy showing it said its still there.

DOPE!!!

what about the app-list when I was switching the startscreen to the left?! is that removed in WP8 ?! ans is each app fixed to the startscreen?! Maybe they will annouce folder-mode as well to handle 100+ apps ?!?!

Cool preview messages on the live tiles:)

WOW that video made me cry I'm So proud of Microsoft. I can't wait to get the update on my Titan II

Wow, the video makes a whole difference. It looks great, you can give priority to anything you like.

I hope we hear something about quicktoggles and "no landscape". Things I miss EVERY SINGLE DAY.

When is the update going to be released in Zune?

Microsoft is not playing around!!! And with Nokia, unstoppable. I do hope Samsung brings a S3 variant though

Notifications?

Yeah I hope there is something done to improve this, at least a toast history somewhere.

Update to existing users I hope?

Removing the gutter has a downside:  the tiles colums are not increased from 2 to 3, rather the tiles have increased in size horizontally and veritcally.  Unfortunately, this means you can only fit three rows of standard square tiles on the screen at one time, whereas you currently can fit 4 full rows.  This seems like a step backward.
 

By looking at the pictures you can see that you can fit 6 rows and 4 columns on the screen if you use the small tiles

It's only a step backwards if you keep very tile medium size. I know I will shrink certain tiles such as the phone tile, so I will see more than the current 8 tiles without scrolling.

That's a nice video

Enough of the praise, I want 7.8 NOW!!!

The new start screen wins on so many levels. I really don't know what all the complaining is about. The customization is freaking awesome!

Daniel, did they mention anything about the live lock screens?

All I have to say is I am so proud to be a windows phone user I knew it would be better than anything out there even tho I get laughed at constantly by iPhone users But look who's laughing now can't wait!!!

Microsoft please just take all my money!

Can't wait

I love it!

What the fuçk? First people were complaining about the gap and now that it's gone, more complaints? What is wrong with people?

good design polarizes. the gap was polarizing. now its the same unispired arrangement like ios.
 
everyone can create a middle-arrangement. menas more people will like it, but designers and people with a feeling for design now dont love it. like me.
 
 

Uninspired arrangement like IOS?lol.

no, it means people get used to it and seeing different make them complain now. that has nothing to do with design or not...
 
same happens with new start screen in windwos 8, specially when it works fairly better than currest start menu, because start menu is a mess, still people got used to it and seeing it changed make them complain.
 
its all about getting used to it. thats all not "good design polarizes" or any crap like that.
 
and yeah i mean if start screen was like this, from 1 day, and now they were adding the arrow ith the space, people would complain about it and how it should be like "before" because "it was better before" 

Actually, this is where you're incorrect. From the early previews of WP7 there were many (like me & jeanclaude) that loved the look straight away. The offset (gutter) was a beautiful design touch, and helped your eyes focus on the top-left tile due to the golden ratio. I watched the entire live stream today, and to be honest, some of the screen configs looked like someone spilled a box of legos. And to those of you saying "STFU, you can keep it the same", no, you cant. 2 medium tiles break the gutter. 1 large tile breaks the gutter. As a UI/UX designer for almost 20 years, and someone who MS flew out to Redmond to preview WP7 before it's release, I feel we took a step backwards today when it comes to the elegance that was Windows Phone.

Big WP booster, but unfortunately I have to agree - looks like some slick functionality added, & ability to customize is great.. But design-wise I cringe more than a little. Seems to be a bit of a case of throwing the baby out with the bathwater. May skip the update, which would be unfortunate. Still, even though I'm less than convinced about the changes, it IS great to see MS continue to push & innovate in WP.

Agreed. There is still a lot to love about WP8. The new features are amazing. I will be upgrading my Arrive for a WP8, but the new start screen puts is one step closer to the clutter and chaos that Android is (in)famous for.

here is another example you can see why the gutter was an essential part of metro:
 
http://www.sachaheck.net/blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/goldener_schnit...
 
the eyes need whitespace to look at.

Also, lets not overlook the fact that with the gutter, the height of half-tiles was also smaller. Stretching them accross the screen  made the tiles taller, to the point only three rows of tiles (half & full) are visible on a screen.
So while raising the amount of items you can place on the WP8 start screen, they effectively lowered the information density.
I think I'm going to start a movement called "Less clutter. More Gutter".
Who's with me?

+1! Got a nice ring to it!

Anyone else notice the Xbox live tike has a numerical notification? Turn requests?

We have that now

I guess I don't play any live titles that involve turn requests. :\

Battleship is currently the only game to support turn requests.

Yea I like it. and seeing as I have a first gen and a second gen the start screen will be nice to have. Then around the the first of the year I'll replace the HD7. Not sure what the beef is about on the upgrade heck if you like the OS then you have to be happy with the way they are going with it.

Some people on here talking about wanting more customization and now are complaining about it, lol.You can keep the mango setup or not love what they have done.

I don't think that there is no applist. It just does not make sense by removing it and having all the apps as tiles. This would lead to chaos on the startscreen. Maybe they have a gesture based start screen now with edge detect (like win8) where you scroll from edge and you get the applist (notification center would also be great this way).. Sooo... Any news on when the 7.8 will be available?

made this comment on a post earlier..
They could have treated us like apple does their fans. That is
Windows Phone 8 will be on all phone.  and then a * comment on the bottom of the screen with tiny letters that says..... " not all features available on all devices"
At least MS was honest upfront about it today and didn't pull our chains for the next few months and then drop the bomb on us.

Ya this update situation might suck but I prefer the transparency Microsoft is showing. If Apple did this it would be no big deal.

  apple should call iOS 6 for iPhone 3GS and iphone 4 iOS 5.5. If anything they are the ones misleading consumers.           

ARGHHHH!!!! I want that start screen now I Love it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm in love with that screen... Can't wait. Although, I hope not too many features are reduced for legacy phones.

From the look of it, all this is, is re-sizing and grouping of tiles which is a welcome site for me. Now I can group the phone,market place, messaging and IE in one square grouping instead of each individual taking up more screen space. I know I can resize and group tile elegantly to maintain WP7 beauty. All of the people complaining are must not have organizational skills!
Maybe when WP8 come out and I've organized my screen, I'll put out a HOW TO video!

Was not really liking the look of this new start screen idea until I watched the video of how it works... Very nicely done MS. Very innovative. Gotta say, I have been very impressed with their scrappiness lately. They are just trying to go punch for punch with Apple and Google, they are pulling out roundhouse kicks for the eventual knockout...

Ya same here. I might like the simpler look of the previous version better but I think the extra functionality is worth it

What's up with 1/4/13? 

Good riddance gutter!
 

When is gonna be that update

"This fall," according to Microsoft

What is Windows 7.8?

Its the update for all wp7 devices right now on the market. That startscreen will be bundled with it. You can think of 'windows phone 8 light'. You get a taste of wp8, but not all features.

Windows 8 has a entirely different core that wouldn't work with today devices. I dont think it will be too much of difference because WP8 mostly adds functionality for hardware that doesn't exist on WP7

Can anyone confirm of there will be an app list as well. Its perfect for those apps that I occasionally use but don't want to see cluttering up my start screen.

It is still there. Swipe to right.

ohhh I'm furious, the new home is so UGLY ... even the crapppy iphone home looks better than this new wp8 home! the reason I bought my WP is because it was super beautiful and minimal...... today microsoft has ruined the home screen, it's ugly, dense, and no minimal metro at all! .... thanks microsoft for making me want an iphone as my next phone!..... and I'm not upgrading my current 7.5 for this ugly new home!   ps: fyi I'm not a troll, I only post when I want to say something that is not right! I never post to agree on any post blogs cause I agree with most of the blog posts, so don't cry 'blind fans'

ps: you are totally a troll

You can probably get most of the minimalistic look back by only using the medium size tiles. You don't have to use the added customizability if you dont want to.
Also, you sound pretty much like a troll to me, but I know that sometimes its hard to criticize nicely.

Nothing sounds more trollish than claiming you're not trolling. Especially when making bombastic statements like yours that have already been made repeatedly and answered. Just use all medium tiles and you essentially have the mango screen again.

Just customize it how you want. Which in this case is more traditional WP7 and minimal. You don't sound like a troll but you do sound like an idiot.

Have to say that the off center tiles and the arrow in the gutter gave WP7 character. I loved how to arrow nudged towards the app. That said, the added functionality of the new look makes it worth it.

My gut reaction was that it seemed a bit too cluttered, and I kinda reeled away for a moment, but shortly thereafter I considered how I personally would setup my start screen with this, and it's really growing on me. It's really the small ones that got my gears turning. Toward the bottom of my screen I keep utilities like my flashlight and calculator apps toward the bottom. It makes it easy to scroll right to the bottom and use them. They do, however, take up a considerable amount of space. Now I can take those little apps and put them in neat little lines toward the bottom, making them slight and convenient. I imagine myself making a few 4-wide lines of apps which either have no real need for a live tile, or which I don't often use but always want quick access too. Hmm, also, now that I'm thinking about it, I could do some heavy customization and finally put one of those apps which allows you to make pictures out of your live tiles to good use. Imagine using solid colored tiles to make distinctive barriers or headers to separate groups of apps. Then one could say, make a distinctive news section with a large CNN tile on top with medium WPCentral and Engadget tiles underneath. Perhaps have a big Xbox Live tile with medium and small tiles underneath for your favorite games. Yeah, the more I think about it, the more I like it. However, I definitely see where a lot of people with no design sense will make a clusterf#$% out of this, so there's that.

Like

So I've been a fan of Windows Phone since before it was relesed and purchased my HD7 on release day, so needless to say I'm a big fan of the OS. But am I the only one who thinks this new Start Screen looks kind of aweful? I liked the bar to the right which gave a distinct design element to the OS and allowed the screen to not look crowded. And those small tiles, while definitely useful, make the screen look extremely busy. Maybe it's just something that I need to get used to, but at first glance it looks kind of bad.

+1

Nice

Forget all of the bickering over the new start screen. It will grow on us because again you can CUSTOMIZE it. They gave us an option, geez, haven't we been asking MS for some customizing options? Either way I wanted to ask how come there isn't any video of the new start screen scrolling? Is there a chance we will be scrolling left to right ala Windows8? I like scrolling vertically but let's be honest you can see more, faster, when scrolling left to right or horizontally. Daniel any info on that?

I've never used the word "troll", but it seems all the trolls are rearing their ugly heads. This UI is kick ass. A live tile which spans the width of the screen that gives a message preview (baked into the OS) and being able to adjust the size of your shortcuts...let's see Android or iOS do that! And if you're sad that the gap is going away, you must lead a very lonely life.

I'm a big MS & WP supporter, and I really like the amount of customization that this will bring.. But.. I will definitely miss the negative space / "gutter" (& arrow), and associated tile size / proportion / alignment on screen. To me, as a designer, that was part of the WP appeal. The examples shown seem very 'un- Metro', but nobodies saying I'd have to use a layout like those myself. So to me the downside really is the loss of the gutter (and perhaps the thought that many WP users will have screens that look like the examples - not the best 'advertising' for the OS it seems to me). Still, I want to stay positive & the ability to personalize is appealing. So I'll probably update despite my reservations & monkey with the layout. Would've been nice to have gutter as optional. Ah well. Onwards & upwards!

Nokia Facebook page has lumia 900 running the new start screen yes you scroll to the right for apps.

I spoke ignorantly and I would like to apologize...I should have watched the video first (which somehow I skipped over) to see what they meant by "new" start screen. I have always been onboard with WindowsPhone and now this just reassures me that the future is indeed safe with Mircosoft &Nokia leading the way!!!!

Sweet

where is the hubs? are the list of apps gone? I love the updated start screen but what about the app list?

its there. watch the video where a lumia 900 runs the new startscreen. problem is, that it has bugs and this was also the reason they never showed it in the demo.

D U D E . . ! =O

Any one know if I can just add a small tile next to the to medium tiles I have at the top now....??????? Like where the arrow use to be

The two medium tiles I have up top

Wow! Nicely done.. Cant wait to have this update. ^_^

No suprise...I knew this was coming.
Now if only they could add a small button (25% of large tile) that is labeled "QuickView" and if you click to the side it will bring you right to the text or email or voicmail or updates or new pictures or ...see what i mean?

'Microsoft just absolutely has no taste'

Wonder if the small tiles are live do they flip around and show information?

I have to admit to being something approaching a 'fanboy' for MS & WP, so I hate to say anything negative.. But.. The more I look at this, the more I cringe. Makes me appreciate the current start screen even more than i did already. Thumbs up for the added functionality & customizability, but did it have to come at the cost of abandoning some key aspects of what made the WP UI so outstanding. To maintain the simple, clean, dynamic Metro aesthetic that drew me to WP, i now either have to skip the update or jump through hoops to try & customize it back to as close a simulation as can be. And the prevailing new face of WP in the wild will be a dogs breakfast mish-mash that almost seems to mock Metro's principles. I REALLY hope this does not spread to Windows. Don't mean to sound harsh, its just that i actually care, and have been completely surprised & disappointed by this. Innovation - Great! Functionality - Great! Customizability - Great! Muddying your magic - Not so great. Funny the difference a little negative space & asymmetry can make, but that's the way with design. Good on ya MS for not sitting still & stagnating - and i guess change is always a risk. Better a partial misstep than no step at all. Guess we'll just have to see where this all goes...

+ 10000000
 
whats next? centered hubs, deleting typography, adding some bevel, glossy and shiny "1000 magic photoshop effects"
 
grrrr, i am realy angry about this decision.

It's funny to see when most iOS or Android users just said how ugly the gutter was everyone just said how nice it is and that's the best thing of the whole metro design. Now MS removes it and everone just cheers how great that decision is....

sorry, but apple and android users have no taste.

1. Please stop hating on Apple and Android devices/users. They have nothing to do with what is happening here. This is Windows Phone. So stop acting like fu**ing kids and focus on the subject at hand.
2. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. People think this new start screen is really ugly, others think it is the best thing ever. Respect their opinions and correct them when they have misinterpreted the info that MS provided.
3. Talking about my own opinion, I really think that this new start screen is really really ugly. If mine looks like that when I upgrade, I will definentely hide my phone all day long.
  - There was nothing wrong with what they call the gutter.
  - This is really too cluttered. I know we can customize but they haven't done it right. I get the idea but the execution is very poor.
  - Now, I need more info on this thing so that I can make a decision for my next device. I know for a fact that I don't want what I saw on those PP presentations on my next phone. At least if It is what I think it is thn I really don't want it. It is really not pretty at all! Even when you try your best to make it look pretty coz you like WP7, it still does look really ugly...
  - However, I will give it a go on my current phone if the update brings other significant changes.

I wish I could post a photo of how the home screen should've looked like.

Please wpcentral make a mock up of what wp8 would look like with the gutter and the arrow. My issue is that the tiles are bigger and only 3 (instead of 4) fit on the page

+1

http://windowsphone.uservoice.com/forums/101801-feature-suggestions/sugg...
here you can vote for a nice design.
 
 
in my opinion the wp8 star screen shouls look like this: (my mockup)
 
http://s7.directupload.net/file/d/2928/33x9j6ta_jpg.htm

+1000000! Voted & commented. The WP8 mock-up image with gutter is a big improvement.

here is a good example:
 
http://s1.directupload.net/file/d/2929/5dvg94ag_jpg.htm

That tells the story alright. Really hope all hope's not lost on this...

Guys... Does that mean we wont have our own background in the start screen???