Microsoft working on interactive Live Tiles for Windows Next

Microsoft recently release Windows 8.1 Update 1 for Windows 8 users, but the company is already focusing on their next version of Windows. One of the enhancements will be on the Live Tiles. Live Tiles have clearly been the bridge between Microsoft's mobile and desktop platforms and we have seen how Microsoft plans to further the exposure of Live Tiles for desktop users by introducing them into the recommissioned Start Menu.

Build 2014 showed us much of the progress being made, but based on these videos from Microsoft Research in Asia, we have a lot more to look forward to. As they exist now, Live Tiles provide real-time content, but they are not interactive. They provide information to the user without the need to open the app, but the notifications are not actionable. Microsoft is working on some pretty neat enhancements to Live Tiles, and how they integrate to Windows, Windows Phone and Xbox.

Live Tiles will begin to have interactive shortcuts that allow almost instantaneous action without the need to dig into an app. Whether it is a modern app, or desktop application, the two environments will be even more interactive, and the Live Tiles will become more like dashboards.

Seeing the video demonstrations below, you can see some elements of the Windows Phone experience working its way up through the tablet and PC experience. The multitasking and integration will bring a number of enhancements as well.

The demonstration refers the the environment as "Windows Next", which is a comment title used to describe the next version of Microsoft's OS. However it is not known if these features will make their way to our devices in the form of an update or if they will be implemented on Windows 9 and Windows Phone 9.


source: Microsoft-News | WindowsBlogItalia (YouTube)