Lipstick on a Pig? (Premium)

One of the more common reactions I’ve seen online to the Windows 11 leak is that it’s just “lipstick on a pig.” This view is misguided and incorrect. A Windows user interface refresh is overdue, and while I understand that looks are subjective, and that some are unimpressed by what they see here, my appreciation of Windows 11 has only grown over the past week. And this isn’t even the final UI, obviously.

Before getting to that, I’d like to address that phrase, “lipstick on a pig.” Like so many things Microsoft, “lipstick on a pig” didn’t originate at the software giant. But I do feel a certain responsibility for popularizing its association with Microsoft, since I’ve brought it up regularly on Windows Weekly on my websites, the SuperSite for Windows and, now, Thurrott.com, for so many years. And I feel qualified to explain what it means in the context of Microsoft, even as an outsider, since it was explained to me by Microsoft insiders who were around when the phrase was first introduced.

“Lipstick on a pig” was used by the Microsoft Office team to describe the arbitrary user interfaces that they would introduce in each major product edition. Don’t confuse that with the non-arbitrary UI changes that this team made from time to time: With new UIs like command bars and, later, the infamous ribbon, Microsoft really was trying to create more efficient and useful interfaces than had been available in previous product versions.

But for those many Office versions that weren’t going to bring major UI changes, especially to the toolbar/command bar/ribbon area, Microsoft would always still make visual changes. And while those changes felt arbitrary to most of us on the outside, they were made very purposefully to aid those IT admins and support staff who would be looking over the shoulder of a user who needed help with something. They would need to know which version of Office they were using, and because every version had a different UI, there was no need to dive into menus and About boxes. “Lipstick on a pig,” it was called.

This phrase could very easily have been applied to different Windows versions too, at least for a while there. And maybe it was, I don’t know or remember. (The Windows team did introduce a fun term called “lipstick on a chicken” at one point, but I’ll write more about that later.)

But here we are, so many years later, with a Windows 11 leak. And people are dismissing the UI change as “lipstick on a pig,” an arbitrary UI change designed to help one quickly visually differentiate Windows 11 from its predecessors.

That’s not what this is. And even if Windows 11 should somehow offer no other advances—which is impossible, obviously—this new UI, which, again, hasn’t yet been shown in its final form, is an exciting and modern update to the stale UI that over 1.3 billion people rely on every single day. It is a breath of fresh air.

More to the point, this UI change is not arbitrary at all. Instead, the Windows 11 UI is a calculated attempt to bring this platform into a new era in which its users are familiar and comfortable with more elegant mobile interfaces, especially those Apple created for iOS 14 and macOS Big Sur, and Google is copying for Android 12.

That Microsoft teased us with this new UI in the abortive Windows 10X project is not coincidental. In an alternate reality in which the mobile-focused Windows 10X would exist alongside “big” Windows, it always made sense for these two separate but related platforms to share the same UIs where it made sense. Apple does this with iOS, iPadOS, and macOS, after all, and Google similarly does so with Android and Chrome OS. Microsoft, badly, did the same previously with Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8. And a bit less badly with Windows 10 and Windows 10 Mobile.

The new UI is successful in the sense that it mixes things up visually without getting in the way of our decades-long familiarity with the desktop interface that first debuted in 1995 with Windows 95. There is still a Start button, a Start menu, a taskbar, a desktop, and a Recycle Bin, and they all work so similarly to their respective predecessors that any time-traveling “Friends” fan from the late 1990s would face few hurdles in adjusting to the new system here in 2021. Your muscle memory has been rewarded.

But the Windows 11 UI is also modern and adjusts and tweaks these familiar interfaces to account for both technological improvements and our refined sense of style. The rounded corners make the system feel more organic, and the translucencies that debuted in Windows 10 look even better here, giving a visual sense of focus and depth when the newly centered Start menu appears over open application windows.

At least that’s how I see it. Over the past week, each time I’ve transitioned from the lock screen, which is unchanged in the leaked build from that in Windows 10, to the new-style Windows 11 desktop, my heart almost leaps a little bit. It just looks nicer. Feels like a real upgrade over a Windows 10 UI that, in hindsight, overstayed its welcome. There’s just enough new here to make it feel different, even in its incomplete current state.

I know that others disagree. In the comments here, on Twitter, and via email, I’ve heard from those that reject the Windows 11 look and feel. My response to that is multi-fold. First, remember that the leaked build does not represent the final product and that more changes are coming. (I’m looking at you, Windows 10-style  taskbar notification area.) There are some concessions to the old school even in the leaked build; one can, for example, turn off the Start and taskbar centering and return them to their familiar place at the left side of the taskbar.  And there is evidence in the Registry that the less adventurous will be able to switch back to the Windows 10 UI wholesale if they prefer; we haven’t seen that type of concession since Windows XP, I believe.

Regardless, I would ask the Windows 11 detractors to hold off in their judgment. Having tested Mac OS X/macOS extensively over the years, I’ve always wanted to center at least the pinned taskbar icons and have employed third-party utilities to accomplish it. And having experienced the simplified UI offered by Chrome OS, I’ve been troubled by the complexity of the traditional Windows desktop and how it turns off users more comfortable with mobile platforms. With Windows 11, Microsoft is trying to address its UI deficiencies when compared to the competition, and time and experience may change your mind. I think it will, for many.

Wherever you stand on Windows 11 today, it’s likely that Microsoft’s revelations this Thursday will adjust things yet again, that it will reveal a more complete look at what it’s trying to accomplish and why. That some coming changes or new features that are not found in the leaked build will change some minds.

To be sure, while the need for a UI overhaul is obvious enough, the situation isn’t as dire as it was when Windows 8.x was the current offering and Microsoft was still alienating much of its userbase. But what I see in Windows 11 today, even in this incomplete state, fills me with a hope for this product that I’ve not felt in years. Microsoft has ignored Windows for too long, and I welcome the attention that it’s now receiving.

So let’s catch back up after this week’s event and see where things stand.