Microsoft has revealed that it has made some big changes to its desktop UI for Windows 8, which includes moving away from Aero Glass — the UI first introduced with Vista. According to the company, this means visual changes that include "flattening surfaces, removing reflections, and scaling back distracting gradients."

Despite all of these changes with the interface, the company doesn't appear to be worried about the issue of "learnability." Instead, Microsoft believes that with a little help it won't take long for users to adapt to the new operating system. "We will help people get off on the right foot," the company explained in a blog post, "and we have confidence that people will quickly find the new paradigms to be second-nature."

While Microsoft admits that there have been some usability issues with certain gestures in the Consumer Preview, the company says that this is not an issue with people coming to grips with the concept, but instead a problem with the early state of the OS — internal builds are already "significantly improved," according to Microsoft, so we should see an easier-to-use Windows 8 when the Release Preview launches next month. The post also packs a great dose of nostalgia, as the team looks back at interface issues dating all the way to Windows 1 in 1985. Be sure to check out the source link below for a trip down memory lane.