Facebook Duplicates Microsoft Windows With New Design, Becomes the Web OS
Posted by Nick O'Neill on September 10th, 2008 11:55 PMSome in the comments of my last post made a great point: “this looks like windows to me now, Application is the ‘Start’ button and the apps are the quick launch”. Whoa! I did not even realize that when I first looked at the design but it totally does. Mark Zuckerberg suggested that Facebook was becoming the web operating system when the platform launched last year and now it’s beginning to look like it.
While the new design Facebook sent out to developers this afternoon has yet to launch, Facebook is slowly making changes that make the platform increasingly similar to Windows. While chat windows cannot be dragged around anywhere it’s clearly a step in that direction. The bookmarked applications are just like Windows quick launch.
Some developers will be happy to know that all bookmarked applications now show up when you click on “Applications” at the bottom of the page. This is one more step toward making it clear that Facebook is literally becoming a web based operating system. The only task now will be embracing some of the features now found in Google Chrome in which applications can run in stand alone windows.
While that won’t happen in the near future, something like this would truly transform the web. I never thought such a small change could have such a big impact. Do you see the similarities to Windows? Do you think Facebook is rapidly becoming the leading web operating system?
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September 10th, 2008 at 11:13 pm
Well it does have squared corners so it is leaving the Web 2.0-It-Has-To-have-Rounded-Corners-And-Be-Super-Shiny mantra behind for a bit of Windows 98-esque design influence!
September 10th, 2008 at 11:18 pm
Wow… I didn't even notice it, but you are right. It does look like Windows
September 10th, 2008 at 11:20 pm
Considering the backlash is just getting started, another similarity to Windows you forgot to mention is that the new design=Vista version of Facebook. It is totally ridiculous how people cling onto old things and resist change. Let's face it, life itself is a constant progression of change. If you can't cope with something as change like this, then how are people going to deal with the non-facebook issues in daily life?
September 10th, 2008 at 11:53 pm
Revanth R - What about the perspective that there's so much else changing all the time, why do my apps have to change too? We all don't want chaos and change everywhere.
On the similarities, nice start. It even goes as far as to continue doing things that make no sense (in classic Outlook tradition), like show me events that I already said I wasn't attending. Errgggg.. Okay, I do secretly which the events I “accept” on FB would get tossed to my Outlook. It's almost 2009 and I still have to go create the event in my Outlook. tisk.
September 10th, 2008 at 11:57 pm
[...] 2 Facebook has updated to the new design. See this post for more [...]
September 11th, 2008 at 12:18 am
@Revanth R
I totally agree with you. I think that people need to learn that basically everything is going to change, especially on the internet, and the only thing you can do is just learn to deal with it, and you will probably learn to like it more.
September 11th, 2008 at 12:56 am
everything old is new again. Check out my screenshots from my startup, WebOS, when I was 22. It's in my fb profile. -Shervin
September 11th, 2008 at 1:26 am
Heh! Right! And it happened all of sudden, with a helpful icon to tell you what it did:-)
September 11th, 2008 at 2:27 am
Disappointing. Wasn't the promise of Web 2.0 to be open and untethered? Looks like Facebook is not becoming the new Windows, but the new AOL. How ironic. AOL (as it once existed) is no more because it failed to adapt to the new online paradigm shift, and yet Facebook seems intent on its regression.
September 11th, 2008 at 5:55 am
Hah! Now that you say it:-)
September 11th, 2008 at 8:36 am
I called it
September 11th, 2008 at 8:51 am
Now does Microsoft over-purchasing Facebook shares make sense to anyone else?
September 11th, 2008 at 9:18 am
Too bad they didn't go with Apple's UI on this one. Perhaps MySpace will go this route to differentiate themselves from the last Facebook style navigation they had ripped off.
Erik <-Apple Fanboy
September 11th, 2008 at 9:58 am
just add folders to the application list (either developer/ publisher name e,g, slide or by category. (and facebook needs to revamp the categories if so - more of them and also
may as well add a aol US style approach (get the 3 main competitors (mail) and provide links (they could be in a fb iframe lol
this (if it starts going web os and live mesh (that going the (remote os way and also have sync on devices over the place) could make a exciting future
September 12th, 2008 at 4:37 pm
Whats the Globe on the bottom right next to your buddy list
September 13th, 2008 at 4:44 am
@chris: It's the translation applet. Search for it under applications by facebook.
September 18th, 2008 at 2:18 am
YEAH IT DOES LOOK LIKE WINDOWS, AND THATS WHY IT SUCKS