Back in late 2007, Microsoft released the Zune 2.0 software, departing from the horrid Windows Media Player-based experience to a brand new one powered by what seemed to be magic at the time. The UI didn’t feature the familiar factory buttons and spreadsheet-like views Windows users had forcibly become accustomed to; the UI featured smooth animations, to transition from one area of the application to another, and functionality that adapted to how you work — not vice versa. To make the leap from drab to dazzling, Microsoft created a brand new UI framework named Iris, strangely unrelated to the Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) released a year before.
This morning, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer unveiled new Windows Phone software sporting a brand new tile-based UI, not unlike Zune’s experience. Judging by the similarities between the two experiences and the fact the team responsible for Windows Phone and Zune are one and the same, I think it’s safe to conclude that Windows Phone (7 series) is also powered by Iris.
So what is Iris? Microsoft refuses to officially comment on Iris. Long Zheng documented his discoveries while poking about back in 2007, but little has bubbled up since. While I can’t authoritatively write about Microsoft Iris, I’ll share my notes taken during the disassembly of the Zune software over the next few upcoming posts.
A little side note: They have created different numbers for this version of the Zegoe UI font, they are more rounded and don’t have serifs.
On the “making of” video on the WP7S website you can see that they are using Blend to create the UI (?) or a prototype (?).
I really look forward to read more about this framework here :)
I am wondering if this Iris UI has any links to Direct UI, which is another framework used by Windows Live Messenger, Windows Explorer and other bits and bobs like shellstyle.dll. Because these are undocumented its impossible to figure out how they work, but with the Windows Phone 7 UI likely to be programmable for developers, either they will enclose a subset of this Iris framework for devs to use, or they may bypass it for silverlight development only. This would negate any possibility of deep integration with the innards and the drivers.
I predict they will bring in an Expression Blend style dev programme, with a cookie cutter approach as in drag and dropping elements like:
HUB > Section A – Section B – Section C
SECTION A > command – command – link – textbox – datastack
etc and have the programming code completely separate from the UI construction.
@mdtauk: It doesn’t link to DirectUI, but it sure does behave like it (100% sealed, proprietary, undocumented). I was thinking the same, re: developer access. I highly doubt they’ll release the complete Iris framework to developers. It’s big. It’s complex. It’s… well theirs. Given how modular Iris is, from my research, they’ll do exactly as you said — provide an interface to code to and nothing more.
For testing, they’re stuck providing an emulator w/ Iris baked in or forcing users to own actual hardware — a big no-no. Sadly we have to wait until MIX to hear any real details about development.
Feels like milcore.
My question is, will the release of Windows Phone Series 7 spell the end of Microsoft maintaining two separate media player software programs; Windows Media Player and the Zune Software?
Will the Zune HD software and Windows Mobile 7 Series software merge?
It’s a fork of the Windows Media Center rendering system. Interestingly, the Iris framework keeps all the Xenon rendering logic (cross-network renderer – used for the Xbox 360 fluid Windows Media Center Extender functionality)
Looks like Valve took some cues from Iris:
http://store.steampowered.com/news/3501/
@Nathaniel
Yeah and they did a depressingly TERRIBLE job at it.
Makes me want to nerd rage.
Iris is the UI framework used for the desktop composition of the Zune software. Since the “Behind the scenes” WP7S shows them using Expression Blend to design the UI, it’s a safe bet to say that the on-phone UI platform is Silverlight using XAML for declarative ui markup.
Interestingly…. remember when the present wav e of Windows Live Applications were in the build stages, and every so often we would get leaks and we would see what it would look like.
Back then, the first thinks i noticed was with WLM and Photo gallery was how the shading and styling had taken on a more Windows 7 Like Feel (as one could see by looking at the then released Win 7 Beta.)
Now, there are some new Windows Live Beta Screenshot leaks on Softpedia… and the “Windows Live Today” windows, has now taken on the Iris UI.
http://news.softpedia.com/newsImage/Windows-Live-Messenger-15-2010-Wave-4-Leaked-Screenshots-7.png/
I’m just assuming here, that with the Windows 7 Aero UI element sneeking into Windows Live Essentials Wave 3… What we see with Wave 4, may be move within Windows 8 to an Iris oriented UI and a shift from Aero.
Also, the simple text elements as opposed to using “buttons” is actually more finger friendly, one you add in some basic gesture controls.
Just a thought… cheers!!