David V. Kimball

Metro UI (or "Microsoft Design Language" as it is officially named) refers to the set of software designs used by Microsoft. The earliest iterations of this design were seen in Windows Media Center for Windows XP Media Center Edition, but the digital interface really began to take off in 2006 with Zune. 

There are several ways to get an image of your Xbox Live Avatar on your computer.

Assuming you use your avatar in your Xbox profile picture, an easy way to download your Xbox user picture is use this these URLs:

Since the launch of the Xbox One, you can now download a large resolution image by using this URL:

https://avatar-ssl.xboxlive.com/avatar/[GAMERTAG]/avatarpic-xl.png

Here’s mine: https://avatar-ssl.xboxlive.com/avatar/davidvkimball/avatarpic-xl.png

Note: This link won't work for you if you haven't set up a X-large version of your avatar picture yet. To learn how to set your profile picture on your Xbox One, use this tutorial from Xbox.com. 

So without further ado, let the blogging begin (click "Read More" below if you haven't already)!

Last month, Satya Nadella was appointed CEO of Microsoft. While I was personally rooting for Stephen Elop initially, I have been pleasantly surprised with Nadella's professionalism, competence, and vision as CEO. 

Coming from a background in cloud computing, I think Nadella is the perfect forward-thinking visionary Microsoft needs, and the logical choice to succeed Ballmer. I am also glad Elop is working with hardware and devices in Microsoft. 

"[Many companies] aspire to change the world. But very few have all the elements required: talent, resources and perseverance. Microsoft has proven that it has all three in abundance.” - Satya Nadella

You can read more about him here.

Microsoft's "one experience for everything in your life" theme is really taking off now, and I see a bright future ahead of them as long as they can clearly articulate their vision to consumers and business partners. As Windows 8 matures and people become more familiar with the OS, I think Metro/Modern UI will finally become widely recognized as a compelling digital experience. 

I think people already understand the power of Metro on Windows Phone, but because Windows has such a legacy, people are resistant to the seemingly drastic change (just ask an average user of Facebook every time an update is rolled out: people generally don't like change). In time, however, people will see the power of Metro's simplicity and delivery of content over chrome, and adopt to the change. 

Final thought: many people unfamiliar with Metro UI are scared to upgrade from a previous version of Windows to Windows 8 because of one thing: the Start Screen. Despite this widespread fear, I believe that if each of those people would actually try using it, they would find that in fact Windows 8 isn't entirely different from Windows 7. Really, the Start Screen is just a larger, differently-formatted Start Menu from Windows 7. You can still type + enter to open apps, there are options to open applications, system settings, and user profiles. Its just that its aesthetics have been overhauled. 

Below is a quick guide I made for "Windows 8 beginners" released several months after the operating system's public release. Since the date of this video, Windows 8 has had several updates, including Windows 8.1, and the upcoming Windows 8.1.1 (which will likely be revealed at Build).