As a certain cartoon character likes to say, shiver me timbers, blow me down! Microsoft, it seems, is going all out in order to give the Metro UI another big push for success.
This latest screenshot from a fairly reliable source reveals that Metro apps can not only be launched from the desktop, they can actually be launched on the desktop — that is, in their very own window right on the desktop.
The image above from PCPortal shows one such app running in windowed mode.
What this means is that desktop users on Windows 8.1 might soon be able to run Modern UI apps in a familiar environment, even if the Metro environment is not their cup of tea.
And while the Metro apps run just like a regular software application, other details are not exactly clear, including whether users will be allowed to resize the windows manually to whatever size they want, or whether these will be locked in this
Then again, it is hard to accurately gauge the authenticity of this in the first place — the image could easily have been forged, it’s not actually the hardest thing in the world to do so, really.
On the other hand, this information from @AngelWZR, the famous leaker, claims that this is actually a modern version of the taskbar that shows up on top of Metro apps. It is hidden when the app is full screen, but can easily be called back up when needed.
This is where the plot thickens, then.
But if Microsoft is ready to bring a feature like pinning of Metro apps on the desktop, then something like this does not seem all that out of place. In fact, it makes sense to do so now, instead of Windows 9 as was previous rumored.
Still, with just over a month remaining before Windows 8.1 Update 1 starts rolling out, we ought to have a lot more details heading our way before the March 11 Patch Tuesday.
