Microsoft rebrands with a new logo.

If the logo is simple and recognisable then what’s the problem? I suppose certain forum writers and bloggers would of liked to see a 3D all singing, all dancing logo. However, you don’t have to look hard to see that most of the mega companies around the world have a simple looking logo, for example, just take a look on the front of your car to see what i mean? The less complicated it is, the better the market value for the product.

Here’s the full article from Yahoo:

Microsoft has unveiled a new corporate logo, setting the stage for a wave of products designed to cast the world’s largest software maker in a new light.

The makeover unveiled in the United States marks the first time that Microsoft Corp. has revamped its logo since February 1987 - when the internet was barely around and mobile phones were considered a luxury.

At the time, Microsoft was putting the finishing touches on the second version of its Windows operating system. Two of Microsoft’s biggest nemeses - Google Inc co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin - were just 13 years old. And Apple Inc co-founder Steve Jobs was just in the second year of an 11-year exile from the company which went on to invent the iPod, iPhone and iPad after he returned.

Microsoft logos through the yearsBy revamping its logo, Microsoft is trying to signal that it has changed its thinking and its products to cater to people who are interacting with technology much differently than just a decade ago, let alone a quarter century.

Now, more computing tasks are being done on touch-based devices such as smartphones and tablets instead of personal computers tethered to keyboards and mice. Many software applications are now supplied over high-speed internet connections for a monthly fee instead of being installed on individual computers.

Microsoft believes a radical change to Windows will ensure that the company survives the technological upheaval. Windows 8, due to hit the market on October 26, displays software applications in a mosaic of tiles and has been engineered so it works on both touch-based tablets and traditional PCs.

The company also is releasing its own Windows 8-powered tablet to compete against the iPad, accompanied by a new version of Office applications tailored for such devices. There also will be a Windows 8 operating system for smartphones.

The new logo - the fifth since Bill Gates and Paul Allen founded the company 37 years ago - ushers in “one of the most significant waves of product launches in Microsoft’s history,” Jeff Hansen, the company’s general manager of brand strategy, wrote in a blog post.

The redesign features the Microsoft name in a lighter, straight font called Segoe to replace the italic bold type used in the old standby. The new logo also includes the familiar red, blue, yellow and green colours used in the flag on Microsoft’s Windows operating system, but the colours will be in a square box instead of the curvy template that has been in place for years. Those colour boxes invoke the tiles that will be central to Windows 8.

“The ways people experience our products are our most important ‘brand impressions’. That’s why the new Microsoft logo takes its inspiration from our product design principles while drawing upon the heritage of our brand values, fonts and colours.”

UPDATE 25/Aug:

Interesting that an article at 9 to 5 pointed out that Microsoft may have just copied Apple (again?!)

SHOULD THIS HAVE BEEN MICROSOFT’S REBRANDING?