I spotted this on the front page of Microsoft. At first look, I thought it was some abstract drawing. However on close look, it has a trademark beside it, so it must have some significance.
Could be the ‘Vista-mark’ or something?
Update: Thanks a lot to Robert Scoble who asked Jenny Lam from the Microsoft Design team for me.
It’s not so much a new theme as a new brand element for Windows. We were feeling a little creatively trapped when it came to the Windows identity especially with branding the user experience (in UI). We know we didn’t want to slap the Windows flag logo everywhere (disparaging to the flag!), so we created this new little sweet, light gesture animation in the UI. I have to admit, there’s still some little treatment-like work I’d like to do to it.
I don’t see the swish on that page.