A How-To kit for the ideal PC has been making the rounds of leading design shops. It calls for "accelerated curves" and "purposeful contrast." The preferred colors include a shade of black called Obsidian and a translucent white dubbed Ice. "We want people to fall in love with their PCs, not to simply use them to be productive and successful," reads the enclosed booklet. "We want PCs to be objects of pure desire."
Doesn't sound much like Microsoft, does it? But it is. BusinessWeek has learned that a team of 20 in-house designers has been working quietly for the past 18 months on an elegant new look for PCs that will run Microsoft's next operating system, Windows Vista. It's a major departure for the company, which historically has left design to the likes of Dell, Hewlett-Packard, and Gateway. Persuading the hardware guys to embrace the toolkit won't be easy. They're already working overtime to build better-looking gear on their own.
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