Just few days ago the very first leaked screenshots of Microsoft Windows 8 surfaced on internet showing nothing but minor user-interface changes, to get things going more screenshots have now appeared on internet displaying significant tweaks to the taskbar - notable being the ability to login using Windows Live ID which displays the user's profile picture in new system tray.

Another major exciting feature is said to be the speed at which Windows 8 setup installs from scratch and the number is just 8 minutes for a complete OS install (Windows 7 took 23-25 minutes to install on same PC configuration), and if that was not impressive enough you can also restore (or "Push Button Reset") the complete OS to default in flat 2 minutes saving your existing settings.

Microsoft Windows 7 is doing good business and we are yet to see the final version of Windows 7 Service Pack 1 but rumors are that Microsoft has already started working on Windows 8 and fans have started creating cool futuristic GUI concepts mock-ups of the next Microsoft operating-system. Here is a video demo of an fan created concept which I would definitely like Microsoft to have a look at (video after the jump).

Independent designers often come up with innovative and exciting user interfaces for computer operating-systems, and here is another one which I would definitely want Microsoft to look into for there upcoming Windows 8 operating-system, This project was originally intended for the Microsoft Next Gen Computer competition in 2008 (see details after the jump).

Microsoft has done a pretty decent job with upcoming Windows 7 user interface, but here is something more futuristic named Copenhagen User Experience concept by its developer, the GUI concept seems very practical and is definitely worth giving a consideration by developers.