Windows 8 Metro Backround Image Not Customizable

Posted by on January 27 at 11:29am
Ashley is a 26 year old with an enthusiasm for all things technology related. She hails from the Southern United States and when she's not tweaking her Android handset, she can usually be found in front of the computer or Xbox 360 enjoying the latest game releases.
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If you’re a stickler for customization when it comes to your devices, this news might upset you. Apparently the background designed for Windows 8 Metro is not customizable and the direct of communications, Chris Flores has a reason for this.

“Not only would a photo not stretch and scale as you add more tiles and groups and zoom in and out of the Start screen, it would also be covered up so much by the tiles that you’d never see it.”

While full-on customization isn’t possible, the OS will ship wit a theme picker page that will allow you to choose from 8 different styles and colors. While this is definitely a good start in the right direction, I can’t help but feel this restriction is something many people will complain about, regardless of whether or not Microsoft feels like the wallpaper you choose for your device won’t fit into the MetroUI.

This tired line of reasoning sounds like something that should be coming out of Tim Cook’s mouth, instead of something from someone at Microsoft. If you’re interested in knowing more about the features of MetroUI, check out this TechRadar post.

  • Anonymous

    Actually, he’s absolutely correct, given how the background is supposed to scroll. There are some apps in WP7 that the developer chose to use a traditional picture for their background as opposed to a monochromatic background with maybe a few flourishes. Pictures used as the background look HORRIBLE when scrolling. I look at that with the same disdain that I do when I see someone has put a picture up as their background on the desktop and it doesn’t fit the aspect ratio of the screen. Stupid and ugly. And since we can be pretty assured that Windows 8 tablets will show up in a variety of sizes and aspects, it would really be a waste. However, if Microsoft caves to “Android Fever” (aka, the overwhelming desire to customize every area of their experience for no apparent reason or value) I will certainly enjoy every opportunity to malign people when I see how stupidly they tried to customize their devices. So, sure, open it up.

  • http://profiles.google.com/joefedewa Joe Fedewa

    You’re right that some people make their devices look pretty ugly, but isn’t that their decision? I appreciate Microsoft trying to make sure everything looks good, but if I want a horrible stretched image as my background I should be able to do it.