The first trailer under the game’s new publisher was released today, and it shows more of the world players will be exposed to in Last Light. In short, it looks like more of the drab, depressing environments of the first game, but that’s only a good thing. Metro 2033 excelled in selling its atmosphere and Last Light looks to continue in its footsteps.

Metro Last Light will be launching on May 14 across the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC.

Today, some good news has come for Metro fans.

Deep Silver has announced that Metro: Last Light will be released before summer. The game will be released in North America on May 14 and in Europe on May 17. Last Light will be available for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC.

The game had already been delayed twice, and its most recent release date was sometime in March 2013.

“The new release date is the ideal way to strike the balance between bringing the best out of Metro: Last Light and not keep the fans waiting longer than necessary.” , said Klemens Kundratitz, CEO of Koch Media. “We won’t leave that time unexploited and will work closely together with 4A Games to make the game even better. It will receive all the attention it deserves.”

Over on the Metro Facebook page, the game’s developers have promised to use their extra time to give the game a “final layer of polish.” They have also stated that pre-order details are being worked out and will hopefully be announced “soon.”

Mozilla announced via Twitter today that a Windows 8 Metro UI version of Firefox is now available in the Nightly distribution. Firefox Nightly is the highly experimental version of Firefox so expect a few bugs.

If you don’t want to take on Firefox Nightly, you can check out some screenshots of Mozilla’s preliminary work in Metro-fying Firefox here:

The design being used here is the similar to the UI currently used by Firefox for Android. There are a few Metro-ifications on display here, however, that I hope make their way into Firefox for Android at some point. Most noticeably, the bookmarks display in the Windows 8 version of Firefox is far superior to the simplistic drop down list on Android. Good thing somebody at Mozilla is already working on something like that.

[h/t: CNET]

Citing unnamed “sources familiar with Skype’s plans,” The Verge states that Skype is now testing a new UI for all platforms. The new interface is “metro-inspired,” referring to the tile-based interface of Windows 8. A shift toward this design can already be seen in the newest beta version of the client.

In addition to aesthetic changes, it is also rumored that Skype will be getting a video messaging service. The feature will allow Skype users to leave a video message for their contacts, who can the watch it the next time they log on, the same way a voicemail or text would be received. The Verge points out that this is a similar feature to the now-defunct Windows Live Video Messages. Video messaging is rumored to be coming “in time for the holidays” along with an outlook.com integration feature.

All of this points to the fact that Microsoft is now fully in control of Skype’s future and sees it as an integral part of its new OS strategy. The Skype client has not changed dramatically since Microsoft acquired it last year, but that appears to now be changing.

Metro is now officially known as the Windows Store. The Register reports that S. Somasegar, corporate VP of Microsoft’s Developer Division, announced the change at the Visual Studio 2012 launch keynote. He said that developers and consumers alike are to start referring to all the apps on the Start Screen as Windows Store apps.

To be honest, it’s a much better name. It better reflects what the apps are being built for and tells consumers exactly where they are. Even if the Metro name were still around, consumers would still probably call them Windows Store apps or Windows 8 apps. This allows them to keep the Windows branding consistent across the entire UI.

That being said, it’s still a little disappointing. The Metro name seemed like a move in the right direction for Microsoft. They were making an entirely new OS that required new branding to appeal to more people beyond the regular enterprise folks who rely on Windows for work. It was a fun and modern name. The Windows Store name makes more sense, but it lacks the pizzazz that Metro had.

Some people are still going to call them Metro apps, while others are going to call them Windows Store apps. Most consumers, however, probably don’t care and are just going to call them apps.

The app is called Classic Shell, and it does as the name suggests. It allows users to insert the Start button back into the desktop on Windows 8. There are other apps that do the same thing, but this one gives you a choice. Users can choose between a variety of start menus including the classic Start menu from the mid-90s.

In even better news, Classic Shell is also able to prevent Windows 8 from booting into the new UI. In my experience, I’ve found the new UI to only slow down my PC. Eliminating it from the boot process will only be a good thing.

There are some people who enjoy Windows 8 and its Live Tile UI, but a lot of people also hate it. It’s unfortunate that Microsoft seems to be completely ignoring their customers that hate the UI that Windows 8 is forcing upon them. There should have been an option from the beginning that allows desktop users to just stick with the classic interface without having to interact with the Live Tiles.

Until Microsoft reverses course and actually starts caring about desktop users, apps like this are going to be our best bet. We can only hope that Microsoft won’t try to shut down these apps that provide a necessary for us curmudgeons that don’t want anything to do with Microsoft’s vision of “progress.”

You can download the latest version of Classic Shell over at Sourceforge. If you’re feeling helpful, you can contribute to the open source project to make it even better.

[h/t: The Register]

Now that Windows 8 has been leaked, we are starting to see the final changes made to the OS. Unfortunately, ZDNet reports that Microsoft won’t let users boot straight to desktop. You must go through Metro first before you’re allowed to get to what really matters on a desktop PC.

What’s even worse is that circumventions created during the beta phases no longer work in the final version. Intrepid users were able to create shortcuts that would automatically launch the desktop upon turning on the PC. Those shortcuts are now null and void. If you want to easily access the desktop, you’ll now have to use keyboard shortcuts.

Even with keyboard shortcuts, the problem remains. There are some desktop users who don’t even want to mess around with the Metro screen. It’s a hassle and unnecessary to force what’s essentially a tablet UI onto desktop users. Microsoft vehemently defends the decision, but we’ll see how they react once it gets into the hands of more desktop users.

At best, Microsoft is going to issue a patch that will allow consumers to start in desktop mode. They have been known to respond to massive complaints in the past. A huge push from consumers should be enough to force them to reconsider.

Microsoft is obviously catering to tablet owners with Windows 8, but they should never forget their bread and butter. The desktop market is still huge and Microsoft has a responsibility to service them. Forcing them to use something that they don’t like isn’t exactly good service.

The Verge got a hold of an internal memo that said the Metro name would be replaced this week. It seems kind of abrupt since Windows 8 has gone gold so it remains to be seen if any references to Metro will be removed from the final product shipping out on October 26.

So why the sudden change? As it turns out, the Microsoft ran into a little trademark problem with the name. In the memo, Microsoft says the change came about after “discussions with an important European partner.” All signs for now are pointing to that partner being Metro AG, a German company.

Microsoft is sticking to the line that Metro was always just a code name. In the same vein of Project Natal being later named Kinect, Microsoft has relied heavily on code names for their products. What makes this change so strange is that it doesn’t seem premeditated. Microsoft was using Metro in advertising and encouraging developers to use the name in apps. Why change it for any reason other than a trademark dispute?

As for now, it seems that Microsoft is scrambling to come up with a new name for the interface. Employees have been told to use the name “Windows 8 style UI” until they can come up with something better. A new name should be revealed this weekend, but I think I have a few ideas. How about “unnecessary” or “keep it off of desktops?” They might not be as catchy as Metro, but I think they clearly express the nature of the UI.

Before you get out your pitchforks and whatever else Apple fans use to maim the non-believers, know that today’s unholy experiment comes from a Jailbroken theme. If somebody wants to add a little bit of Windows 8 to their iPhone, they will have already committed the unthinkable crime of going against Apple’s wishes by jailbreaking their iPhone.

Regardless, it’s a pretty sweet reskin and it looks just like the Metro UI that we’ve come to either love or hate. Seeing it on the iPhone just makes my week. I’m sure Apple fans will have something to say about it, but I think it’s a nice fit for the iPhone. I’ve always thought that Metro looked great on phones and the iPhone UI does need some sprucing up in the design department.

Check out the video below from Jailbreak Nation to get a close look at how Windows 8 would translate to the iPhone.

To get more information on the skin and where to download it, hit up Jailbreak Nations’s tutorial on how to install it. It’s only a paltry $1.50 to get the magic and wonder of Windows 8 onto an Apple device. That’s a small price to pay for the tech equivalent of crossing the streams.

[Lead Image: JBN]

Joe Belfiore, head of the Windows Phone division at Microsoft, took to the official Windows Phone Blog to lay out all of the details. In the blog post he states that Windows 8 is a whole new chapter in the Windows Phone “story.” The new operating system, which Belfiore calls Microsoft’s most advanced mobile OS ever (one would hope), will start arriving on phones later this year. However, he also had some bad news to impart: Windows Phone 8 will not be making it to any existing Windows Phones. From the blog post:

Some of you have been wondering, “Will we also get Windows Phone 8 as an update?” The answer, unfortunately, is no.

Windows Phone 8 is a generation shift in technology, which means that it will not run on existing hardware. BUT we care deeply about our existing customers and want to keep their phones fresh, so we’re providing the new Start screen in this new update.

Leaving current Windows Phone adopters out in the cold is harsh, but it could be the clean sweep Microsoft needs to make sure all of its products are functioning within the same ecosystem. For example, the Start screen Belfiore mentioned is a Windows 8-style metro interface. It provides users with many color-palate options and eschews the Android and Apple icons for “Live Tiles,” which come in three sizes. Microsoft is very proud of those Live Tiles, and has provided a Windows Phone 8 trailer for the Start screen:

Many Windows Phone 8 features were exactly as rumored. The OS will support multi-core processing, screen resolutions up to 1280 x 768, and NFC. It will also support MicroSD card storage, a must-have for mobile media consumers. Windows Phone 8 will come with Internet Explorer 10 and Nokia mapping integrated into the platform. IE 10 is the same browser that Windows 8 PCs will use in the fall. Microsoft is also debuting a new “digital Wallet” feature that works similarly to Google Wallet, with some extra functionality (such as boarding pass storage) that recalls Apple’s upcoming Passbook app for iOS 6.

Belfiore made it seem as if Microsoft is looking to finally put RIM out of its misery when he listed the enterprise features that will be baked into Windows Phone 8. The OS will feature built-in device encryption and supports the United Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI). The remote management capabilities of the platform will help business IT keep a tight reign on devices, and custom Windows Phone 8 “hubs” will be available for companies to provide company apps and info directly to employees.

More details about Windows Phone 8 will be rolling out in the weeks and months leading up to its release. Microsoft’s new mobile OS will debut later this year alongside the new Windows 8 PC OS. Between those new operating systems and the new Surface tablets, it looks as if this fall will be make-or-break for Microsoft’s new Metro strategy.