For those of you who thought you would never see the end of Microsoft’s old, ugly, and increasingly annoying (how many times did you accidentally hover over something to be presented with a ton of dropdown options) design, think again. As of the 14th of December, Microsoft has released a completely redesigned website.

Whether you love or hate Microsoft, I think almost everyone can agree that this redesign is a huge improvement. It draws on many of the newer, “Web 2.0″ design elements: lots of whitespace, bright colors used to draw the eye to important elements, and subtle gradients abound. In addition, Microsoft uses the increasingly popular overlay technique (one version of which can be seen in our portfolio) to aid in navigation. Clicking on any of the links at the top right of Microsoft’s page will allow you to look through options and select the right one without ever leaving the page, rather than having to click, and click, and click to get there.

Recently Microsoft has seemed like a totally transformed company. Pairing with a Linux distributor, releasing a web browser that is light years better than any they released previously (IE 7), and even embracing open source are just a few of the things that seem to point to Microsoft’s new attitude. All I can say is, it’s about time.