Microsoft opens window to new era as it changes its logo for the first time in 25 YEARS

. Firm hopes new minimalist logo will help it compete with 'cool' Apple . It is Microsoft's first new logo since February 1987 . Company changed logo as it prepares to launch a series of new products icrosoft has unveiled in first new logo in a quarter of a century. . The firm hopes the new, minimalist logo will help improve its image. It comes as the Redmond giant prepares to release a new software and its first hardware product, a tablet designed to take on the iPad. The makeover unveiled on Thursday marks the first time that Microsoft has revamped its logo since February 1987 - when the internet was only beginning its rise to popularity, and mobile phones were rare

When Microsoft last revamped its look, The firm was putting the finishing touches on the second version of its Windows operating system. Two of Microsoft's biggest nemeses - Google Inc. co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin - were just 13 years old. And Apple Inc. co-founder Steve Jobs was just in the second year of an 11-year exile from the company that went on to invent the iPod, iPhone and iPad after he returned. By revamping its logo, Microsoft is trying to signal that it has changed its thinking and its products to cater to people who are interacting with technology much differently than just a decade ago, let alone a quarter century. Now, more computing tasks are being done on touch-based devices such as smartphones and tablets instead of personal computers tethered to keyboards and mice

Microsoft believes a radical change to Windows will ensure that the company survives the technological upheaval. Windows 8, due to hit the market Oct. 26, displays software applications in a mosaic of tiles and has been engineered so it works on both touch-based tablets and traditional PCs. The company also is releasing its own Windows 8-powered tablet to compete against the iPad, accompanied by a new version of Office applications tailored for such devices. There also will be a Windows 8 operating system for smartphones. The new logo ushers in 'one of the most significant waves of product launches in Microsoft's history,' Jeff Hansen, the company's general manager of brand strategy, wrote in a blog post Thursday