The same general approach applies to the design of all consumer products.
Anyone remember the fate of largely unrivalled office products such as Wordperfect, Lotus 123 or DBase that didn't adapt successfully to change? Safari 5 is a web browser made by Apple for the Mac. If the majority of reviewers and users consider that, immediately and over time, the changes are largely positive, even if some 'tweaks' are introduced based on post-release feedback, it's a success. Firefox is one of the most popular web browsers on the market, providing numerous helpful features. Too frequent or too many drastic changes = possible confusion, frustration and dissatisfaction. Long-periods without both interface and cosmetic change/modernisation = familiar, at the expense of appearing stagnant & boring vs. > Come up with something similar, but not identical > Give the agreed design framework to the programmers with instructions to make it work for the next major Windows OS release.
Watch what significant visual changes Apple and now Android introduce > Wait long enough to see if a 'look' gains significant popularity with users, media designers, Linux Desktop developers etc. Windows graphic design approach and trends (as I see it):
