Microsoft is working on its next generation Operating System, which many leaked images suggest will pick up Windows 7 and Windows Phone 7 features.

The welcome screen bears a close resemblance to what is featured in a Windows 7 handset, says Time, with similar fonts and an option of logging in using a certain pattern. The screen allows the user to only change the background image, much like Windows 7 Phone. Microsoft has already said that Windows 8 would operate on tablets and so the screen will have touch screen capabilities to log in, but might also feature a way to control other things such as audio settings.

In a series called, “Windows 8 Secrets,” co-authors Rafael Rivera and Paul Thurrott first revealed the image of Windows 8 welcome screen on Withinwindows last Friday. Now, they are also showing the new user interface that Microsoft plans on adopting for the new OS. The Windows hackers portrayed photos that show that the Ribbon will be making a strong comeback in the new OS, after its initial success in Windows 7 and Microsoft Office 2007.

While the Ribbon UI was hard to get used to at first, because of years of learned shortcuts, they say, it was “also innovative, and useful, and it provided a way to make previously hidden functionality far more discoverable. It was so successful, in fact, that Microsoft began adding it to other products, including the Windows Live Essentials apps and, in Windows 7, both Paint and WordPad.”

They add that the Ribbon will be featured in as many places as possible in Windows 8, even in Windows explorer, according to a leaked screen image. As in Microsoft Office 2010, the Windows Explorer Ribbon will have an expansive file menu, and will have the option of being hidden, add the authors.

Microsoft is currently testing Windows 8 in a pre-alpha state, says VentureBeat, which means that it is still too early to make any determinations about what will ultimately make it into the new OS.