I’m not quite sure I follow what happened here, but I think I get it:

The Windows logo is no longer a flag, it’s a window (twisted to an angle) with added prominence to the word mark. It no longer incorporates the multi-color, signature style of Windows and has becomes a single color.

The Microsoft logo, for the company that sells the Windows product, is no longer a plain word mark but has a symbol. The symbol incorporates the four colors from the Windows flag, and the straight-on look of a four-pane window.

If it wasn’t clear before: Microsoft is Windows, and Windows is Microsoft. This is not a new Microsoft, nothing is changing, in fact, they’re only becoming more locked in to the status quo.

Why, contrary to traditional marketing, is the product marketing and the overall company marketing now so intertwined? Microsoft is further limiting their ability to market new products unless its Windows-centric (mobile, desktop, tablet, internet, etc.). I fully expect the Xbox to be renamed Windows Game Box.