I mean, I’m not entirely opposed to some translucency and gloss if it doesn’t get in the way of legibility. For me early Mac OS X ‘Aqua’ circa 2003 is the peak of that aesthetic.
Any UI theme should also be applied consistently. What I hated about Vista is the Aero theme was only surface deep. You were always only a few clicks away from some program that look liked it hadn’t been updated since Windows 95.
You were always only a few clicks away from some program that look liked it hadn’t been updated since Windows 95.
That remains true for 10 and 11 too. For a quick trip back to 1995, just do something that you probably haven’t done this millennium, change your mouse pointer. Instant nostalgia. Device manager in general hasn’t changed much either.
I wouldn’t even count that against them, working functionality shouldn’t be changed without good reason, except that it exposes how much windows is a patch job on a fundamentally flawed design. If it were a boat or car, it would be more Bondo than metal at this point. Why are these dialogs so stuck in the past? Shouldn’t it be a simple matter to have them use the latest design elements to at least look consistent, even if the functionality hasn’t changed a bit.
IMO, it’s all about giving the user control. KDE’s transparency/translucency controls are the bare minimum. Apple hates giving users choices, though, so I hope they do ok for those folks.
Apple hates giving users choices, though, so I hope they do ok for those folks.
They’ve definitely improved on this front. It’s fun comparing my iPhone homescreen (a user who moved to iPhone after over a decade of Android customization and arrived at almost just the right time) to people who’ve used iPhone all along. They don’t know what to do with themselves, they’re still pages of app icons.
Meanwhile I’m sitting here with a single beautifully minimal screen with some folders and a big ‘ol weather widget, a swipe gets me to a page full of useful widgets, a swipe the other direction gets me to my app drawer or whatever the hell Apple calls it.
Yeah, I’ve always hated that about Apple, and I primarily use Apple products. They have opened up a little bit in the last few years though. Like in macOS you can choose from a few different accent colors, you can turn borders on around buttons (I think that’s a contrast setting in accessibility), you can turn off transparency, and you can change the color of your mouse cursor (mine is now hot pink—never lose sight of it).
I mean, I’m not entirely opposed to some translucency and gloss if it doesn’t get in the way of legibility. For me early Mac OS X ‘Aqua’ circa 2003 is the peak of that aesthetic.
Any UI theme should also be applied consistently. What I hated about Vista is the Aero theme was only surface deep. You were always only a few clicks away from some program that look liked it hadn’t been updated since Windows 95.
That remains true for 10 and 11 too. For a quick trip back to 1995, just do something that you probably haven’t done this millennium, change your mouse pointer. Instant nostalgia. Device manager in general hasn’t changed much either.
I wouldn’t even count that against them, working functionality shouldn’t be changed without good reason, except that it exposes how much windows is a patch job on a fundamentally flawed design. If it were a boat or car, it would be more Bondo than metal at this point. Why are these dialogs so stuck in the past? Shouldn’t it be a simple matter to have them use the latest design elements to at least look consistent, even if the functionality hasn’t changed a bit.
IMO, it’s all about giving the user control. KDE’s transparency/translucency controls are the bare minimum. Apple hates giving users choices, though, so I hope they do ok for those folks.
They’ve definitely improved on this front. It’s fun comparing my iPhone homescreen (a user who moved to iPhone after over a decade of Android customization and arrived at almost just the right time) to people who’ve used iPhone all along. They don’t know what to do with themselves, they’re still pages of app icons.
Meanwhile I’m sitting here with a single beautifully minimal screen with some folders and a big ‘ol weather widget, a swipe gets me to a page full of useful widgets, a swipe the other direction gets me to my app drawer or whatever the hell Apple calls it.
Yeah, I’ve always hated that about Apple, and I primarily use Apple products. They have opened up a little bit in the last few years though. Like in macOS you can choose from a few different accent colors, you can turn borders on around buttons (I think that’s a contrast setting in accessibility), you can turn off transparency, and you can change the color of your mouse cursor (mine is now hot pink—never lose sight of it).