Do you want Aero?

[Mystere]

It's called UX or User eXperience. It's a common industry term and denotes everything from design to branding.

The new UI is a brand. Like it or not, Microsoft is selling that brand, in computers, web sites, etc.. Notice how all their websites (including MSN) are all redesigned to have similar style.

Aero Glass did not fit their new brand. And they want a single, unified style. However, it's not all just marketing. There were some technical reasons for this as well. The single biggest was that Glass interfaces tended to take up a lot of screen real-estate with a lot of wasted space. This is a big deal on tablets and phones, where screen size is limited. Also, they don't use any of those effects on Tablets and Phones, so their desire is to make the general UI look mostly the same regardless.

One of the things Microsoft learned from Vista was that you don't want two UI's (Aero Glass and Aero Basic). You're advocating they go back to that.

 

[Hopachi]

It's called UX or User eXperience. It's a common industry term and denotes everything from design to branding.

The new UI is a brand. Like it or not, Microsoft is selling that brand, in computers, web sites, etc.. Notice how all their websites (including MSN) are all redesigned to have similar style.

Aero Glass did not fit their new brand. And they want a single, unified style. However, it's not all just marketing. There were some technical reasons for this as well. The single biggest was that Glass interfaces tended to take up a lot of screen real-estate with a lot of wasted space. This is a big deal on tablets and phones, where screen size is limited. Also, they don't use any of those effects on Tablets and Phones, so their desire is to make the general UI look mostly the same regardless.

One of the things Microsoft learned from Vista was that you don't want two UI's (Aero Glass and Aero Basic). You're advocating they go back to that.

Very nice explained.

If you remember well on Vista and 7, you got those UAC prompts showing in Basic style while you were running Aero Glass.... and that's now fixed.

 

[TheGrantFitz]

This looks a lot like my old icon... :winkey:
LOL! bet it is.

 

[philnolan3d]

The single biggest was that Glass interfaces tended to take up a lot of screen real-estate with a lot of wasted space.

How did Aero use up more space? Everything looks exactly the same to me except for the transparency. if anything Explorer takes up more room now than it did before because it has that ribbon thing (unless you close it)

 

[Kat]

There was no valid reason to remove Aero transparency from the desktop.

None at all.

And I'll be putting it back as soon as someone writes a decent app to do so.

It may be MS' OS, but it is MY computer, and I WILL have it set up the way I
want, not MS or anyone else.

This furphy about it causing a performance-hit is just that, a furphy.

 

[Lazure]

It's called UX or User eXperience. It's a common industry term and denotes everything from design to branding.

The new UI is a brand. Like it or not, Microsoft is selling that brand, in computers, web sites, etc.. Notice how all their websites (including MSN) are all redesigned to have similar style.

Aero Glass did not fit their new brand. And they want a single, unified style. However, it's not all just marketing. There were some technical reasons for this as well. The single biggest was that Glass interfaces tended to take up a lot of screen real-estate with a lot of wasted space. This is a big deal on tablets and phones, where screen size is limited. Also, they don't use any of those effects on Tablets and Phones, so their desire is to make the general UI look mostly the same regardless.

One of the things Microsoft learned from Vista was that you don't want two UI's (Aero Glass and Aero Basic). You're advocating they go back to that.

If having two UIs mean I get a freakin CHOICE in having one I ACTUALLY LIKE on MY computer then YES I advocate it. I don't give a crap if there's 50 UIs in Windows, as long as I can have the one I like available to me as an option.

You know what else eliminates personal freedom and forces people into only one choice, while trying/claiming to make everyone and everything completely equal and unified? Communism. I, for one, do not want that to creep into my life, whether it's on the computer or outside of it.

Besides, Windows has had two UIs since Windows XP (Luna and classic; more if you patched the uxtheme.dll!). Vista and 7 actually had THREE. That is, Aero (composited), Basic (GDI), and Classic (GDI). Microsoft held on to that ugly Windows '95 look up until Windows 8. Now it's just FlatMetroUglyCrap (composited). No other options. None. Third party will add some, but transparency is gone... and probably for good. This is unacceptable.

 

[Mystere]

Wow. Just. Wow. I have no words to express how ridiculous that last comment is. Seriously. Wow. You forgot to mention Nazis, and Aliens and Ascended Beings.

Communism? Really? REALLY? What is this, McCarthy's 50's all over again?

Transparency is not gone. Obviously, you can see that the taskbar is transparent. You can see that Aero Peek has transparency.

Windows 8, like 7, Vista, and XP before it still has the uxtheme system, and StarDock and others will be updating their theming tools to work with it. You will get your transparency if you want it.

Wow. Just wow.

 

[Lazure]

Windowblinds in 7 utilized the native, built-in DWM functions when providing alternate skins in Vista and 7. Thing is, those DWM functions have been 100% removed altogether from the code completely. This means that in order for transparency (on the window borders) to return, stardock would literally have to completely replace the borders with a new system altogether (which in the past, like with the method used in XP, showed to be buggy and incompatible with a lot of programs' window borders and also resource intensive compared to the native methods provided by MS in vista/7). I just don't see how it'll be done properly, with all the native OS-level code being gone. At best, we'll get some kinda weird awkward hack-in that likely breaks any program that draws stuff in the caption bar or does other custom work (which a lot now do, like chrome, firefox, office, and so on which draw their tabs and extra buttons/logos in this space).

Also, the taskbar transparency hardly counts because it's barely transparent and the blur effect is gone as well. The transparency on the OSX menubar is quite a bit more noticable.

You're calling my comment ridiculous, yet it's very true. You seem to be quite in favor of 'one look for ALL the peoples', but not all of us are. Some of us really want our options back. And some of us really don't wanna have to shell out $20 to get a look back we already had before, and it may not even work properly across the system (if at all) like the native one did before.

 

[Mystere]

Windowblinds in 7 utilized the native, built-in DWM functions when providing alternate skins in Vista and 7. Thing is, those DWM functions have been 100% removed altogether from the code completely.

How is it that you know that? I would find that very hard to believe, given that transparency is still used in other areas.

You're calling my comment ridiculous, yet it's very true. You seem to be quite in favor of 'one look for ALL the peoples', but not all of us are. Some of us really want our options back. And some of us really don't wanna have to shell out $20 to get a look back we already had before, and it may not even work properly across the system (if at all) like the native one did before.

I am not in favor of one look for everyone. I'm merely explaining why Microsoft chose to do things the way they did.

I'm all for customization, the more the better. But the default look should be consistent. If you change it, so be it.

 

[Little Darwin]

This thread has taken strange turns, but even though late, I will answer the original question.

No.

I was initially a fan of Aero in previous versions of windows, but the novelty wore off. I guess I am a fan of function over form when it comes to switching applications.

 

[TheGrantFitz]

This thread has taken strange turns, but even though late, I will answer the original question.

No.

I was initially a fan of Aero in previous versions of windows, but the novelty wore off. I guess I am a fan of function over form when it comes to switching applications.

That's what I was looking for.

 

[Kat]

I don't believe anyone is wrong for liking the new look.

Nor do I believe those who like Win 7-style Aero and desktop gadgets are wrong.

But, in all the previews, we had the CHOICE.

Now, we don't.

And this whole controversy could have been avoided simply by retaining
that choice, rather than BS excuses like security and performance issues..

THAT'S my beef.

 

[envy 17]

I WANT AERO BACK.

Windows 8 is good from inside. But it looks flat out boring. The 3D button from Windows 3.0 was way better the this flat look. Without those freeware like Classic Shell and 8Gadgets Pack, I will not upgrade to win 8.

 

[shubhamstunter]

There would be no windows 7 without areo.

 

[Hopachi]

I don't have problems with less transparency, but I hope some fix will be provided for the sake of the aero fans.
This has become a sad thread looking at all the late reactions.

 

[Fokker]

The new look doesn't seems too bad, but there should be an option to change between Aero and whatever this new theme is called. The new feature is cool, window color change with wallpaper, but with Win7 window style it would look nice.

 

[Lazure]

Speaking of the automatic color thingie: I noticed that if your wallpaper is mostly grey/black/white, it uses this ugly orange color. What's up with that? Any way to fix that? =S

 

[Coke Robot]

Speaking of the automatic color thingie: I noticed that if your wallpaper is mostly grey/black/white, it uses this ugly orange color. What's up with that? Any way to fix that? =S

Just use a different color?

I'm guessing there is something in the image that is orangy that it's picking up. If the image is predominately one color and there is another highlight of a different color, it seems that Windows likes that one more.

 

[Lazure]

Speaking of the automatic color thingie: I noticed that if your wallpaper is mostly grey/black/white, it uses this ugly orange color. What's up with that? Any way to fix that? =S

Just use a different color?

I'm guessing there is something in the image that is orangy that it's picking up. If the image is predominately one color and there is another highlight of a different color, it seems that Windows likes that one more.

Well, I have basically a lot of my own DLSR photos (cropped and touched up for use as 1080p wallpaper) on one slide show. On more colorful images, the automatic color works amazingly. However, I have two images that are lacking in color (for instance, a stormy sky photo, or a photo of the shining through trees), that Windows 8 assigns this same pale orange color, that isn't really visible in the photos. Is 'automatic color' not capable of detecting shades of grey, white, black as dominant colors? Or maybe it doesn't account for saturation into the equation.

 

[Coke Robot]

Speaking of the automatic color thingie: I noticed that if your wallpaper is mostly grey/black/white, it uses this ugly orange color. What's up with that? Any way to fix that? =S

Just use a different color?

I'm guessing there is something in the image that is orangy that it's picking up. If the image is predominately one color and there is another highlight of a different color, it seems that Windows likes that one more.

Well, I have basically a lot of my own DLSR photos (cropped and touched up for use as 1080p wallpaper) on one slide show. On more colorful images, the automatic color works amazingly. However, I have two images that are lacking in color (for instance, a stormy sky photo, or a photo of the shining through trees), that Windows 8 assigns this same pale orange color, that isn't really visible in the photos. Is 'automatic color' not capable of detecting shades of grey, white, black as dominant colors? Or maybe it doesn't account for saturation into the equation.

Actually, I just tested this with a predominantly black image with white, and it takes white as the automatic color. I'm guessing when it comes images that have a majority of it being one color with a sliver of another in it, Windows takes that one over the predominate one. Why? Probably as not color wash it visually. An image with a dark to black color with said dark and black color window and Taskbar color would look too...bland? It tries to complement the Desktop colors to accent the image, maybe it's not too well set up for images like that.