Microsoft Drops ‘Aero Glass’ User Interface in Windows 8

Microsoft Drops ‘Aero Glass’ User Interface in Windows 8

By Alexandra Chang

Fans of Microsoft’s Aero desktop experience will have to prepare for a life without translucent windows in Windows 8. Buried deep within a novel-length blog post, the company announced on Friday that it’s killing the Aero UI in the final release of Windows 8.

Microsoft first shipped Aero Glass when it launched Microsoft Vista in 2006. It featured a glass-like design for window borders, taskbars, and other surfaces in the OS. According to Microsoft, Aero was designed to make the Windows experience more visually appealing, while also drawing user attention to the content within a window or program.

But now, according to Jensen Harris, the Director of Program Management for the Windows User Experience, the Aero look is outdated.

“This style of simulating faux-realistic materials (such as glass or aluminum) on the screen looks dated and cheesy now, but at the time, it was very much en vogue,” Harris writes in the blog post titled ‘Creating the Windows 8 User Experience.’

The Windows 8 team will replace the Aero UI with what it describes as a “clean and crisp” look more in line with its new tile-based Metro UI. In Windows 8, interface windows will no longer feature reflections or shadows. What’s more, corners will be squared off, and surfaces will look flatter. Users will get white as the default windows color, for a “modern” aesthetic.

Read more HERE

 

[chev65]

This doesn't surprise me at all. Microsoft has obviously decided to abandon all PC users completely, they have removed every useful feature that made an OP system work on a desktop PC. In fact they not only have abandon PC desktop users with Windows 8, they now insist that you are using an obsolete platform for computer work and it's you rather than them that needs to move forward. They are deciding this for you whether you like it or not.

They are essentially saying that you should toss your desktop PC into the trash then purchase either a tablet with a little baby keyboard and a stand or one of their mobile phones then just start doing everything through some lame Metro interface that has no purpose other than to reinvent something that already works perfectly.

PC's are old and worthless, nobody uses them anymore according to Microsoft. What they are saying is that this new Op system is simply not meant to be used on a standard PC, further, they have single handedly outdated the PC by making an Op system that clearly was never meant to be used on a PC at all. Their arrogance here astounds me. If you own any Microsoft stock I strongly suggest that you unload it now before it's too late.

 

[speedy1979]

Fortunately where micro$oft screws up third party devs will most likely step-in. To restore features Ms has removed, for a price.

 

[FuturDreamz]

Why don't they just make a non-Aero mode or theme rather than taking off the Aero so that people will have a choice and with less complaints?

The flat design on Windows 8 will use a bit less resources than Aero because transparency is eliminated but that's not significant with today's computers unless you're using a less powerful smartphone or tablet which M$ is targeting on the market right now.

The Aero wouldn't be appealing to me on a smartphone or a tablet but desktops and laptops, I've always loved it since Vista. Its almost as if MS is trying to put people away from desktops by removing the "feel" of the desktop and making it more of a phone or tablet feel. They are just not fair to desktop users and they are turning away from their bread and butter in the first place which is the Desktop.

Control Panel\Appearance and Personalization\Personalization
Aero will be there.

to the vast majority of users they won't really care that much though, and to the rest; once they learn how to actually use their computer, they can shape it to the way they want.

 

[alphanumeric]

Windows 8, Windows 3 re-imagined?




Just kidding, It's obviously not that bad, but I couldn't resist a little dig @ Microsoft.

 

[tseven]

They also have nothing to make up for the fact that they have removed "Aero" it's not like the "Metro" is much less cheesy in fact it looks even more cheesy they way they have done it. For example if you look at the metro apps those buttons are basically words with borders. Not exciting but on top of that the buttons don't give the users any visual cues that you are hovering over it or the other various states of transition. On the desktop environment there hasn't been any function that has been a dramatic improvement and there is no feature that has been created that is especially helpful to users that warrant the removal of Aero. Don't get me wrong I like Metro in theory. There are definitely ways to apply metro where things aren't so flat and aesthetically unpleasing. With design you need both function and beauty. I would prefer that they have better functionality for sure but frankly they don't even have that part down. Personally there hasn't been anything they have added that have made things easier since the last release. Forcing users to go into metro to get stuff we should be able to get to on the desktop or forcing us to load into metro instead of directly into the desktop is not something we would want for it to do. The problem here is even if they want to focus on functionality for their removal of aero there is nothing no function that has been added that will bring the functionality of windows 8 to the forefront. Metro is a nice idea but the execution here is not quite there. If they really wanted to focus on functions there are so many functions that they desperately need that they lack and yet I have yet to see them being implemented instead they give us a way to make our workflow less efficient. If they aren't going to focus on aesthetics(because it's obvious they need to) than please give me real functionality to focus on. So far that hasn't happened. Of course these are just my opinions.

 

[Trucidation]

So, contrary to the alarmist headline, the Aero interface is still there, just buried inside Control Panel? Can live with that.

 

[FuturDreamz]

So, contrary to the alarmist headline, the Aero interface is still there, just buried inside Control Panel? Can live with that.

To the best of my knowledge, it should be.

If not, it probably won't take too long for someone to extract Aero from Win7 and make it an installable theme.

 

[robinbredin]

If not, it probably won't take too long for someone to extract Aero from Win7 and make it an installable theme.

Would be a good idea, as microsoft have said HERE also that they intend to drop Aero, bad idea.

 

[alphanumeric]

If they were just going to disable it, and not "remove" it entirely I think they would have said so somewhere. I didn't read it that way, it sounds to me like they plan to remove it entirely. I guess we'll know for sure sometime next month when the next release comes out. I sure hope Microsoft doesn't price Windows 8 like they do with super cars. You end up paying more for less to get a striped down version.

 

[Vertex]

Control Panel\Appearance and Personalization\Personalization
Aero will be there.

to the vast majority of users they won't really care that much though, and to the rest; once they learn how to actually use their computer, they can shape it to the way they want.

Yes, I know about that but what I meant to say is that there should be a choice to enable Aero in the future release of Windows 8 for those of us who love the transparent design.

 

[FuturDreamz]

Control Panel\Appearance and Personalization\Personalization
Aero will be there.

to the vast majority of users they won't really care that much though, and to the rest; once they learn how to actually use their computer, they can shape it to the way they want.

Yes, I know about that but what I meant to say is that there should be a choice to enable Aero in the future release of Windows 8 for those of us who love the transparent design.

And where, pray tell, should microsoft put this choice?

 

[GMan]

And where, pray tell, should microsoft put this choice?

In right click desktop >>> Personalize screen.

 

[FuturDreamz]

And where, pray tell, should microsoft put this choice?

In right click desktop >>> Personalize screen.

So... Control Panel\Appearance and Personalization\Personalization?

 

[Coke Robot]

It's the metro theme, and the Desktop is finally getting rid of the design clash. Sure, it's nice to look at, but in the grand scheme of things, it's awkward for it to be there.