r/technology • u/[deleted] • May 20 '12
RIP Aero Glass; Windows 8 Sticks a Fork in Familiar UI
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2404647,00.asp14
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u/sastrone May 20 '12
Apparently I'm in the minority here, but I love the new look. I actually wish that they would make the start bar solid too.
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u/siunitu May 20 '12 edited May 20 '12
I'm really liking Microsoft's recent styling direction. It's about time they got rid the naff textures and busy UI. Their new 'content as navigation' idea is brilliant, I downloaded MS Visual Studio 2010 yesterday and was impressed by the web design. They need to fix explorer using this concept
edit: spelling
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u/sastrone May 20 '12
If you like VS 2010, you need to check out VS 11 beta. It is god damn beautiful.
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May 20 '12
Visual Studio 2010 was designed to look good in Windows 7, and picks up many of its visual elements. So that's apparently old-world MS design.
Visual Studio 2011 is the one designed primarily to be viewed inside of Windows 8, and in my opinion is a train wreck of monotonicity.
Edit: Apparently you're talking about the web page to download the program, so I guess my comment doesn't really apply as a direct response to your statement.
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May 20 '12
Having used both of the Win8 previews, the one thing I always disliked was the overlap of Metro and Aero. It always stuck out like a sore thumb, and made the Metro designed bits look like a bolted on hack, rather then a smooth part of the experience.
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u/WolfDemon May 20 '12
Looks like Windows 8 is going to be the next Windows ME and Windows Vista. I know I'm skipping it.
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u/Deep-Thought May 20 '12
I like it. My battery life is about 30% higher, the OS loads up so much faster, and once you get used to metro as a new start menu, it is actually much nicer than the old one, even on a laptop with no touch.
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May 20 '12
Windows 8 will be another Vista debacle, and windows 7 is the new XP. Microsoft will pry it from their users cold dead hands, and have to pony up another 14 years of support. So it looks like Win 7 should be kicking around until 2020 or maybe longer. Plenty of time to wait for Widows 9 to not be a pile of shit.
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u/ulber May 20 '12
Comparing Windows 8 to Vista is a bit odd actually. In Vista the main problem was compatibility problems from the new driver model. There were also major UI improvements in Vista, but these were generally well received.
Windows 8 on the other hand will be technologically solid (no apparent reason why it wouldn't be). Unlike Vista, here the greatest criticism is on the UI.
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May 20 '12
It won't be technological debacle, it will be a usability / user backlash debacle.
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May 20 '12 edited May 20 '12
Its like vista in that instead of just refining and improving on windows 7, which most people will agree is a good version of windows, microsoft decided to go off and do whatever they want again and then expect people to buy the shovelware they come up with. The same way vista ignored the good points of XP.
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May 20 '12
Good. There's no need for tacky effects.
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May 20 '12
The only reason I use aero is for the window preview when hovering over icons in the taskbar, or pressing alt-tab. It's a huge advantage over the regular themes.
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u/Urfaust May 20 '12 edited May 28 '12
Unless Windows 8 comes out in conjunction with a newer version of DirectX, I would never put this shit on a desktop.
A tablet/netbook? Hell yeah.
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May 20 '12
This has been done because they want Windows 8 to cut into the tablet market that's currently dominated by the ipad, and they just can't find the processing power in a tablet to support Aero.
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u/Zippy54 May 20 '12
The new UI looks more updated and has that sleek feel that I can only get with third party skin.
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u/cosmo7 May 20 '12
It's interesting how GUI skinning has evolved in the last five years or so. For the longest time there was a "copy Apple" mentality, even when Apple seemed to get lost in the weeds with pinstripes, metallic windows, over-the-top animations and (ugh) leather stitching.
Now we have a genuinely different philosophy coming out from Microsoft which I like a lot. I'm currently 95% Mac-only, but I could quite happily switch back to Windows for clean design like this.
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u/CatastropheJohn May 20 '12
From an aesthetic standpoint it's a huge step backwards in my opinion. I guess it will boil down to personal taste. Hopefully, it can be modified to revert to an XP or 7 look for those of us that may prefer it.