7 ms·

Microsoft planning ‘sweeping visual rejuvenation of Windows’

13 points by rpgbr 6y ago

cheph 6y ago
Is there anybody who ever thought the previous "sweeping visual rejuvenations" were good? I don't use windows much, but I prefer the windows 2000 style to windows 10 style. And it is really the same thing with Gnome, the Gnome 3 "improvements" were (and continues to be) a dumpster fire.
- raxxorrax 6y ago
  People told me it was habit, but the Windows 7 start menu eats the new crap alive. Sometimes it just doesn't even work on Windows 10. Clicking an app just doesn't do anything. If the link is invalid, you don't even get an error, but it randomly happens to any app. It is complete junk. For many months Windows wasn't able to sort icons on the desktop on multiple monitor setups. So forgive me if my enthusiasm of this message is slightly dampened.
  - ConceptJunkie 6y ago
    Agreed. I considered, and still consider, Microsoft in the 80s through the late-90s to be excellent at UI/UX. Windows 2000 was the pinnacle for good UI, and Windows 7 with the Classic UI mode was the best it ever got. Microsoft has abandoned most of their own principles (and they were good principles) of UI developed in those days, and now everything seems to be designed by a committee of schizophrenic art school dropouts.
    - theandrewbailey 6y ago
      Microsoft seems to be hungover from whatever they were doing with tablets about 10 years ago. They might be coming around to the fact that people don't want every computer to behave like a tablet.
      - whatever1 6y ago
        They have the main idea correctly. Two UI's that change depending on the mode of operation. A dense one for keyboard & mouse, and a more spaced-out for touch mode. All of their apps should be like MS office that changes density when you go from mouse to touch mode.
  - pitay 6y ago
    I just use Open Shell as a start menu replacement. Works perfectly for me, and I have it configured to behave like the Windows 7 start menu. The Windows 10 start menu being cumbersome wasn't enough to push me to it; it was that the Windows 10 start menu had a limit to the number of items on it, and if I remember correctly didn't show any new programs after that limit, which made it useless for opening any newly installed programs after that.
mc32 6y ago
It probably means tweaking the color palette more than major under the hood changes... but who knows...
- cheph 6y ago
  To be fair, who wants to fix the utter mess that they have made? Much easier to poke to color palette :)
warpspin 6y ago
If they'd ever finish ONE visual change before starting the next, it would already help a lot :D
- blibble 6y ago
  they finally removed the Windows 3.0 add font dialog in Windows 10
  - theandrewbailey 6y ago
    Despite occasionally installing several fonts in Windows over the years, I never encountered that. Dragging and dropping font files into the font folder has always worked for me. That's Apple class UX!
    - anoncake 6y ago
      That dialog probably remained unchanged for so long because no one used it anyway.
- colanderman 6y ago
  Last I counted there were 3 or 4 control panels...
ConceptJunkie 6y ago
I wonder if that means the UI customizability will no longer be less than that of Windows 2. The only thing, the _only_ thing I could ever possibly want is a return of the Classic view. I harbor no hopes that either one of these things will happen.
- theandrewbailey 6y ago
  Classic view is awesome, but I'm a bigger fan of Windows 7-flavored Aero.
michaelbrave 6y ago
Honestly I would just be happy with the start menu pins not looking like crap. Give a little more leeway on how we can customize it and I would use that instead of my desktop for quick reference things. But the different size of icons is useless when all the icons look crappy or are too small for the size, and worse when I do take the time to download an icon myself, it ends up forgetting/missing the icon now looking worse than before. Second idea: I want to store desktop icons in expandable groups much like how a smartphone does. But I'm not confident I will like the changes they make, most people won't since most would just hope to go back to the look and feel of windows 7 or before.
- craftinator 6y ago
  Have you tried Linux lately? You can customize to your heart's content, and most things Just Work out of the box!
  - naikrovek 6y ago
    > most things Just Work out of the box! That has not ever been my experience with Linux. I ran Linux on the desktop for a long time and I would never have made this claim. Linux definitely is good, and it is superior to other operating systems in many ways, and saying that most things just work is a very myopic view, I think.
- pitay 6y ago
  Second idea: I want to store desktop icons in expandable groups much like how a smartphone does. Fences by Stardock (https://www.stardock.com/products/fences/ https://www.stardock.com/products/fences/) does that, doesn't quite look like how a smartphone does but it is essentially the same. Of course, you could just create folders on your desktop (or taskbar) for a not so great solution. But yes, having Windows natively support that feature would be better.
cockatiel89 6y ago
I had to use Windows 2000 recently. The user experience was wonderful! Even on a machine that's two decades old, the UI was fast and responsive. It was also very intuitive. Functionality could be found exactly where it was expected to be. And the UI elements were well-demarcated and sensible. I felt so disappointed when I returned to Windows 10. So much of the Windows 10 experience is worse for me than that Windows 2000 experience was, especially the UI.
- emptyparadise 6y ago
  I want it back.
throwawaymanbot 6y ago
who cares. Lipstick on a pig....
indemnity 6y ago
Would be good if they could for once apply the changes across the board, it’s currently such a disjointed Frankenstein.

13 points by rpgbr 6y ago

Is there anybody who ever thought the previous "sweeping visual rejuvenations" were good? I don't use windows much, but I prefer the windows 2000 style to windows 10 style. And it is really the same thing with Gnome, the Gnome 3 "improvements" were (and continues to be) a dumpster fire.

raxxorrax 6y ago
People told me it was habit, but the Windows 7 start menu eats the new crap alive. Sometimes it just doesn't even work on Windows 10. Clicking an app just doesn't do anything. If the link is invalid, you don't even get an error, but it randomly happens to any app. It is complete junk. For many months Windows wasn't able to sort icons on the desktop on multiple monitor setups. So forgive me if my enthusiasm of this message is slightly dampened.
- ConceptJunkie 6y ago
  Agreed. I considered, and still consider, Microsoft in the 80s through the late-90s to be excellent at UI/UX. Windows 2000 was the pinnacle for good UI, and Windows 7 with the Classic UI mode was the best it ever got. Microsoft has abandoned most of their own principles (and they were good principles) of UI developed in those days, and now everything seems to be designed by a committee of schizophrenic art school dropouts.
  - theandrewbailey 6y ago
    Microsoft seems to be hungover from whatever they were doing with tablets about 10 years ago. They might be coming around to the fact that people don't want every computer to behave like a tablet.
    - whatever1 6y ago
      They have the main idea correctly. Two UI's that change depending on the mode of operation. A dense one for keyboard & mouse, and a more spaced-out for touch mode. All of their apps should be like MS office that changes density when you go from mouse to touch mode.
- pitay 6y ago
  I just use Open Shell as a start menu replacement. Works perfectly for me, and I have it configured to behave like the Windows 7 start menu. The Windows 10 start menu being cumbersome wasn't enough to push me to it; it was that the Windows 10 start menu had a limit to the number of items on it, and if I remember correctly didn't show any new programs after that limit, which made it useless for opening any newly installed programs after that.

mc32 6y ago

It probably means tweaking the color palette more than major under the hood changes... but who knows...

cheph 6y ago
To be fair, who wants to fix the utter mess that they have made? Much easier to poke to color palette :)

warpspin 6y ago

If they'd ever finish ONE visual change before starting the next, it would already help a lot :D

blibble 6y ago
they finally removed the Windows 3.0 add font dialog in Windows 10
- theandrewbailey 6y ago
  Despite occasionally installing several fonts in Windows over the years, I never encountered that. Dragging and dropping font files into the font folder has always worked for me. That's Apple class UX!
  - anoncake 6y ago
    That dialog probably remained unchanged for so long because no one used it anyway.
colanderman 6y ago
Last I counted there were 3 or 4 control panels...

ConceptJunkie 6y ago

I wonder if that means the UI customizability will no longer be less than that of Windows 2. The only thing, the _only_ thing I could ever possibly want is a return of the Classic view. I harbor no hopes that either one of these things will happen.

theandrewbailey 6y ago
Classic view is awesome, but I'm a bigger fan of Windows 7-flavored Aero.

michaelbrave 6y ago

Honestly I would just be happy with the start menu pins not looking like crap. Give a little more leeway on how we can customize it and I would use that instead of my desktop for quick reference things. But the different size of icons is useless when all the icons look crappy or are too small for the size, and worse when I do take the time to download an icon myself, it ends up forgetting/missing the icon now looking worse than before. Second idea: I want to store desktop icons in expandable groups much like how a smartphone does. But I'm not confident I will like the changes they make, most people won't since most would just hope to go back to the look and feel of windows 7 or before.

craftinator 6y ago
Have you tried Linux lately? You can customize to your heart's content, and most things Just Work out of the box!
- naikrovek 6y ago
  > most things Just Work out of the box! That has not ever been my experience with Linux. I ran Linux on the desktop for a long time and I would never have made this claim. Linux definitely is good, and it is superior to other operating systems in many ways, and saying that most things just work is a very myopic view, I think.
pitay 6y ago
Second idea: I want to store desktop icons in expandable groups much like how a smartphone does. Fences by Stardock (https://www.stardock.com/products/fences/ https://www.stardock.com/products/fences/) does that, doesn't quite look like how a smartphone does but it is essentially the same. Of course, you could just create folders on your desktop (or taskbar) for a not so great solution. But yes, having Windows natively support that feature would be better.

cockatiel89 6y ago

I had to use Windows 2000 recently. The user experience was wonderful! Even on a machine that's two decades old, the UI was fast and responsive. It was also very intuitive. Functionality could be found exactly where it was expected to be. And the UI elements were well-demarcated and sensible. I felt so disappointed when I returned to Windows 10. So much of the Windows 10 experience is worse for me than that Windows 2000 experience was, especially the UI.

emptyparadise 6y ago
I want it back.

throwawaymanbot 6y ago

who cares. Lipstick on a pig....

indemnity 6y ago

Would be good if they could for once apply the changes across the board, it’s currently such a disjointed Frankenstein.