I don't think you're wrong, but I also come from an Apple background. Apple spent a lot of time worrying about its user interface. The Chicago font used until

I don't think you're wrong, but I also come from an Apple background. Apple spent a lot of time worrying about its user interface. The Chicago font used until Mac OS 8 was designed to be easily readable on low-DPI screens. Apple later used that font in their iPods back when they had monochrome low-DPI screens. The Mac's windows had a design to them. Even in System 7, they had horizontal pin-striping for the active window (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Vyg7lQqohrw/U9M8FDTLWbI/AAAAAAAAQn8/UgdGpAeKLcc/s1600/05-13+Efemerides+de+Tecnologia+System7.png http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Vyg7lQqohrw/U9M8FDTLWbI/AAAAAAAAQn...) rather than resorting to a solid royal blue to indicate the active window. Mac OS 8 continued the pin-striping, but with a new platinum color (https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/ipod/images/2/23/1998_Mac_OS_8.1_(Bride_of_Buster)_(PPC).png/revision/latest/scale-to-width-down/2000?cb=20190310063933 https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/ipod/images/2/23/1998_Ma...). I find the gray that Apple chose in OS 8 to be a lot more vibrant than the dull gray Microsoft chose (https://62e528761d0685343e1c-f3d1b99a743ffa4142d9d7f1978d9686.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/92472/area14mp/image-20150820-32485-ym567.png https://62e528761d0685343e1c-f3d1b99a743ffa4142d9d7f1978d968...). Mac OS felt light and airy compared to the dull and heavy gray of Windows - but that might just be my personal opinion. Plus, dark text on light grey feels better to me than white text on royal blue (for window title bars). Likewise, the lilac folder icons weren't as rough as the yellow folders in Windows and the soft purple accent color for things like progress bars was a lot more subtle than the royal blue that Windows went with. A lot of Windows 95 felt like a very dull gray with lots of primary colors that don't go together. It was certainly fine, but it didn't feel clean. It didn't feel like people sat down to create something that had some beauty. Even the close/maximize/minimize buttons show care on the Mac side. On Windows, they're functional, but not well styled. On the Mac, they're a subtle gradient. Also, note how on Windows 95, the inactive windows have the same border as the active windows - only the title bar tells you which is the active window. On Mac OS 8, the active window has a beveled border and a black shadow while inactive windows have a flat border and gray shadow. However, Windows 95 did feel pretty great technically. Windows 95 felt like Microsoft really listened to what would make Windows a modern experience. The Windows 95 Start/task bar was amazing. It allowed you to quickly switch between programs while having things maximized. Minimizing to the task bar was great compared to the stupid roll-up window that Apple introduced in OS 8 two years later (and the lack of any option before that). Windows 95's preemptive multitasking was simply better. Windows 95 had its growing problems between registry issues, DLL hell, and drivers that could often be like pulling teeth (part of me remembers righting with a winsock modem way too often), but Windows 95 was quite a bit ahead of the Mac. But I really do miss the Mac OS 8-9 UI design. It wasn't trying to be cool or hip or show off anything fancy. It was just well designed and consistent. There was a care in it.