3 ms·

I was already running KDE/Plasma for years by the time Windows 7 came out, so for me Aero's emotional associations are negative. It was the user interface of th

by pxc 3y ago

I was already running KDE/Plasma for years by the time Windows 7 came out, so for me Aero's emotional associations are negative. It was the user interface of the janky, annoying side of my computer that I would occasionally boot in college in order to play trendy Windows games with my friends, and eventually abandoned because I hated having to deal with it. I can't help but be a bit repulsed looking at that UI (or the original Aero theme for Windows). It's funny how those associations can color perception in such an immediate way. The 'pure' aesthetics are harder, if not impossible, to access.

shiroiuma 3y ago
Interesting. I was running KDE too, but I never was forced to use Windows 7/Aero until later. Personally I feel like Aero was by far the best-looking Windows ever, even though I never liked using Windows due to non-aesthetic problems.
- pxc 3y ago
  When I think about individual features of the UI in isolation, it's easy to appreciate many small touches that I can see are quite nice. Transparency with blur, the glow effects on mouseover, the way it flattened a little bit compared to Vista but still returned some skeuomorphic sheen/gradients/animations, etc. Other things, I think I enjoyed at the time, but resent in retrospect— the oversized window titlebars, for example, which proved to be a step towards Windows contemporary profligate wastefulness with screen space. In some cases, evolutionary advances in Windows 7 UI were a step in the right direction (by me), but that of course means that I think later Windowses did it better. A good example here is the search-driven aspects of the start menu, which were introduced (IIRC) when Vista succeeded XP, and gradually increased with each release since. I think menus suck and search is awesome, so imo the way contemporary GNOME or Windows 11 display search results more centrally (and using more of the screen) is more appealing. Anyhow, I do understand what you mean, I think, about the aesthetic of Windows 7 being exceptionally good among Windows aesthetics. Certain visual elements definitely seem to have hit a sweet spot in that release.

by pxc 3y ago

shiroiuma 3y ago

Interesting. I was running KDE too, but I never was forced to use Windows 7/Aero until later. Personally I feel like Aero was by far the best-looking Windows ever, even though I never liked using Windows due to non-aesthetic problems.

pxc 3y ago
When I think about individual features of the UI in isolation, it's easy to appreciate many small touches that I can see are quite nice. Transparency with blur, the glow effects on mouseover, the way it flattened a little bit compared to Vista but still returned some skeuomorphic sheen/gradients/animations, etc. Other things, I think I enjoyed at the time, but resent in retrospect— the oversized window titlebars, for example, which proved to be a step towards Windows contemporary profligate wastefulness with screen space. In some cases, evolutionary advances in Windows 7 UI were a step in the right direction (by me), but that of course means that I think later Windowses did it better. A good example here is the search-driven aspects of the start menu, which were introduced (IIRC) when Vista succeeded XP, and gradually increased with each release since. I think menus suck and search is awesome, so imo the way contemporary GNOME or Windows 11 display search results more centrally (and using more of the screen) is more appealing. Anyhow, I do understand what you mean, I think, about the aesthetic of Windows 7 being exceptionally good among Windows aesthetics. Certain visual elements definitely seem to have hit a sweet spot in that release.