4 ms·

Windows used rounded corners on its buttons from 1.0 to 3.11, then switched to square ones until XP's themed UI, where they were slightly rounded again, until 8

Windows used rounded corners on its buttons from 1.0 to 3.11, then switched to square ones until XP's themed UI, where they were slightly rounded again, until 8 went back to square, and now with 11 they are again rounded: https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/7389110/64139289-37026c80-cdf8-11e9-81b6-655f584b1bf3.png https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/7389110/64139289-3... I still prefer the sharp corners.

ted_bunny 2y ago
Wonder how it syncopates with the high skirt / short skirt fashion cycle
- kragen 2y ago
  that ended about the time engelbart first publicly demonstrated hypertext (i'd say windowed guis but sketchpad and grail had windowed guis)
  - msephton 2y ago
    They're is no end to a cycle. I'm not suggesting you go and check current skirt trends, but I guess it might be useful.
    - kragen 2y ago
      the phenomenon that was cycling, profound conformism in women's hemline height, simply ceased to exist. most cycles do in fact have an end; the sun's sunspot cycle will end when it is consumed by a stray black hole, or possibly even earlier, when it becomes a white dwarf or red giant
CrimsonCape 2y ago
it's interesting to see all the windows theming over the years. I personally prefer the UI that looks like little chunks of titanium and steel rather than the boring flat RGBCMYK-like color palette. It was even in the name, glass, to convey the materiality. I just wonder why developers can have design color palettes like solarized; yet Microsoft imposes its will and subjugates everyone to the same godawful blueness. F** the blueness because I know some corporate peon had conversations like "Yellow is too cautionary, orange is too obscure, red is too angry, purple is too edgy. Blue is safe."
- bityard 2y ago
  > (anti-blue rant) > (looks at username) Username checks out.
  - _carbyau_ 2y ago
    Red is too angry.
- int_19h 2y ago
  The highlight color in Win8+ is customizable, although that only applies to apps using the new XAML-based frameworks.
seanmcdirmid 2y ago
Sharp corners are dangerous, I always feel like those windows will draw blood if I touch them with my mouse wrong. Strangely enough, I stayed in an East Asian hotel (I think with Tibetan influences?) and I remember the corners of the room all being rounded. It just felt better, more soothing? It would be hella expensive to get a craftsman to round all the corners in your room here in the west, you could do it with plaster but it wouldn’t last more than a decade and wouldn’t add any resale value.
- orthoxerox 2y ago
  I know nuclear power stations have no sharp corners to make them easier to clean.
  - porterde 2y ago
    Do you have a source for that fact?
    - orthoxerox 2y ago
      You know, I remember seeing this on older pictures, but I tried to come up with an example and couldn't, all recent pictures I could find had regular floor moldings.
    - Y-bar 2y ago
      I spent two summers as a cleaner at a pharmaceutical company in my late teens. The "round corners are easier to clean" were a thing there as well, reason I was told was that sharp corners will scrape off some residue from the cleaning cloths when you drag them over the corner.
      - seanmcdirmid 2y ago
        Oh, ya, I can see this being really nice for the kitchen sink or the stand in shower. Right now, oil build up gets trapped in corners that require a brush to work out, which is tricky in the shower where it’s all calked.
bsder 2y ago
That image really drives home how much we've lost with flat GUIs are and how important drop shadows are to buttons. And also drives home that I don't give one iota of care about rounded vs square.
- nurbl 2y ago
  It's also funny how the later examples almost look like they could be terminal UIs. Based on this trend, I predict that the next version of Windows ("Windows One") will look like DOS.
- AlienRobot 2y ago
  I really like XP's. I wonder if it's going to be popular again.
xnorswap 2y ago
I still think windows 2000 looks the best out of that bunch, if not for the lack of font antialiasing. Windows 10 does a pretty good job too if not for the mess that is finding yourself in a universe of completely different UI paradigms that suddenly lurch from one to another, especially when navigating settings.
- TeMPOraL 2y ago
  Windows 2003 Server was the pinnacle - it looked and felt like Windows 2000, but had XP-era improvements, including ClearType (subpixel font antialiasing).
  - malermeister 2y ago
    I used to run this modded distro of Windows2003 called "tiny2003". It was my favorite Windows experience.
  - int_19h 2y ago
    You could easily switch WinXP to use the classic theme, which made it look the same as Win2003.
    - Sohcahtoa82 2y ago
      Win7 with the Classic Theme was the peak of UI/UX, IMO.
      - gopher_space 2y ago
        On the Mac side OS 10.8.5 felt the same way. Last versions of software specifically designed for desktop computing, maybe.
  - bhauer 2y ago
    Even the default out of the box color scheme of WS 2003 was fantastic. Indeed the pinnacle of Windows UI design.
Zelphyr 2y ago
Microsoft not being able to make up their mind resulting in a cluttered and nearly unusable UI? Who has ever heard of such a thing?!
AlienRobot 2y ago
That's a very nice image. I think XP is the best one. Just the fact that it's yellow instead of gray makes all the difference. I hate how modern widgets don't have shading. They're trying to be modern but it just feels very lazy. Note how buttons suddenly became twice as big and there was margin/padding everywhere since Windows Vista/7. It's getting ridiculous how much space UI wastes.

ted_bunny 2y ago

Wonder how it syncopates with the high skirt / short skirt fashion cycle

kragen 2y ago
that ended about the time engelbart first publicly demonstrated hypertext (i'd say windowed guis but sketchpad and grail had windowed guis)
- msephton 2y ago
  They're is no end to a cycle. I'm not suggesting you go and check current skirt trends, but I guess it might be useful.
  - kragen 2y ago
    the phenomenon that was cycling, profound conformism in women's hemline height, simply ceased to exist. most cycles do in fact have an end; the sun's sunspot cycle will end when it is consumed by a stray black hole, or possibly even earlier, when it becomes a white dwarf or red giant

CrimsonCape 2y ago

it's interesting to see all the windows theming over the years. I personally prefer the UI that looks like little chunks of titanium and steel rather than the boring flat RGBCMYK-like color palette. It was even in the name, glass, to convey the materiality. I just wonder why developers can have design color palettes like solarized; yet Microsoft imposes its will and subjugates everyone to the same godawful blueness. F** the blueness because I know some corporate peon had conversations like "Yellow is too cautionary, orange is too obscure, red is too angry, purple is too edgy. Blue is safe."

bityard 2y ago
> (anti-blue rant) > (looks at username) Username checks out.
- _carbyau_ 2y ago
  Red is too angry.
int_19h 2y ago
The highlight color in Win8+ is customizable, although that only applies to apps using the new XAML-based frameworks.

seanmcdirmid 2y ago

Sharp corners are dangerous, I always feel like those windows will draw blood if I touch them with my mouse wrong. Strangely enough, I stayed in an East Asian hotel (I think with Tibetan influences?) and I remember the corners of the room all being rounded. It just felt better, more soothing? It would be hella expensive to get a craftsman to round all the corners in your room here in the west, you could do it with plaster but it wouldn’t last more than a decade and wouldn’t add any resale value.

orthoxerox 2y ago
I know nuclear power stations have no sharp corners to make them easier to clean.
- porterde 2y ago
  Do you have a source for that fact?
  - orthoxerox 2y ago
    You know, I remember seeing this on older pictures, but I tried to come up with an example and couldn't, all recent pictures I could find had regular floor moldings.
  - Y-bar 2y ago
    I spent two summers as a cleaner at a pharmaceutical company in my late teens. The "round corners are easier to clean" were a thing there as well, reason I was told was that sharp corners will scrape off some residue from the cleaning cloths when you drag them over the corner.
    - seanmcdirmid 2y ago
      Oh, ya, I can see this being really nice for the kitchen sink or the stand in shower. Right now, oil build up gets trapped in corners that require a brush to work out, which is tricky in the shower where it’s all calked.

bsder 2y ago

That image really drives home how much we've lost with flat GUIs are and how important drop shadows are to buttons. And also drives home that I don't give one iota of care about rounded vs square.

nurbl 2y ago
It's also funny how the later examples almost look like they could be terminal UIs. Based on this trend, I predict that the next version of Windows ("Windows One") will look like DOS.
AlienRobot 2y ago
I really like XP's. I wonder if it's going to be popular again.

xnorswap 2y ago

I still think windows 2000 looks the best out of that bunch, if not for the lack of font antialiasing. Windows 10 does a pretty good job too if not for the mess that is finding yourself in a universe of completely different UI paradigms that suddenly lurch from one to another, especially when navigating settings.

TeMPOraL 2y ago
Windows 2003 Server was the pinnacle - it looked and felt like Windows 2000, but had XP-era improvements, including ClearType (subpixel font antialiasing).
- malermeister 2y ago
  I used to run this modded distro of Windows2003 called "tiny2003". It was my favorite Windows experience.
- int_19h 2y ago
  You could easily switch WinXP to use the classic theme, which made it look the same as Win2003.
  - Sohcahtoa82 2y ago
    Win7 with the Classic Theme was the peak of UI/UX, IMO.
    - gopher_space 2y ago
      On the Mac side OS 10.8.5 felt the same way. Last versions of software specifically designed for desktop computing, maybe.
- bhauer 2y ago
  Even the default out of the box color scheme of WS 2003 was fantastic. Indeed the pinnacle of Windows UI design.

Zelphyr 2y ago

Microsoft not being able to make up their mind resulting in a cluttered and nearly unusable UI? Who has ever heard of such a thing?!

AlienRobot 2y ago

That's a very nice image. I think XP is the best one. Just the fact that it's yellow instead of gray makes all the difference. I hate how modern widgets don't have shading. They're trying to be modern but it just feels very lazy. Note how buttons suddenly became twice as big and there was margin/padding everywhere since Windows Vista/7. It's getting ridiculous how much space UI wastes.