
Windows 8 kills off “dated and cheesy” Aero  - evo_9
http://www.extremetech.com/computing/129620-windows-8-kills-off-dated-and-cheesy-aero
======
untog
I have a lot of time for the concept behind Metro- that we should move beyond
trying to represent real-world concepts in the digital space, and instead
should make a "digital native" experience. It remains to be seen how it works
out, but just playing with the Win8 preview, the UI is considerably better
than Apple's "leather-bound" address book.

~~~
gurkendoktor
I understand what you say, even if I don't agree, but does this apply to the
Windows 8 desktop? (Optional) transparency and gradients are not more or less
digital than solid colors, so far this looks like a skin of Windows 7 to me.

~~~
untog
It was more that the transparency and gradients were attempting to replicate
'glass'. Why? What purpose does that serve? For a long time people cited user
familiarity (I'm sure why Apple has made the skins they have) but I think it's
time to move beyond that.

~~~
gurkendoktor
But does anyone really think of glass? How would glass help with familiarity?
Lots of hardcore digital people always had their terminals set to transparent.
Microsoft (following Apple^) did the same and add a blur for usability
reasons.

If MS suddenly declared that the solid blue shapes in Windows 8 are solid-
colored origami paper, would the same interface suddenly be worse because it
was skeuomorphic?

(^ I'm not talking about the mirror Dock in 10.5, but about the transparent
modal dialogs with a blur in 10.5+(?), and the old 10.4 Dock.)

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agumonkey
I find the metroized Destkop a bit reminiscent a Whistler era, which I liked a
lot before the final bump'n'shine XP theme was introduced.

flat, square, whitespace, larger typeface [sometimes]

[http://www.winsupersite.com/content/content/127352/reviews/w...](http://www.winsupersite.com/content/content/127352/reviews/whistler_2250_pro_08.gif)
[http://www.winsupersite.com/content/content/127352/reviews/w...](http://www.winsupersite.com/content/content/127352/reviews/whistler_2250_pro_04.gif)
<http://www.crystalxp.net/news/img/38.gif>
[http://www.winsupersite.com/content/content/127352/reviews/w...](http://www.winsupersite.com/content/content/127352/reviews/whistler_2250_pro_03.gif)
[http://www.internews.hu/pic/cikkek/whistler_b2410/2410per_00...](http://www.internews.hu/pic/cikkek/whistler_b2410/2410per_0011.gif)
[http://www.winsupersite.com/content/content/127352/reviews/w...](http://www.winsupersite.com/content/content/127352/reviews/whistler_2250_pro_07.gif)

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sciurus
The source article- [http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/archive/2012/05/18/creating-
the-w...](http://blogs.msdn.com/b/b8/archive/2012/05/18/creating-the-
windows-8-user-experience.aspx)

~~~
jamesgeck0
"We do not view the desktop as a mode"

...Isn't that what it is, in Windows 8?

~~~
TazeTSchnitzel
No, it's more of an Application. Like the Browser is an app which is a portal
to applications, so too is the Desktop in Windows 8.

~~~
glhaynes
What's the difference to a user since (afaik), the desktop is the only app
shown when it's being worked with?

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comm_it
I really wish they'd get rid of that awful 'ribbon' in the file explorer. It's
very practical in Office applications, but for a file explorer it's just a bit
too much, imo.

~~~
lunarscape
The ribbon can be hidden so it's not too bad. The interesting part is the
reason why they chose to introduce it in explorer. There was a Microsoft study
(can't find the link atm unfortunately) which showed the majority of users
couldn't cut and paste or 'select all'. The Ribbon is meant to expose more
functionality to the end user which I guess us keyboard shortcut users take
for granted.

~~~
bad_user
I have difficulty believing such studies, especially since I could copy &
paste files in Windows Explorer, using the mouse right-button shortcuts, ever
since my parents got me a computer in 1995. I also do not live in the Valley
or in the US for that matter, and having non-technical friends down here is
the norm, rather than the exception. I have never seen one that could not
cut/copy/paste files in Windows Explorer.

The only thing I noticed is that some people don't understand the difference
between "cut" and "copy", or why the mouse drag&drop sometimes produces the
former, while other times it produces the later. But these are separate things
entirely that can't be solved by ribbon shortcuts.

~~~
rndmize
Having worked at a library providing computer tutoring and assistance, I can
absolutely believe such studies. You say "using the mouse right-button
shortcuts" - the vast majority of people don't know these exist, or if they
do, no idea how to use them (or what a "context-sensitive" menu is). When I
guide my grandmother through something over the phone, I often have to specify
whether she needs to click or double-click something - which I find so obvious
now as to not even think about. Go figure.

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drbawb
I certainly never felt that way about it.

Windows XP, on the other hand, felt "dated and cheesy" out of the box.
(Perhaps not dated, at the time, but cheesy certainly. It always felt like a
fisher-price UI unless you used the brushed-metal green/silver theme.)

~~~
evincarofautumn
The default theme that shipped with XP was awful, but there was a massive
skinning community that constantly produced superior designs. You just had to
know to look for them.

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zokier
While I didn't find Aero "dated and cheesy", I found it very confusing and
cluttered (in its default configuration). Because the window decorations were
almost completely transparent, different (partially overlapping) windows kinda
melted together visually. Distinguishing active windows was also unnecessarily
difficult imho. I usually toned the transparency down to almost completely
opaque, which helped usability. And of course there was the infamously thick
window borders.

So I for one welcome the change.

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jinushaun
Unfortunately, still no where near as good-looking as the Win 8 concept posted
on The Verge.

[http://www.theverge.com/2012/2/24/2822891/windows-desktop-
ui...](http://www.theverge.com/2012/2/24/2822891/windows-desktop-ui-concept)

IMO, it's Metro done right. Microsoft's version of Metro seems to be blindly
designed according to a spec, instead of with a natural and intuitive
understanding of visual design. For example, when I see a screenshot of Metro,
text just seem to be all over the place with no rhyme or reason. Like most
modern designs, I'm sure they're using a grid, but I'm just not sure it's the
correct grid. Also, solid colors are harsh, which is why designers only use it
to evoke a very specific reaction. That's fine for a "Swiss" typographic
poster, but as a foundation for a user interface, it's simply wrong.

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ivanbernat
I rather liked Aero and I never really found it to be cheesy. Compared to
Win95 or XP it actually looked great! And this is what MS is about to do, go
back to the "old" look without adding any value to it (and I have a hunch it
won't be easier on the system resources too).

~~~
dpark
Microsoft isn't going 'back to the old look'. They're moving toward a simpler,
flatter, more "authentically digital" look. The Windows 8 desktop doesn't look
like the Vista desktop, but it looks even less like XP or Windows 95.

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rjv
I think this will be a good thing if it means there will be a little more
cohesiveness between metro and the legacy desktop. It still feels like two
different operating systems mashed together.

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cavilling_elite
This is odd, only because every windows version since 2000 I have removed all
skins and fluff. Optimizing the interface for best performance.

But I know I'm not the targeted audience.

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Roritharr
i liked aero... :(

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whichdan
Me too. I use Mac fulltime now, but I really like Aero Glass.

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tomjen3
Of course they remove one of the actually good things.

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nextstep
>>The second answer is much more direct: Microsoft is simply trying to save on
CPU and GPU cycles, thus making Windows 8 devices faster and more power
efficient. <<

I wouldn't be surprised if Microsoft uses these saved CPU/GPU cycles for some
other wasteful processes, resulting in a bloated, processor-intensive OS akin
to Vista and Windows 7. I have always had bad experiences using "modern"
Windows builds on old hardware.

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eswangren
Oh, that's weird; an OS that is built primarily for normal PC users doesn't
run well on dated hardware? Who would have thought? Windows 7 is less bloated
than the version of Linux I just installed (and removed) On my new desktop.

~~~
TazeTSchnitzel
Out of curiosity, which Linux distribution?

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eswangren
You can probably guess; Ubuntu. I wanted to check out Unity. I ended up going
with Mont though. Windows 7 doesn't come bloated as far as I can tell, but I
built the PC myself and installed an OEM version, so no third party bloat
ware. I realize this is atypical.

~~~
TazeTSchnitzel
Ubuntu isn't bloated, really. It certainly has less bloat than Windows 7.
However, it does feel very bloated when you initially install it, simply
because it has to fetch so much stuff from the network.

