Why did Microsoft remove aero?

By Deihmos
in Microsoft (Windows)

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Deihmos

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Did Microsoft really remove Aero and if so why why did they do this? Aero make the desktop look so much nicer. The Windows 8 desktop imo looks ugly in comparison and it looks flat. I am not a fan of the new metro lookor metro apps but I at least I figured I could ignore it and continue using the desktop.

I am really disappointed in what Microsoft has done with WIndows 8. It is obvious that he main focus is not the desktop but mobile devices. This has to be the first Windows release that I am not interested in getting.

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https://www.neowin.net/forum/topic/1095739-why-did-microsoft-remove-aero/
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NeoWind

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WTF, battery life isn't the reason got MS to remove aero..people can disable in windows 7 to save "BL" Maybe MS is trying kill the desktop by making look like <snipped> and people will realize the beauty of metro. GOOD STRATEGY !

Edited by Calum
Our word filter is there for a reason, as you know. Please do not intentionally bypass it.
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Grand Master

FMH

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Posted

Boy! Was it like this when Windows 7 was at this point? It's like people really love Windows 8 or hate it.

People dislike change. They show a lot of inertia to the 'new'.

The techies actually hated the user-interface itself, when Microsoft introduced it in Windows 95. They thought it was for people who were too lazy to learn a few DOS commands.

Grand Master

FMH

Posted
Posted

Did Microsoft really remove Aero and if so why why did they do this? Aero makes the desktop look so much nicer. The Windows 8 desktop imo looks ugly in comparison and it looks flat. I am not a fan of the new metro lookor metro apps but I at least I figured I could ignore it and continue using the desktop.

I am really disappointed in what Microsoft has done with WIndows 8. It is obvious that he main focus is not the desktop but mobile devices. This has to be the first Windows release that I am not interested in getting.

They removed it exactly for the reason you mentioned. It was a gimmick, and it attracted the user's attention. And it didn't provide any real advantage in productivity, except to look pretty.

And battery life was also a factor. It consumed a little bit more juice, and actually had a minimum graphic power requirement to run.

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abysal

Posted
Posted

I like the flat UI, the square windows, but I will miss the transparencies. Then again I only plan to run it on a tablet which will probably account for 10 - 15% of my computer usage, and most of time I'll be in the Metro UI.

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PGHammer

Posted
Posted

People dislike change. They show a lot of inertia to the 'new'.

The techies actually hated the user-interface itself, when Microsoft introduced it in Windows 95. They thought it was for people who were too lazy to learn a few DOS commands.

Yup - and when reminded of it, they either get all Pharonic about it, or try to change the subject.

I was very much a skeptic when the Developer Preview of Windows 8 came out (and primarily because of the radical UI) - now I'm a decided non-skeptic.

I've done three installs of this leak of Enterprise- N (two in VMs and one bare-metal) - if anything, I'm actually less of a skeptic.

The lack of Aero has seriously sped things up, and especially on supported hardware.

My discrete GPU is actually the sort of hardware that led to Aero getting grounded - the AMD HD5450 (a notebook GPU in desktop clothes) - it's supported OOTB in both Windows 7 and Windows 8.

Things have seriously gotten faster compared to the Release Preview (which has Aero) - which leads ME to believe that Microsoft actually has a point about Aero being a drag on performance.

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Deihmos

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The biggest issue with aero glass was the fact that allot of programs had compatibility issues with it in general.

Never experienced anything like that and people fail to realize that aero on windows 7 could be turned off. It isn't manditory.

Windows xp looked better than windows 98, vista better than xp and 7 better than vista. Windows 8 ended that tradition.

Grand Master

devHead

Posted
Posted

The odd thing to me is that, in the RTM of Windows 8, all the glass/aero is gone, but the icons in the ribbon for File Explorer are the exact same as in the CP and RP. The glossy, 3D icons from Vista and 7. That's what I can't figure out. Why did they keep the same icons? Even Office 2013 completely revamped all the UI icons for the Ribbon in all their apps. But Windows 8 has kept the icons. And the same My Computer, Recycle Bin, and Network, Control Panel icons from Vista/7. To me, if they were going to do something as drastic as get rid of all reflective / transparencies and every visual aspect of Aero, they could have redone the icons to be more consistent with the rest of the OS's look.

Grand Master

PGHammer

Posted
Posted

Never experienced anything like that and people fail to realize that aero on windows 7 could be turned off. It isn't manditory.

Windows xp looked better than windows 98, vista better than xp and 7 better than vista. Windows 8 ended that tradition.

Apparently, there wasn't as much gain by not using it in Windows 7 as there has been with its banishment in 8.

And again, you're referring to aesthetics; the same could (and has) been said (ending the tradition of good-looking DEs, that is) about GNOME 3.x, KDE 4.x, etc. - if anything, the trend on the FOSS side has been toward minimalism (Xfce, E17+, Cinnamon, etc.).

Contributor

srprimeaux

Posted
Posted

The odd thing to me is that, in the RTM of Windows 8, all the glass/aero is gone, but the icons in the ribbon for File Explorer are the exact same as in the CP and RP. The glossy, 3D icons from Vista and 7. That's what I can't figure out. Why did they keep the same icons? Even Office 2013 completely revamped all the UI icons for the Ribbon in all their apps. But Windows 8 has kept the icons. And the same My Computer, Recycle Bin, and Network, Control Panel icons from Vista/7. To me, if they were going to do something as drastic as get rid of all reflective / transparencies and every visual aspect of Aero, they could have redone the icons to be more consistent with the rest of the OS's look.

That's disappointing to hear. I really dislike it when Microsoft seemingly does things in a cursory fashion. I thought Windows 8 was finally going to show some consistency. I guess not.

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