Just a little Photoshop job on Windows 8.1 Start Screen. Thoughts?

[Dot Matrix]

Looks better to me. I don't know why people say glass is "dated" just because Microsoft says it is. They aren't the lords of style after all.

 

It's not just glass, it's skeuomorphism all together.

[Noir Angel]

Looks better to me. I don't know why people say glass is "dated" just because Microsoft says it is. They aren't the lords of style after all.

 

If Microsoft say that poo is steak, in the world of Dot Matrix poo will also become steak.

[AJerman]

It's not just glass, it's skeuomorphism all together.

I never considered Aero to be skeuomorphism in the first place. It was called "Glass" because it was transparent. It wasn't designed to look like a window pane though. Skeuomorphism is the wood shelving in apps like iBooks pre-iOS7. I agree that skeuomorphism in that way is unattractive and silly but I don't see how that has any relation to transparent title and task bars just called glass because they are see through.

[vcfan]

I bet if the after and before were reversed,you would think the flatter look is better. its just because its different your brain may have you fooled into thinking its better,but in reality, that look is pretty dated,and has no place in the windows 8 UI. even Apple removed the glare and gloss from its icons in the new ios7,because its not as elegant and vibrant as flat colors.

[Dot Matrix]

I never considered Aero to be skeuomorphism in the first place. It was called "Glass" because it was transparent. It wasn't designed to look like a window pane though. Skeuomorphism is the wood shelving in apps like iBooks pre-iOS7. I agree that skeuomorphism in that way is unattractive and silly but I don't see how that has any relation to transparent title and task bars just called glass because they are see through.

 

It was. The glass had little "reflective" effects and everything. It mimicked a glass window pane to the core. 

 

 

Glass was very much the "fake leather" and "fake wood" of Windows.

[AJerman]

It was. The glass had little "reflective" effects and everything. It mimicked a glass window pane to the core. 

 

 

Glass was very much the "fake leather" and "fake wood" of Windows.

Oh, right. I forgot about that reflection effect. :laugh: Never was sure why they even did that. It always seemed somewhat pointless to me, but that's a very small and almost unnoticeable effect unless you use Peek like that screenshot. I still don't consider glass to be very skeuomorphic. Aside from that small effect though, it's mostly just some transparency, and I think transparency has good place in a UI if done properly. Glass was also by far the best looking UI Windows has ever had.

[Tigurinn]

I love glossy.

 

Which is why I'll be sticking with my iOS 5.1.1 for a very long time.

 

The only thing I kinda disagree with on the photo is the 'divider' line; I don't get why that isn't just horizontal ..but then again, if this would find it's way into Windows then hopefully it could be customizable (I love that Windows 8.1 will be more customizable than 8.0, but I would really like to have the option of making the tiles glossy)

[Jose_49]

I love the eye candy :) 

[Knife Party]

You can do minimalism without doing ugly and that's apparently a memo Microsoft missed.

amen 

If Microsoft say that poo is steak, in the world of Dot Matrix poo will also become steak.

haha  :laugh: "Looks for the 'OMG so true' button" 

[Ambroos]

There is nothing wrong with flatness, but Windows 8 lacks depth and that is what I miss most (shadows). Shadows add a very clear visual hint of what is on top of what. In flat Metro apps it's not really as much of a problem, but even there some shadows wouldn't do so bad. On the desktop the lack of proper shadows is what is keeping me away from Windows 8. Having multiple windows open on top of each other is now a lot more confusing since it's a lot harder to see what's on top of what.

 

I'd like a middle ground. No unnecessary gloss and fancy shines, but a mild amount of shadows and small reflections can really help a lot in improving not just the looks but also the functionality.