Is OS Customization dead?

[Dot Matrix]

  On 09/08/2014 at 12:43, Steve B. said:

I think it's also the fact that a lot of users are happy with the OS' default look, I know I'm not alone in saying Luna wasn't the prettiest of default themes.  :laugh:

 

That's the only reason I customised, so that I could have a better default. 

I'm still not sure what caused Microsoft to ditch Watercolor for Luna. That theme was literally Fischer Price. :x

[+Fahim S. MVC]

  On 10/08/2014 at 12:17, Dot Matrix said:

I'm still not sure what caused Microsoft to ditch Watercolor for Luna. That theme was literally Fischer Price. :x

 

Not a fan of the Luna theme at all, but there were a number of things that caused Microsoft not to progress with Watercolor, some of these related to its construction that would mean it would start glitching really badly with legacy programs that weren't calling windowing APIs properly.

 

The theme used transparent pixels at the top of the titlebar, which would mean in some cases badly behaved programs would not maximise fully leaving a small strip of the screen at the top still showing the wall paper. Also, the fixed portion of the title bar, the blocky bit on the right hand side where all the titlebar buttons lived, demanded a particular size - something not all legacy programmes could be expected to respect.

 

So the reason why they ended up with Luna was, in my opinion, mainly due to compatibility.

 

Still think it was ugly though... and the reason why I, and many others, became interesting in customising my desktop.

[monkeylove]

  On 09/08/2014 at 10:36, kala-kas said:

Well, dear friend, I might have a solution for you: either WSB or something that I have created while back: http://www.betaarchive.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=28246 No HEX editing needed, although you do need to know what to edit. I basiacally know everything there is to know about MsStyles, so if any questions, feel free to ask. Been doing tons of research over two last years on it and I know quite a bit, how to, where to.

 

Havent worked on a full editor for a while though, should finish it some time...

 

That's great! Thanks very much.

[Wannes]

  On 07/08/2014 at 22:32, sanctified said:

It's not dead, but it's fairly inconsequential and time wasting. GUI's are now quite stable and logical, so I just want to work. And this is coming from the one who wrote all of Neowin's customization guides in the past.

 

Just today I was browing through some old desktop screenshots using the Gant icons, Azure theme, ... . The nostalgia is big!

 

EDIT: I want to go back.

 

 

EDIT2: Awesome, I still had a Floppy drive.

[th3rEsa]

  On 07/08/2014 at 22:32, sanctified said:

GUI's are now quite stable and logical

 

No, they are not. One of the reasons I don't use Linux is that its available UIs sadden me.

 

But one of the first things I did with Windows 8.1 was adding "Aero Glass" and the Win7 start menu (OK, the "classic" one, I'm an old fellow) back, and I surely added a couple of keyboard tweaks to it. After all, OS customization is more "under the hood" these days as it seems.

[DirtyLarry Veteran]

Truth is I think for the majority of people being able to change their wallpaper is all they need to make it feel like their own.

 

The people who look for more tend to be enthusiasts, and with the rise in popularity of tablets and smartphones, that means less and less people are into the concept of a desktop PC, so there are less and less potential new enthusiasts.

As such, I think it is part practicality and partly to do with the latest trend in the types of devices most people use.

 

For example if you look at the Google Play marketplace, there are a ton of icon packs and launchers, which indicate people are customizing their Android smartphones. These people probably just hop on a desktop or laptop when needed now, and they are not on it 24-7. So people are into customization still, it is just the device they are customizing has changed.

 

I also do think sanctified nailed it on the first page. For a lot of people it just comes down to the fact the computer is simply just a tool in their everyday lives now. As such they prefer it to be as efficient as possible. 

 

I used to be HEAVILY into customizing both OS's. Now I really just change icons. That is enough these days.

[DConnell Member]

The last time I really customized the OS was running Norton Desktop on Win 3.1. Even though I never liked the Start Menu, I never found a good replacement. The ones that worked decently on my machines didn't do enough - they were just skins for the default UI. Skinning wasn't enough for my taste - I wanted improved functionality, preferably a Start Menu-less design. And the ones that attempted to provide that were never stable enough on my computers for me to stick with.

 

These days I actually like the default UI, so no customizing is needed apart from organizing tiles and making wallpaper slideshows.

[guitmz]

linux customization is strong :)

[simonlang]

  On 04/09/2014 at 16:12, guitmz said:

linux customization is strong :)

 

always loved os customization but since win vista it has gone downwards; linux is different here. there are so endlessly many good iconsets/themes etc. out there, that it never get's boring. plus, you can go much deeper into detail than with windows, where themes are basically now just a new desktop background.

[+Random Stranger Subscriber¹]

  On 10/08/2014 at 04:49, compl3x said:

The novelty of having a skinned GUI has completely worn off for me.

 

i am using win8.1 with classic shell.

 

 

what are my best options if i want to customize it.  are there themes for such environment?

[TAZMINATOR]

  On 04/09/2014 at 22:01, panacea said:

i am using win8.1 with classic shell.

 

 

what are my best options if i want to customize it.  are there themes for such environment?

 

Go to Deviantart website and search for themes for Windows 8.1 and download any of the themes that you like. 

[+Random Stranger Subscriber¹]

  On 04/09/2014 at 22:22, shozilla said:

Go to Deviantart website and search for themes for Windows 8.1 and download any of the themes that you like. 

 

will that interfere with classic shell.   i though win 8.1 themes worked for metro (sorry, modern) interface only..

 

i customized a look with all the possible classic shell options, but with skinning, i would like to keep it looking like modified win7... not like win8

[TAZMINATOR]

  On 04/09/2014 at 22:24, panacea said:

will that interfere with classic shell.   i though win 8.1 themes worked for metro (sorry, modern) interface only..

 

i customized a look with all the possible classic shell options, but with skinning, i would like to keep it looking like modified win7... not like win8

 

No not the modern UI..   the themes can be used on taskbar and windows borders/titlebar...  including the windows features such as checkboxes, progress bar, etc.. 

 

my taskbar is black semitransparent...  which you can see thru.

 

themes can not be conflicted with your classic shell.

[+Random Stranger Subscriber¹]

  On 04/09/2014 at 22:28, shozilla said:

my taskbar is black semitransparent...  which you can see thru.

 

so is mine...

 

 

but i am going to try this win8.1 themes on deviantart. 

 

if this does not work:

 

[TAZMINATOR]

  On 04/09/2014 at 22:31, panacea said:

so is mine...

 

 

but i am going to try this win8.1 themes on deviantart. 

 

if this does not work:

 

 

LOL

 

 

It should work as long as you follow the instructions..  I have custom themes from that site... just look around on the site and see if you like any themes...

[TAZMINATOR]

  On 04/09/2014 at 22:31, panacea said:

 

 

Any luck on the themes?

[devHead]

  On 07/08/2014 at 22:47, ians18 said:

I believe you can still use Rainmeter on Windows 8 and programs like start8. Plus while you can change the accent color and start screen color on Windows, I seem to recall that OSX won't even let you change the dock's color without an application. iOS won't let you customize icon sizes either.

On my PC at home I use Rainmeter for one clock / date widget on my desktop.  It's the only one I use anymore.  As far as customization goes, I used to be all into it, then I realized that in the end, the UI as it was really worked best.  I've stopped fiddling with my computer anyway like I used to.  

[+Random Stranger Subscriber¹]

  On 05/09/2014 at 13:13, shozilla said:

Any luck on the themes?

nah.. decided not to try yet.

 

did you have to patch your pc (like before)?   visual styles 8?  start8?

 

also, link me to at least one theme that you find awesome. so i can see if it is worth it.   for some reason i am having troubles finding cool themes on deviantart

  On 05/09/2014 at 13:25, devHead said:

On my PC at home I use Rainmeter for one clock / date widget on my desktop.  It's the only one I use anymore.  As far as customization goes, I used to be all into it, then I realized that in the end, the UI as it was really worked best.  I've stopped fiddling with my computer anyway like I used to.  

 

rainlendar is still my fav...after all this years.

[TCA]

  On 10/08/2014 at 12:17, Dot Matrix said:

I'm still not sure what caused Microsoft to ditch Watercolor for Luna. That theme was literally Fischer Price. :x

loved Water color!! The Olive and Silver wasn't bad on XP. I've actually stopped slowly customizing especially windows 8, I may just change the icons on TB and color, wallpaper that's about it...I don't even use foobar anymore. Also, I used to customize my phone but don't even do that anymore...Just wallpaper Nexus isn't even rooted...XP had some really great themes made, Windows 7 has some top notch stuff too...I'm 32 now and I really just don't care to do it much, I did one new screenshot with Blackmarket theme on desktop and that was it.