Will Windows 9 reintroduce the classic theme?


Recommended Posts

Hi,

 

Will Windows 9 reintroduce the classic theme?

 

It's just so ultra clean and simple, allowing me to go about my work without getting distracted by the latest fad whether it's shiny 3D buttons, gradients and transparent this or that. Felt like Windows lost its soul after MS took it away.

 

Been using http://xxinightxx.deviantart.com/art/Windows-Classic-Vs-8-1-Update-1-457573957 so far but it has its shortcomings.

 

Many thanks!

 

B.D.

Mobile app developer

Hi,

 

Will Windows 9 reintroduce the classic theme?

 

It's just so ultra clean and simple, allowing me to go about my work without getting distracted by the latest fad whether it's shiny 3D buttons, gradients and transparent this or that. Felt like Windows lost its soul after MS took it away.

 

Been using http://xxinightxx.deviantart.com/art/Windows-Classic-Vs-8-1-Update-1-457573957 so far but it has its shortcomings.

 

Many thanks!

 

B.D.

Mobile app developer

 

 

Does it really affect your productivity for a button to look slightly different?

Hi,

 

Will Windows 9 reintroduce the classic theme?

 

It's just so ultra clean and simple, allowing me to go about my work without getting distracted by the latest fad whether it's shiny 3D buttons, gradients and transparent this or that. Felt like Windows lost its soul after MS took it away.

 

Been using http://xxinightxx.deviantart.com/art/Windows-Classic-Vs-8-1-Update-1-457573957 so far but it has its shortcomings.

 

Many thanks!

 

B.D.

Mobile app developer

No, I don't think that Microsoft will bring back the Classic theme. This article explains why Microsoft made the decision to keep the Desktop Window Manager enabled at all times in Windows 8. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/hh848042%28v=vs.85%29.aspx

No, I don't think that Microsoft will bring back the Classic theme. This article explains why Microsoft made the decision to keep the Desktop Window Manager enabled at all times in Windows 8. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windows/desktop/hh848042%28v=vs.85%29.aspx

 

 

LOL, they said you can use Windows Flip in Windows 8, but that was removed in Windows 8. :rolleyes:

It's just so ultra clean and simple, allowing me to go about my work without getting distracted by the latest fad whether it's shiny 3D buttons, gradients and transparent this or that. Felt like Windows lost its soul after MS took it away.

This is prety much a description of the current Windows 8 Aero theme. It doesn't has 3D buttons, gradi?nt and transparent parts either. Except for the taskbar, that is, but still.

latest fad whether it's shiny 3D buttons, gradients and transparent this or that.  

They weren't shiny, but Winodws 95 surely had 3D buttons.

 

Windows 8 on the other hand has almost no 3d buttons, gradients or transparency. So they've pretty much already done what you're asking for, only possilby in a more colorful fashion than you'd like.

LOL, they said you can use Windows Flip in Windows 8, but that was removed in Windows 8. :rolleyes:

Windows Flip is the name for Alt + Tab and Windows Flip 3D is the name for Win + Tab. I've said many times before that Microsoft has trouble naming things, and this is no exception. It's not that there is anything inherently wrong with the names, it's just that they are likely to cause confusion. Windows Flip does live on in Windows 8, but not Windows Flip 3D. You already knew this though, it's just that it is easy to confuse the two names with one another.

FLIP.jpg

Windows Flip

flipshot.jpg

Windows Flip 3D

allowing me to go about my work without getting distracted by the latest fad whether it's shiny 3D buttons, gradients and transparent this or that.

 

 

or switch to a Mac 

 

Somehow I don't think the OP will be happy there...

 

post-5569-0-65461400-1411322649.jpg

Classic is what you normally see in Enterprise, and it gives Windows a bad, ugly perception. With Windows 8, they eliminated the ugly basic battleship grey and Windows 7 gradient heavy, washed out colored basic themes. 

Those of you who liked Windows Classic, such as myself, I might recommend trying the Aero Lite theme. It's hidden by default, but easily reenabled. It looks like the standard Windows 8 theme, but the taskbar is opaque and what little drop shadows exist are replaced by 1px black lines. I quite like it a lot, it gets out of the way the way Windows Classic did, and yet it still gets all the DWM features, making it more useful at the same time.

 

EDIT: It has some minor layout bugs compared to the standard theme, but that doesn't bother me too much.

I guess it's with some sense of nostalgia that I want the classic theme back, similar to how I feel when I see MacOS Classic or SGI Irix.

 

There's also a wave of calm that sweeps over me when I see a UI that doesn't try too hard to fit in. That doesn't try to please the endless hordes of hipsters and gamers whom, while they certainly love to hate on others, wouldn't know how to design something proper themselves even if their lives depended on it.

 

Don't get me wrong -- I'm all for properly designed flat interfaces, and I'm sure there'll be a lot of nice ones in Windows 9 -- but the classic theme is an important part of human history, and users should at least be given the option to try it even if it's just for historical / educational purposes, or simply nostalgia.

 

Perfection is achieved, not when there's nothing left to add, but when there's nothing left to take away.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KISS_principle

 

B.D.

Mobile app developer

http://anti.as/

 

irix-3.3-img2.gif

 

Apple_Macintosh_Desktop.png

 the classic theme is an important part of human history, and users should at least be given the option to try it even if it's just for historical / educational purposes, or simply nostalgia. 

So fire up a Windows 95 VM. ?\_(?)_/? 

Windows Classic also isn't worth bringing back unless they can make it hardware accelerated. As stated, Aero Lite is able to serve the same "fallback" purpose while having full GPU support.

 

I would imagine, though, that one could patch Uxtheme.dll and then create a theme that mimicked Windows Classic.

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • Steam Next Fest returns with thousands of new demos to try out by Pulasthi Ariyasinghe Valve has been routinely kicking off demo festivals on Steam for years now, and the second drop of 2026 has just opened its doors. It's a great opportunity for any PC gamers to find some interesting games before they release. The June edition of Steam Next Fest is a week-long digital festival including gameplay slices from a large number of indie developers, though a few major publishers are involved this time too. Interested players can use the Next Fest hub page's various sorting and filtering options to easily sort through the hordes of demos available. The top buttons offer quick access to separate and important sorting options, including "By Genre, By Theme, By Feature," with each one offering more granular settings when clicked. At the same time, the built-in Steam tags system is also available below every page to discover new games more quickly. As always, logging in will also enable Steam gamers to utilize Valve's recommendation algorithms to find game demos they might like, specifically, depending on their past play and purchase histories. This time there is even a toggle now to swap between getting a random and personalized selection as Valve collects more data on the available demos. The Charts section is where you can find the most popular demos on the platform right now, offering up the most hyped titles in a simple list. Right at the kickoff, Mistfall Hunter, Empulse, Echoes of Aincrad, Onimusha: Way of the Sword, Over the Hill, Mortal Shell II, and more are trending. Expect this list to change as the week progresses. This edition of the Steam Next Fest is slated to end on June 22 at 10 AM PT. Valve's latest event is now open, and it can be accessed by going to the dedicated hub page here.
    • I lived and breathed MSN Messenger/Windows Live Messenger. Going to the mess.be website (still online with no changes since 2013) to download display pictures etc. I was a beta tester for Messenger Plus! and spent quite a lot of time on the MsgPlus! forums (a read-only copy is still online at https://shoutbox.menthix.net) Some old Neowin articles also https://www.neowin.net/news/messenger-plus-350/ good times but how time flies
    • Well i'll look into a docking station if needed and use that.    Normally i don't usually have all the drives connected at once,  usually once a month to sync the latest files, and then they go back in there storage area   
    • memories! completely forgot about alcohol 120%!!!! man this list just makes me think of all the exciting times! everything's become so sterilized these days. 
  • Recent Achievements

    • One Year In
      ThatGuyOnline earned a badge
      One Year In
    • Week One Done
      Jeroen Wilms earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • Week One Done
      rolfus earned a badge
      Week One Done
    • One Month Later
      Leroy Jethro Gibbs earned a badge
      One Month Later
    • Conversation Starter
      flexorcist earned a badge
      Conversation Starter
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      506
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      200
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      127
    4. 4
      Steven P.
      82
    5. 5
      ATLien_0
      76
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!