Whats your opinion of the Aero Glass UI?

[Jazket]

And people who act immature like you are what make Neowin look bad ;)

Not everyone cares for all the Aero effects and nobody really cares that you have a computer that can run Aero. You're special in your own little world, buddy. Many people have computers that can run it, but they're mature and don't run around bragging about it like a little 5 year old kid ;) Get over yourself :rolleyes:

And... what did he say so wrong? Looks like it really bothered you huh? :rolleyes:

I say, people need to look at the "Posibilities" not at what's been released today. Microsoft is giving us a tool, not the finished work; the developers community has the power to achieve better things than this, thanks to their hard work over the last five years. They created it and we will polish it :) I simply can't wait for Vista to come out, I've been waiting 5 years... It's time they give us better technologies with countless posibilities :shifty:

[Stalk3r]

I hate it as I like minimalism and I'm a windows classic fanboy :)

[notuptome2004]

Personally, I think that AERO suffers from really bad design. The translucency doesn't really help while working, it's often really confusing (now, what window was the active one?), the whole UI, including the explorer (which is still better than OSX' Finder, really) could need a MAJOR overhaul. Right now, Vista is _design-wise_ nothing but XP with transperancy and a few nifty, little tweaks. The workflow is still the same old XP crap, nothing has really changed. Getting the LOOK right isn't that hard - Microsoft already showed a few concepts that looked pretty nifty over all those years (a lot of them were much better than what we'll get with Vista now), but it's really a shame that they completely failed when it comes to making the navigation more user-friendly and the interaction with the OS a better experience. Vista still suffers from a lot of the design-flaws that every Windows version suffered from since over 10 years now. The fact that Microsoft is not and has never been a design company is sadly very visible right now. I can imagine that Microsoft let people come up with ideas of how the next big OS could look like for a little too long, without really testing out what would work design-wise. That must've been around 2003. And then, they just completely fell into that hole of missing their timelines and encountering one problem after the other. After realizing the harsh truth that 'Longhorn' (4xxx) isn't really going to get them anywhere, they panicked and just took over the XP design, plussing it a bit and that's that.

That's not a bad approach for an update, really. But if the current product is already a bit behind and if such an update takes a company over 5 years to create, then there's something really going wrong over there. Microsoft needs, really, really needs to hire some people who've a clue about design into their own band (and they're slowly starting to do that, hiring guys like Bill Buxton), or they'll fight a losing battle later down the road.

I like the breadcrumb bar that they put into the explorer, but the fact that it's still kinda hard to navigate through C:, D:, E: and so on is just another result of poor design.

Don't want to sound arrogant or something, but I really think that a lot of those people here who're celebrating Vista as a startling, new OS probably never encountered well designed software before.

You know why they scrapped the design of the 4xxx look? i do alot of testers and meetings and through all of that peaple meaning us didnt like it and wanted somthing more familior rather then somthing completely new, Now saying that Aero glass is built on new technolagies stuff that relaves your system from visual tearing pixle gitches issues with flickering , and mutch mutch more, i think the aero UI is alot more advanced then what we see in XP not only because it is based on new rendering technolagy but because the changes it has gone through have made it much easier to navigate around, now as for the glass look with reflections and blur effects as you made your point on it.........

( The translucency doesn't really help while working, it's often really confusing (now, what window was the active one?),

well i think the translucent windows are great cause OH wait i ment borders not windows, previously software allowed us to only have the enite window translucent not just the borders so? why do you find just the borders being translucent glass none usefull and distracting when alot of peaple seem to use reguler nvidia based translucent windows and or ATI cards to do the half assed job of doing it that we have doen for years, it seem to me that old way is more distracting as the entire window is see through and to wher in Vista only the borders of the window and everything else inside the Window sutch as the Content is perfectly solid so you can consantrate on the Content better.

[MonkeyClaw Veteran]

I think Aero had potential back in the day. Back in the 3xxx and 4xxx builds, it was very fresh and new. The transparency that was seen in the 4xxx builds was much more subtle and professional looking. Now though, Aero has transformed into a totally different beast. It just seems way to similar to XP and the transparency while cool at first, just makes the OS way to messy and not as fluid feeling. Also a lot of the cool features have been dumped and now it just seems the focus around Aero is on the glass, not on animation and other really revolutionary intuitive features, which is a shame.

So right now unless they do something dramatic, my thumbs are down. But I will say this, I love the green, lol.

[WinFreak]

I think Aero had potential back in the day. Back in the 3xxx and 4xxx builds, it was very fresh and new. The transparency that was seen in the 4xxx builds was much more subtle and professional looking. Now though, Aero has transformed into a totally different beast. It just seems way to similar to XP and the transparency while cool at first, just makes the OS way to messy and not as fluid feeling. Also a lot of the cool features have been dumped and now it just seems the focus around Aero is on the glass, not on animation and other really revolutionary intuitive features, which is a shame.

So right now unless they do something dramatic, my thumbs are down. But I will say this, I love the green, lol.

My sentiments exactly. :yes:

[1759]

I rather use XGL/Gnome - that's not perfect either; it has some of the wow animations of Aero, but it's not flashy for the sake of being flashy (in terms of use of color).

The transparency I like, all the color combinations I do not. Microsoft should've let a outside company design a fresh, user-friendly UI, but with more subtle colors or provide more customizibility options in the OS, like an XP with built-in themes support.

Edited July 3, 2006 by guinnessman

[-Anthony]

The Glass part is okay now the rest of the UI. Thats another different mess.

[mdtaUK]

I rather use XGL/Gnome - that's not perfect either; it has some of the wow animations of Aero, but it's not flashy for the sake of being flashy (in terms of use of color).

The transparency I like, all the color combinations I do not. Microsoft should've let a outside company design a fresh, user-friendly UI, but with more subtle colors or provide more customizibility options in the OS, like an XP with built-in themes support.

By colour combinations do you mean icons, or the aero glass, because the aero glass has alot of customisation with colour...

[Dessimat0r]

I don't like it.

[ew2x4]

It's worthless and slows down productivity.

Basically, compare computer cases. I want to work with the sleek and efficient chrome case, while Vista is the one with the windows, lights, bells and whistles. Both that case and Aero have one thing in common, they have no place at work.

I give it a 3/10. Too much potential and time taken to only come up with this.

[Suren]

Oh. I love it and I loved the way that you can customize the colour appearance of it. I loved the Sky colour. Matches with the Freestyle Sea colour of my Opera browser. :D

And you know my computer system specs?

3GHz P4 531 socket 775

512 DDR RAM in Dual Channel mode

MSI 915P Mainboard

80GB WD HDD (2 partitions of 40GB (one for my downloads storage and other for system like XP or vista)

Glass fully enabled from first boot :D

But when I maximize any windows, it goes like solid. I know I heard about it but that was....a year ago that this problem appeared?

I only just installed my first Vista Beta 2 (5384) on my main computer (sorry I don't have another computer but I decided to install it on my main before I reinstall XP).

Those who complain about high system spec requirements: In a few years, these system specs won't matter much. Some people did the same with XP's betas but turned out the final version can be ran on even a Windows 95 PC.

Vista might even be about to run even on high-end specs of a Windows 98 PC. See the pattern. Computer are getting more powerful and cheaper. :yes:

nice to see someone else using "colour" here :)

Oh. I love it and I loved the way that you can customize the colour appearance of it. I loved the Sky colour. Matches with the Freestyle Sea colour of my Opera browser. :D

And you know my computer system specs?

3GHz P4 531 socket 775

512 DDR RAM in Dual Channel mode

MSI 915P Mainboard

80GB WD HDD (2 partitions of 40GB (one for my downloads storage and other for system like XP or vista)

Glass fully enabled from first boot :D

But when I maximize any windows, it goes like solid. I know I heard about it but that was....a year ago that this problem appeared?

I only just installed my first Vista Beta 2 (5384) on my main computer (sorry I don't have another computer but I decided to install it on my main before I reinstall XP).

Those who complain about high system spec requirements: In a few years, these system specs won't matter much. Some people did the same with XP's betas but turned out the final version can be ran on even a Windows 95 PC.

Vista might even be about to run even on high-end specs of a Windows 98 PC. See the pattern. Computer are getting more powerful and cheaper. :yes:

nice to see someone else using "colour" here :)

[pipdo]

But when I maximize any windows, it goes like solid. I know I heard about it but that was....a year ago that this problem appeared?

Well, I don't know if you know, or if it's been said in this thread already, but that's expected behavior. Why would you need to see the glass anyway if you're working with only one window? (at least that's MS's thought). But personally, I think it needs a lot of work, it doesn't look very good in my opinion. Though, I have noticed that it helps me focus on the content, because the black blends in with the sides of the monitor...

[notuptome2004]

It's worthless and slows down productivity.

Basically, compare computer cases. I want to work with the sleek and efficient chrome case, while Vista is the one with the windows, lights, bells and whistles. Both that case and Aero have one thing in common, they have no place at work.

I give it a 3/10. Too much potential and time taken to only come up with this.

you do realize Aero glass and subsystem it runs on is very complexed . so it has taken alot of work to just come up with this

[UncleSpellbinder]

For those saying "the ones that bitch about the new Aero UI must not have a system that can run aero."...

I fall on the other side. I like Aero an awful lot. I can't run it.......Yet. I'm working on it though. As far as " lights, bells and whistles" go, Aero is fantastic :D

[+Elі Subscriber²]

I love the new GUI, But I think it still needs lots of polishing, I'm sure MS will sort it out by the time of release.

[Tech_Dude_5000]

the new 5456 bulid, i heard the glass was a bit polished. i havent used that bulid, but the next one i'm gona test is the RC1 bulid.

[Mordkanin]

the new 5456 bulid, i heard the glass was a bit polished. i havent used that bulid, but the next one i'm gona test is the RC1 bulid.

Yes, the 'look' is more polished. Unfortunetly, 5456 broke a few things relating to the UI as well: A few things are missing alpha transparency such as the top left corner of the start menu, and 2 or 3 spots, instead of having nice glass effects, are just black. Such as the seperator in Explorer, and the start menu search bar.

Then again, this isn't exactly a release that's supposed to be used by many....I'm sure they'll all be fixed in the next build.

[pipdo]

Then again, this isn't exactly a release that's supposed to be used by many....I'm sure they'll all be fixed in the next build.

At least according to MS's comments on my bug reports, they are. It seems that 5459 (IIRC) has most of the UI fixes in it, and that's only 3 builds more than what we have now. Anyway, as far as I know the next released build is RC1 (they said July, and I doubt that they'll release another build till then, unless it's like they did with 5381 and B2), so thats supposed to be a release Candidate (as in, a possible release build, though everyone knows it isn't lol).

[dagamer34]

Right now I'd give it a 7/10. I like the UI design in general, but the color choice turns me off (like i've said a billion times). Blue and green in the Explorer window do NOT go together. MS only half realized that when they changed the bottom part of the Windows Explorer window, but they need to change the top as well. In general, the color choice in Vista is too dark for me to look at all day. They need to brighten up their color palette. In addition, the color picker is almost useless for changing the color of Glass as it just seems to tint it a bit. I'm praying that not everything will blend with what looks to be black in the final release.

Also, I feel that the quick button shortcuts at the top of the is a step back from XP. You can't immediately tell what the icons do, and few users are ever actually going to explore what their functions are.

Oh, how I wish MS actually listened to consumers for once... :whistle:

[Heyo]

That's the thing that I always liked about the Apple OS's to an extent.......no backporting, to a degree.

Yeah, but that is part of the reason Apples' marketshare is around 2 percent last time I checked and still sliding. Low marketshare is also why they tend to get away with that sort of behaviour.

I am sure backwards compatibility for Windows is a pain for MS, but they wouldn't go to all that effort if there were not solid market reasons for it.

It's the same with Sony in the console market. They are falling over themselves to make sure the PS3 is backwards compatible with PS2 and PS1 software even to the extent of installing some would say 'redundant' hardware to enable it.

They want to carry forward their existing userbase to the next gen.

Not supporting legacy software/hardware enables the userbase to evaluate other options which is something these companies definately do not want given they currently dominate their respective markets.

That said.. I thought Windows 64 is finally dropping support for a lot of old stuff like win16 applications?

:woot: Just to stay on topic... I really love the glass UI. In fact I find it quite jarring when you maximise now and lose the glass in the title bar. It just doesn't look right IMO.

Edited July 4, 2006 by Heyo

[notuptome2004]

Yes, the 'look' is more polished. Unfortunetly, 5456 broke a few things relating to the UI as well: A few things are missing alpha transparency such as the top left corner of the start menu, and 2 or 3 spots, instead of having nice glass effects, are just black. Such as the seperator in Explorer, and the start menu search bar.

Then again, this isn't exactly a release that's supposed to be used by many....I'm sure they'll all be fixed in the next build.

i am not sure what ya mean by they dont have the transpararnceys in the start menu but for me they do in 5456

[

[Malisk]

Hmm, I wouldn't say Aero Glass look so impressive, given how much they've worked on it.

I'd personally vote "average" here. It's neither a deal breaker or something really cool to me.

[Cailin]

I think that the glass UI is ok but it needs some serious work before release. I have a few gripes with it.

1) Glass is spotty in terms of how it applies to certain windows making the UI seem uneven. Firefox, for example, doesn't get glass on the toolbar or wherever MSIE7 gets it. The result is a confusing experience where it's like playing a claw game with a blindfold.

2) The wizard dialogs -- man they are confusing. If there is a "next" button in the bottom-right of the window, then the "back" button is neither labeled or next to the "next" button... it's in the top-left corner. I am confused by this and I'm sure I am not the only one.

3) The breadcrumb trail in Explorer windows is uninspired and is more like a giant "back" list than anything else. You know I don't care to see what the trail is to a folder in Program Files. I want to know its actual path. Navigating in that nightmare is painful. I don't like it and I hope that Microsoft improves on it... quickly.

My computer is easily able to handle Aero/Glass:

Pentium 4 2.4ghz

1gb DDR400

128mb GeForce 6600 GT (AGP)

It looks pretty and cool when it is done right. The issue is that it's not done right nearly as consistent enough as it should be. This is why it needs to be fixed. :)

[Mordkanin]

That said.. I thought Windows 64 is finally dropping support for a lot of old stuff like win16 applications?

Windows XP x64 has never had 16 bit support. However, there is no 16 bit support in any version of Windows Vista. Even 32-bit has finally kicked 16 bit away.

[notuptome2004]

i thaught i would post these 2 links related to vista on Directx 10 and WDDM /ATI Dx10 card

http://www.elitebastards.com/cms/index.php...=1&limitstart=4 Windows driver model exspliand

http://www.extremetech.com/article2/0,1697,1982044,00.asp Directx 10 interview part 1