MS Modifies black maximized borders

[nemo]

There's a screenshot of it: http://www.istartedsomething.com/20061005/...aximize-border/

nice... gotta dl RC2 and judge on my own.. it looks a bit too dark.. but 10000x better than the black :)

His point was that this isn't going to be the only feature people complain about or love. In the end, the entire way the OS works has to be a compromise. Whether it's the color of a window or the way files are indexed, it's all a compromise. If MS were to give people what they want, there'd be 3 options for the transparency and then two or three for every other little nit pick aspect to the OS.

Completely understandable... but judging from what i've seen on LOTS of forums, I think this is one of their biggest problems. And obviously it is, if they've taken the initiative to change it.. and make it KNOWN that they've changed it.

[boogerjones]

It's not just that people will see through the transparency--the primary idea here was to use the letterbox effect to draw people's eyes to the content.

Ughh. I'm so sick of people using MS's canned response: "trying to draw peoples' eyes to the window content." The window is maximized!!!! Where the hell else would your eyes be instead of on the content of the window!!!!!!!!

[nemo]

Ughh. I'm so sick of people using MS's canned response: "trying to draw peoples' eyes to the window content." The window is maximized!!!! Where the hell else would your eyes be instead of on the content of the window!!!!!!!!

that's how i feel. Maximized windows have been working damned fine since Win3.1... I don't understand why the need to change it now after fourteen years.

[1Frothy]

The only other problem with the transparency effects in the window borders is the striping, am I the only one annoyed by it? :unsure:

[Slimy]

The only other problem with the transparency effects in the window borders is the striping, am I the only one annoyed by it? :unsure:

The only thing I really notice this in is wmp11. Other than that I barely see it. But ya, it's pretty annoying.

[Dane]

The only thing I really notice this in is wmp11. Other than that I barely see it. But ya, it's pretty annoying.

Whata? anyone got a picture of this? I never took notice to it.

[Tech_Dude_5000]

There's a screenshot of it: http://www.istartedsomething.com/20061005/...aximize-border/

is that a shot of the ones from the concept shots? or is it just a larger font/sceme?

[Slimy]

Whata? anyone got a picture of this? I never took notice to it.

It is barely noticeable, unless dragging. Open WMP11 over a white background. Now drag the corners until you can't make wmp11 smaller. Now drag wmp11 across the screen. You should see stripes across the player "moving".

[Long]

is that a shot of the ones from the concept shots? or is it just a larger font/sceme?

High DPI screenshot.

[+Elі Subscriber²]

Long thanks for the screenshots, that's much better than the plain black, however I would be happier if MS would just let us pick exactly which color we want or better yet, let us select if we want transparency on the maximize windows or not. Still this is much better IMHO.

[Tech_Dude_5000]

High DPI screenshot.

damn thats what i thought :no:

but theres still hope.... :yes:

[M118LR]

that's how i feel. Maximized windows have been working damned fine since Win3.1... I don't understand why the need to change it now after fourteen years.

That is the problem. Microsoft needs to forget the past and move forward. How much smaller would Vista be if MS started fresh with no backwards compatability.

[myNando]

That is the problem. Microsoft needs to forget the past and move forward. How much smaller would Vista be if MS started fresh with no backwards compatability.

But allow an XP emulator like with OSX with OS9.

[zeta]

Adding three options (Turn black (or a selected color), Turn off transparency, or Do Nothing) I think would pretty much fit everyone's needs. That isn't willy-nilly, or a million different options. I can guarantee if nothing was done, when Vista was released and people began using it, MS would get plenty of calls asking why their window is changing to black when they set it to Red, or orange, or green, or pink. Taking 2 years to internationalize three options? That shouldn't happen... But yeah... it is Vista, so I wouldn't be surprised.

Yes, I read the blog post, and if you check the topic in the shell revealed forums, I have posted there too. I know what the purpose of turning the window black was. I don't care what the purpose was. I have my Aero set to Reddish color. I DO NOT want them black. I want Aero the color I picked, not Microsoft. Maximized windows have worked fine since 3.1, why do they need to introduce this "letter box" bull**** 14 years later?

For points 3 and 5... XP was released 5 years ago, they "supposedly" began working on Vista before that. However, to me, it seems like they sat around with their thumbs up their asses until Beta 2 was released in MAY of 2006. Beta 2 was such a debacle they needed to get as much feedback as possible, and that's when they started to actually begin really working on Vista. That's what I meant... I guess it was kind of confusing :blush:

And as for the fade/animation type thing... I think that the window could be able to have a quick maximize animation... then after it was completely maximized, it could have a nice soothing fade to the black, or whatever color it is being faded to.

And your P.S. that's been complained about too. :) Don't worry, the MS teams knows all about it. :p

I'm not going to even bother arguing with you on the other points, because you seem to think you're the only expert on HCI and software design around here. Did we take too long to work on Vista? Yes. Was it because we just sat around drinking free soft drinks until B2 came out? No.

Vista was not exactly a number one example of how to manage a software project. No one is going to debate that point. By one analogy I have heard, working on Vista was like trying to change all four wheels on the car... while you're going 60 mph on the highway.

Basically what happened is Avalon was still being developed when the shell team decided to rewrite the shell to use Avalon. The shell is by no means a trivial piece of software. Unfortunately, since Avalon was still in development, it was bound to change. And guess what? It did. The framework changed halfway through. Guess what the shell team had to do? Yep, rewrite all of shell to work with the new Avalon. There's a lot more to this story, but that's the short version.

[nemo]

I'm not going to even bother arguing with you on the other points, because you seem to think you're the only expert on HCI and software design around here. Did we take too long to work on Vista? Yes. Was it because we just sat around drinking free soft drinks until B2 came out? No.

Vista was not exactly a number one example of how to manage a software project. No one is going to debate that point. By one analogy I have heard, working on Vista was like trying to change all four wheels on the car... while you're going 60 mph on the highway.

Basically what happened is Avalon was still being developed when the shell team decided to rewrite the shell to use Avalon. The shell is by no means a trivial piece of software. Unfortunately, since Avalon was still in development, it was bound to change. And guess what? It did. The framework changed halfway through. Guess what the shell team had to do? Yep, rewrite all of shell to work with the new Avalon. There's a lot more to this story, but that's the short version.

I think you just proved my point. Microsoft dropped the ball on Vista, and there are no excuses - well... aside from "it wasn't a priority, no budget, ran out of time".

[tomwarren Veteran]

http://shellrevealed.com/photos/blog_images/picture3664.aspx for screenshots.

[mdtaUK]

I use frost, and that looks perfect with that new titlebar

[zeta]

I think you just proved my point. Microsoft dropped the ball on Vista, and there are no excuses - well... aside from "it wasn't a priority, no budget, ran out of time".

Hey, that's exactly what I didn't say. Good paraphrase! But hey, you're the expert here on software development. :rolleyes:

[chavo]

Hey why don't you whiny little neowhiners get a job at Microsoft?!?!?!

You are all obviously interface experts and surely could design a UI that every single living human being would instantly fall in love with. It's apparently very easy to do, but most of us don't have that 6th sense as you neowhining brats. So please use your infinite knowledge and vision to provide the world with the UI that it needs for world peace.

Thanks guys you rule.

[DrCheese]

Hey why don't you whiny little neowhiners get a job at Microsoft?!?!?!

You are all obviously interface experts and surely could design a UI that every single living human being would instantly fall in love with. It's apparently very easy to do, but most of us don't have that 6th sense as you neowhining brats. So please use your infinite knowledge and vision to provide the world with the UI that it needs for world peace.

Thanks guys you rule.

...........

Its not a design issue, its a basic "Allow Maxed windows to be transparent" opinion. Other than that I think the Vista UI isn't that bad.

[Chadwick]

...........

Its not a design issue, its a basic "Allow Maxed windows to be transparent" opinion. Other than that I think the Vista UI isn't that bad.

they might not be able to design a better interface, but there's way more people disliking the new UI compared to those who like it. so obviously there is an issue, i dont remember people complaining about XP this much.

[Jazket]

What you people haven't even noticed is that all of the "Maximized Color" is changes is just to bring up the hype in yall. The relatively tiny "small" ammount of color they have added to the maximized windows has been there since Build 5600, and it has been tuned up about 4+ more on build 5728, if any; It does NOT show when you use the standard color (that is what they said now at the shell website), but it does show "a little bit more" if you switch to other colors like Frost, Blue, Orange, Pink, etc.

Now whether they are coming up with something really relevant to this if they get to release the pre-RTM build by tomorrow, that is something I do not know. But I am sure these news, aren't that much of a discoverage. What is it that you do when you get the beta builds? Test it? How?.... I see a lot of people who seems to be Beta testers to be asking for these stuff everyday when they're in front of their faces... :huh:

Look:

this would be the Default color scheme Maximized.

Now these are the other color schemes available, each one maximized:

Blue Maximized.

Frost Maximized.

Graphite Maximized.

Orange Maximized.

Pink Maximized.

Red Maximized.

Teal Maximized (my favorite).

Tip:

You can appreciate the color change in the PNGs better if you are using a TrueBright CrystalClear Display, like those in VAIO LCDs or HP Compaqs V2000 and up; I've noticed that it depends on your display; so for some people it might look black if your brightness is too low or under 50%, contrast, etc...

Also this is what I was reffering to in a thread which I forgot to reply back to whoever asked me how; there you go my friend...

[savedandfamous]

I liked the letterboxed look. Hmm, oh well.

[Gstar]

I liked the letterboxed look. Hmm, oh well.

You can apparently still keep the same sort of look prior to these changes if you retain the default colour settings. I've read that a couple of times both here and at shell: revealed. No stress! :)

[redfish]

aside from the issue from whether they should have changed it or not..

i really really find it weird people are saying 'i dont like black; i want it the color i want, etc'. black is a basic color, like white. its not like they're forcing you to make it hot pink, forest green, or bright orange. when things are black, it does not make it look goth. its a basic color, ok--black, white, gray. when you used DOS, the background was always black. ok, its just really weird.