Does anyone still prefer the Windows Classic UI to Aero Glass?


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  • 2 weeks later...

Wow, classic? OMG! I'd hate to go back there. If someone told me that i had to use classic from now on my PC usage would drop dramatically. Even going back to Vista makes me feel uncomfortable.

Nope. I moved on from it with Windows XP. Now, I can barely stand going back to Windows Vista's Aero UI. Windows 7's Aero UI is aesthetically pleasing and functional - two things the Classic UI wasn't.

I would have used it in Vista, but Windows Explorer is a total abortion in Classic. Windows 7 has enough refinements to Aero to make it preferrable.

I use classic daily on my 2003 "workstation" at home, though. Sometimes I'll toss up the old Watercolor style. There's something wonderfully no-BS about those themes.

Yes, very much. I don't need a flashy UI with girly sparkles and rainbows jumping out at me. It's a computer. The interface should remain in the background relatively unseen. Plus I think the classic UI is far more "aesthetically pleasing" than all that silly glass stuff.

That being said XP was the last version Classic looked right in. The new menus and other features in Vista and 7 look like crap in classic mode because they clearly weren't designed around it. Big blank areas, misaligned buttons, etc.

Classic isn't horrible, but since post XP Classic looks like a total GUI abortion, especially when it's mixed with the Explorers of Vista and 7.

And for the last time, you can't "drop" Classic...

I think the reason why people loved Classic so much was because it was more consistent(Native) in term of GUI.. Windows Vista/7 has some work when it comes to that.. A lot of things don't look right in Windows Vista and Seven.. Programs dont take advantage of Aero

Classic isn't horrible, but since post XP Classic looks like a total GUI abortion, especially when it's mixed with the Explorers of Vista and 7.

And for the last time, you can't "drop" Classic...

Yeah you cant "drop" Classic... or could you? o.O

Either way they could fine tune it. They could do it but don't want to.. There's no future in classic.

I couldn't use Classic on a daily basis myself. The only place I use it is on my Windows Server machines as there's no reason to be using that kind of overhead on a server. On the desktops.. no. Not a huge fan of glass, but the other visuals it provides is actually rather nice, very similar to what I do with Compiz or KWin on my BSD boxes. (I don't use the cube and such on Compiz.. pretty much mimics what Aero gives me in Windows. Microsoft got it just right there. Pretty without being ridiculous.)

I think the only two things I'd like to see Aero do that it can't yet is multiple desktops for those with a single display, thinking of Compiz Wall if you're familiar with that. (I prefer dual monitors myself but not everyone has it.) The other would be the ability to pin taskbar preview thumbnails to be always visible regardless of where the mouse is. For example, running Visual Studio fullscreen, with a preview version of Firefox running a video. Or another way to possible work that is "minimizing to a thumbnail", and it's always visible.

The last time I stuck with ye olde Classic theme on a desktop was back with Windows 2000 Pro. Haven't missed it.

I don't mind the classic UI, but I prefer Aero. What's interesting for me is that I couldn't stand the Vista UI, yet the Windows 7 UI is fine. I think it's probably that awful teal border they added in Vista (wtf were they thinking?), but I'm not sure.

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