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

[Jen Smith]

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.

I couldn't stand Vista's UI either. Not Aero, that I liked, but just in general, a lot of the new features were just poorly implemented or just bad design decisions. The favorites list in the file manager for example was especially bad.. some of it you could customize, some you couldn't.. all in all a chore to use.. I went and installed FindeXer on my one Server 2008 install for the same reason. 7 has a few quirks or leftovers from way back that need updating yet but all in all they really made it a lot more pleasing to work with. Just needs a little more refinement to make it perfect.

[Andre S. Veteran]

Windows 7's Aero is simply superior in every way. However, in XP I prefer the classic theme to Luna, which is intolerable.

[taroboy]

Staying with aero glass. Classic just doesn't look good as opposed to the aero glass.

[mikee286]

I kind of like xp's look. I really wish they made aero basic more like the look of xp and function as snappy as in xp so my old rigs can run it with their geforce 4s however it is very slow on them and opening a pic of trying to watch a video cause bsods yet the aero basic ui looks less demanding then xp s ui which causes no bsods on the same old machines. I guess the system requirements for vista/7 are really misleading. I actually went out and bought a retail copy of vista ultimate for my old rig back in the day thinking no big deal I don't need glass windows I'll just use classic and I thought it would run just fine like running xp, boy was I ever wrong. Even if you didn't want glass and even classic you still needed to have a vid card that fully supported dx9 to play vids that worked just fine in xp on same hardware.

But back on topic I change between aero glass and basic every now and again. Classic looks way to weird in win 7 with the new taskbar and the window buttons like the back and foreward being shiny blue on dull grey classic windows.

[.Neo]

Can't stand how big and bulky Windows Aero looks. Something a bit more toned down would have been nice. However, I still prefer it over Classic.

[Lazure]

By now, you probably noticed this in other threads I posted in. I CANNOT stand classic theme. I HATE HATE HATE it. I want it gone in Windows 8. I'm gonna hope Microsoft cuts it off like they did with the classic start menu.

It should NEVER be used in Windows 7, for many reasons said above... disabling Aero means you lose GPU acceleration and extra features such as peek and thumbnails. Also, even if I could stand classic, Windows 7's implementation of it would be enough to put me off it anyways! Windows 7's UI was designed around Aero (and the basic theme it falls back to). Classic trying to mimic that layout is just hideous.

I find it funny how everyone mentions they used classic in XP, purely because Luna was hideous. I agree, Luna was not the best first impression of a truly skinned UI by Microsoft. However, uxtheme patching was available very early and by now there's a gazillion themes for it that look infinitely better than Luna and Classic. Even Royale and Zune are much better to look at, and you don't even have to patch the system for those two!

In the time I used XP, I used Luna silver for maybe a month... then I had cXP2, then coughdrop, then Royale Vista II and countless other themes I had downloaded years later after using XP and switched around a bunch. I never used Luna beyond that or classic .. ever.

Even before Windows XP even came out, I couldn't stand classic. In Win2k I was regularly using Windowblinds.

Plain, grey boxes with no soft shades or gradients or any sort of real design is just an abomination in 2002, let alone 2010. Remember, the classic UI is technically the same framework created for Windows 95. In 1995. The only advances made to it, ever, were the extra gradient in the caption bar... an extra line of highlight in buttons (only if you left it on the default color anyways), and what... lil menu shadows in win2k that you barely could see? Any other changes MS made to classic were simply color and font changes that anyone can do in the advanced appearance panel. How long do you think Microsoft will continue lugging around that same exact framework? Windows 7 is already proving that Classic is well beyond it's welcome. I hope Windows 8 cuts it off completely! I hate seeing it, I hate when people post screenshots/videos using it, I don't wanna see it anymore.

EDIT: And yes, I'm aware that classic is needed for safe mode and servers, and for compatibility. However, it would not be impossible for them to create a new framework that is graphical at its most minimal state, and make new high contrast themes with the modern design. Heck, why not just make Aero basic the bottom level instead of classic? Look at Linux, when running in low graphics states, it still has a skinned UI in Gnome/KDE/XFCE capable of at least a skinned XP look. There's really no need for plain grey boxes to continue being the foundation of our windows, and it would probably improve performance if there was less to 'cover up' with Aero and so on.

[Fred Derf Veteran]

My understanding is that Aero offloads some of the work to the GPU which means you get a prettier desktop without paying the price of reduced performance (or at least not much of a price). This probably assumes you have a half-decent video card.

If I were to ever discover that Classic was noticeably faster then I would switch to it in an instant. Pretty things are neat when you first install the OS but I'd rather have an efficient system. I've already disabled the overly cutesy (but mostly useless) stuff like Aero-Peek.

[itzwolf]

I do not prefer or like the classic look and enjoy all the little things aero provides. I will state however I use classic not aero on my netbook because I use that for web browsing and tuning cars so it's just not a feature I truly need when battery performance is key. I will say aero runs very well on my netbook when I have turned it on and when I updated it from Win7 Starter to Home Premium it was on by default.

[c3ntury]

I just use a custom XP Theme on my secondary PC which runs XP Pro SP3.. minimalist black :) Has the speed and efficiency of the classic UI, only with a awesome look ;)

[Jen Smith]

EDIT: And yes, I'm aware that classic is needed for safe mode and servers, and for compatibility. However, it would not be impossible for them to create a new framework that is graphical at its most minimal state, and make new high contrast themes with the modern design. Heck, why not just make Aero basic the bottom level instead of classic? Look at Linux, when running in low graphics states, it still has a skinned UI in Gnome/KDE/XFCE capable of at least a skinned XP look. There's really no need for plain grey boxes to continue being the foundation of our windows, and it would probably improve performance if there was less to 'cover up' with Aero and so on.

This is exactly why I can't see them forcing the theme/DWM engines on a server. It's the same reason why any respectable *Nix server runs in console mode and not with KDE/Gnome/whatever. It's just another point of failure that can bring the server down, be it the graphics system, a badly written theme, buggy drivers, other supporting software, etc etc. On systems that are driving mission critical "it better run or the boss will have me killed" software, the last thing you need is frivolous stuff like glass and effects. It has no place on a server.

And since the desktop and server platforms typically share the same "guts", it'll carry over into the desktop environment too.

[bjoswald]

Nope, I left that back in 1995. :)

[Jose_49]

Yes. Specially when running on battery power and taking a plane. Pity we need to look for CSMenu to give it the complete feel...

[redvamp128]

I can't see using classic on Windows 7 however I do use the classic on my laptop with XPSP3.

[Marshall Veteran]

Personally, I prefer the look of the original windows 1.0 :rolleyes:

[Lazure]

This is exactly why I can't see them forcing the theme/DWM engines on a server. It's the same reason why any respectable *Nix server runs in console mode and not with KDE/Gnome/whatever. It's just another point of failure that can bring the server down, be it the graphics system, a badly written theme, buggy drivers, other supporting software, etc etc. On systems that are driving mission critical "it better run or the boss will have me killed" software, the last thing you need is frivolous stuff like glass and effects. It has no place on a server.

And since the desktop and server platforms typically share the same "guts", it'll carry over into the desktop environment too.

Yeah, well, MS has been luggin' around that same exact framework for 15 years. Think it's gonna be around in 2015? 2020? 2030? Just how long are they gonna use the same stuff under the hood?

[Simon Veteran]

Yeah, well, MS has been luggin' around that same exact framework for 15 years. Think it's gonna be around in 2015? 2020? 2030? Just how long are they gonna use the same stuff under the hood?

If it ain't broke...

[Lazure]

If it ain't broke...

Yeah, well, that kinda thinking never calls for progress now does it?

Horses weren't broke but we replaced them with cars because cars looked better and moved quicker.

[soldier1st]

Hell No, I prefer the Aero Look compared to that fugly Windows Classic.

[Jen Smith]

Yeah, well, MS has been luggin' around that same exact framework for 15 years. Think it's gonna be around in 2015? 2020? 2030? Just how long are they gonna use the same stuff under the hood?

Again, depends on server vs desktop. On a server, the latest and greatest UI improvements mean absolutely jack. The only reason I ran with a GUI on my Windows servers is that I had no choice in the matter; on my BSD boxes, an X server is entirely out of the question. It has zero place in a server configuration, and does nothing but add an additional point of failure. It has nothing to do with progress, but reliability and uptime. Do you think *Nix servers are typically console only because they don't have a prettier option? No; KWin/Compiz/etc has written the book on "desktop bling", and they still have no place in a server environment. And since Windows currently cannot run in a purely console mode (yet), they'll continue to support the bare minimum of GUI elements to get the job done.

The reason I keep bringing the server part up is that the desktop and server editions of Windows are built on the same monolithic base, just some parts added/removed/tweaked depending on the installation. For a server install, there must be some sort of basic GUI system that doesn't require 3D acceleration and all that. Until the time Microsoft makes a major design changes under the hood, I can't see the barebones UI going anywhere.

After all that though; I agree with you. It's fugly as hell. I like the console. I like Aero/DWM. But ye olde Win95 look... ew.

[LightShadow]

Nope, Aero Glass is my favourite and just fits perfect for 7... I really am starting to hate Classic UI... A lot of company's use it as it is claimed to be faster... Or just cause they have stuck with the same computers for year's leading to bad graphics support...

I hope with Windows 8 they finally discontinue the classic UI. We are not in the Windows 95 days anymore.

[Jan Veteran]

The classic theme is horrid It will probably be gone in Windows 8, hopefully.

[LightShadow]

As for server, they should remove the Classic UI from main windows and leave it on Server ONLY...

Also redesign the aero... I hate when you have aero off... (Aero Basic/No Transparency/Windows 7 Starter/Bad Graphics), it's this horrid grey colour... Why could they not make it to look like the Vista toolbar when Aero was off... Since it makes 7 starter and computers that can't run Aero just look a bit ugly.

[azure.sapphire]

I think from a server perspective they need to completely dump the UI (on all versions of Server). This of course is not really possible given how Windows applications (are generally) written. There is nothing prohibiting vendors from releasing console applications, but most don't... than again, for a server all you need are your essential services plus whatever daemon you want running. At least there is Server Core.

As for the classic UI, I miss it for nostalgic reasons (and will ever so often enable it), but generally, the Aero Glass interface is much smoother and productive overall.

[ViperAFK]

hell no.

[nub]

No Thanks