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points by okanat 3 days ago | 0 comments

Although I started with 98, I think Vista / 7 was the peak. It was user friendly enough for newbies but didn't sacrifice advanced controls. Just organized them better to bring focus to the more used parts.

[–] theandrewbailey 3 days ago

In terms of aesthetic, I love Windows 7-era Aero glass design (and to a lesser extent, Vista), but I also love the classic Windows 9x/2000 look. If I had to choose between the two, I'd go with Aero simply because of the start menu search bar.

[–] publlus_enigma 3 days ago

In both Windows 7 and Vista you could change the theme engine to Windows Classic, which gave you the Windows 9x/2000 look AND the start menu search bar.

[–] Melatonic 3 days ago

Exactly. Windows 7 plus the windows 2000 "classic" option was pretty awesome.

Win10 LTSC with the right options and limiting search to local only is pretty good also though. Insanely snappy on even crap systems (with really any SSD)

[–] kristianp 2 days ago

I found the transparency of windows in Vista and 7 to be a useless distraction. Found Windows 8.1 to be refreshing in that respect, although the menuless apps were poor.

[–] Zarathustra30 3 days ago

Maybe on the OS side. However, Vista coincided with the release of Office 2007. That release of Office introduced the dreaded Ribbon, which made functions much harder to find.

[–] okanat 3 days ago

I actually like Ribbon and I disagree. It made functions easier to find, for people who didn't have a muscle memory of those functions. It actually taught them how to use the program and exposed conditional menus like picture options better than the toolbars that appear and disappear.

Of course people who got used to traversing 3-level menus got annoyed but they still have all the same keyboard shortcuts. However, spending enough time, you also get used to Ribbon and it usually requires fewer clicks not more.

I still find a tastefully done Ribbon is better than a menu and a toolbar combination. The problem is, not everybody has put the same effort that Microsoft did which created monstrosities like Solidworks Ribbon.

[–] wolpoli 2 days ago

> It made functions easier to find

I actually find it difficult to scan for a specific function since the most of the text in the ribbon is centered and may have multiple lines. With the current design, I am expected to look up top to check what tab I am on, then look down bottom to find the container that might have my desired functionality, and then finally scan the middle text (which may be one or two lines) for the button.

[–] wolpoli 2 days ago

When Office 2007 was released, they made a lot of noise about how the ribbon was easy to use. One of the key functionality was Preview - that when the mouse cursor moves inside a button, the change is immediately applied to the content and when the cursor moves outside a button, the change was undone.

They never bothered to implement this Preview functionality on the Web version of office, and I bet only a few ever noticed this inconsistency.

[–] larusso 3 days ago

I used the Zune theme for windows XP which I really liked. I dreaded Vista because it was just a resource eater with all the effects turned on.

https://www.softpedia.com/get/Desktop-Enhancements/Themes/Mi...

[–] queenkjuul 3 days ago

The zune theme is great, now on my XP machines i use a mod of the MCE theme called Royale Noir which is my absolute favorite.

https://images.sftcdn.net/images/t_optimized,f_auto/p/5c889a...

[–] abhgh 3 days ago

I loved Windows Aero and the flip 3D view - the latter mostly because it looked so cool for that time!

[–] LtWorf 3 days ago

Oh you mean "ripping off compiz"?

[–] someguyiguess 3 days ago

I just learned that X Window System came out a year before the first Windows release. Interesting. Thanks for pointing out the compiz ripoff. It spurred me to look up the original release dates.

[–] okanat 3 days ago

... which is "ripping off OSX". But you don't want to hear that, do you?

UX being copied by OSes from each other is a good thing.

[–] LtWorf 3 days ago

Lol. Check when linux had multiple desktops and when osx had them.

If you're a tachyon I guess linux is ripping off osx :)