Kiss Aero Goodbye
20th May 2012
While we’re still curious to see if Microsoft can better integrate the desktop and Metro environments of its latest operating system, the company has now revealed a significant change to the desktop portion of Windows 8 — a completely restyled visual appearance. As you might remember from the Consumer Preview, window borders and widgets featured a simplified and subdued look in comparison to the glass-like materials of Aero, which Microsoft now calls “dated and cheesy.” With the latest refresh, however, the company has pushed its modernistic philosophy even further to reveal a spartan (yet functional) interface that draws less attention to the chrome elements and allows the user to focus more on content.
In other words, using the power available in modern graphics chips for a dramatically beautiful interface is ‘dated and cheesy’, but reverting to a look that could have been accomplished on Windows 3.1 is not. I see. It’s all clear to me now.
I’m still waiting for Bill Gates to bitch-slap Steve Ballmer for ruining his company. Steve Jobs wouldn’t have tolerated this shit.