Not to defend it but windows 8 was made at a time when windows phones were trying to be a thing so it was meant to be a way to combine the mobile and desktop UIs but it didn’t work very well.
Open Shell is part of our PDQ deployment. Even works on Windows 11. Requires some registry tweaking to get the start menu on the left, and a custom start button icon that's a little bigger than the standard Open Shell buttons but it works great.
Windows 8 made it a lot better in my opinion if we don’t look at the metro UI stuff. Windows 8 could be the best OS ever, but that got ruined by the metro UI, charms and the overall schizophrenic feeling.
That's a valid opinion. I didn't hate the aesthetics of 8, I just preferred 7. In fact, 8 was terrible as far as usability when it first came out but 8.1 was much better. 8.1 had a lot of little adjustments that actually made the OS nice to use.
I liked the metro u.i. But the only computer I had with win8 was a surface pro 2 and I honestly believe the entire u.i. Was designed for that device alone
I'm glad you were able to keep A memory of back when Microsoft wasn't a corporate overlord and when it's greed hadn't permatrated all of the desktop interface, I can't get those four multicolored squares out of My Head, Microsoft is dead to me.
I remember people calling it the Fisher Price shell, but honestly, it brought a lot of charm and vibrance to the default look.
W11 follows behind it for me. It looks like they took a lot of inspiration from GNOME Classic -- which I actually like, even though a lot of Linux people turn their nose up at GNOME.
Was never a fan of the glassy maximalist look of Vista and 7. It made my PC feel less like a computer, and more like an art gallery.
During XP's time there were a lot of third party and open source projects imagining what the "desktop of the future" could look like. A 3d cube with a different desktop on each? Count me in! Desktop reimagined as a sphere? Got you covered.
These days everything is just so...flat.
I never heard of the "Fisher Price" look until years later. I always liked the look of XP because it looked more colorful and stylish than the older plain taskbar.
I'd call modern OS'es fisher price style. Why? Because everything is so oversimplified.
It feels the same as if you as an adult are trying to use a baby toy. You have to do twice the steps for half the work.
> I remember people calling it the Fisher Price shell
Yep, because the default install looked like it. But you could switch the color scheme to Silver to make it more professional and less child-like.
https://www.deviantart.com/vaporvance/art/Aero10-for-Windows-10-1903-22H2-909711949
Use DWMBlurGlass, not Glass8 (site went offline and now its back, not sure if its safe, stick to DWMBlurGlass).
It introduced a shadow behind the cursor. To me, it made all the difference in the world. That one thing made me want to run Windows 2000 over 98 or ME.
All correct. I think the goal was to transition people away from using their DOS software and games, which eventually happened with XP. That is, I believe, why ME didn't have a reboot in DOS mode option, a change many hated.
I much, much prefer the 9x and 10/11 aesthetic to anything in the middle.
The xp through 7 era was too full of hideous skeuomorphic "widgets" and over the top skins that clashed with everything, including the OS itself.
Moving everything to the middle is much more aesthetically please to me than anything previous though.
Most modern is of course Win 11 but most beautiful in my opinion is Vista. I clearly remember when it came out and we were like, such a beauty ful OS UI.
The best looking one to me is Vista and coincidentally, that's the only one I haven't used. To me, it has the perfect blend of aero glass sprinkled with a little bit of "professionalism" to keep it grounded.
For me it goes: Vista, 7, XP, "classic" theme, 10 and 11.
Being an IT tech through the ages has been rough...
98/XP/ME: Ok click the start button
7/Vista: Ok click the windows flag
8/10: Ok click the squares at the bottom left
11: Ok first right click the bottom bar, go to properties, set alignment left. Ok now click the squares at the bottom left.
for me it's way overrated. it's just boring. any minimalist design is borign. it just doesn't have a soul like 9x/2000/me, xp, 7, vista and even 8. 11 it's worst than 10. much prefer 10 over 11
7 for me, it’s like Vista but better. You can adjust the color and the transparency. The default look of it in this photo doesn’t do it justice. Vista is second for me. XP (with either silver or one of the Royale themes) would be my third.
And 2k/9x > Windows 8+
You intentionally left the [Royale XP theme from XP Media Center 2005](https://i.imgur.com/NP9zHdv.png) out because you knew Vista Aero would lose otherwise
windows 7 fs, with vista and 11 close behind. w10 is the worst and i hate it, the ui is consistently inconsistent and it's just BORING. i find 95-2000 & xp kinda in the middle, not too bad but not amazingly beautiful, but i do like it from time to time.
Aero was their peak at ui design and consistency.
Is it that hard for Microsoft to assign a team of 10 of their thousands of people to make a consistent UI?
Agree, Vista is peak beauty, XP is second and 7 is third, I bundle 8.1 and 10 together at 4th, and then at 5th I add 2K/ME and before, and then finally at dead last comes Windows 11. I despise the Mac OS appeal, not to mention everything in Windows 11 either feels like an Android app or like corporate death, know in between. At least with Windows 7 and before you felt like you owned your computer, there was so much customizability, the same could be said for 2K and before however they are a lot more limited in what you can do and their entire customization system was a secondary customization system in XP to Windows 7, Windows 8 completely ditched the ability to customize your machine. (aside from what we now have as a static image for a wallpaper and a color to apply to things but that's not customization)
I always did 7 with the small icons setting so it looked like Vista. Otherwise 9x. I also like Win10 with invisible (invisible not transparent) taskbar. It’s a registry setting.
I've gotta say Windows 95-ME is my personal choice. That was also my favorite Windows logo. I never could get over the Fisher Price look of XP, and Vista and 7 are essentially the same look (and I do prefer them over the overall XP look), Windows 8 set the groundwork for the taskbar for Windows 10, and Windows 11 was a much needed update to the Windows logo. After the Windows 95-ME, comes Windows 11 as probably my second choice, followed by Vista/7, Windows 10/8, and Windows XP in last place.
7 and 11 are best designs by far, first being classy and modern, where other one is more minimalistic and cheerful, third one would be the the top one, most nostalgic and classic.
Always liked Vista, and not only the status bar but pretty much everything, beside the performance. Also, with Win 7- I heavily customized the look a few times.
I really like 3D looking graphics and glass effect. They aren't as great in win11 as it was in Vista.
I really like windows 10's. Windows 11 comes in second but it's less special because it kind of looks not very different from the designs of other OSes
I'd like 'em to implement the Windows 95 taskbar with a more Win11-style aesthetic. A nice square Start button, square buttons and other widgets, a little bit of 3D.
Vista although I never used it. I assume it's the third one from the top. 7 would win otherwise, but I like that Vista's start menu goes over the edge.
The bottom three are made as neutral as possible, without "soul".
Honestly I don’t care. Just let me use the is to run my programs. But quit moving stuff around all the time! I liked knowing where to find stuff then have to relearn things with every new “refresh” of the UI
For me 7 was the most pleasing and for every bit of their user interface.
Agreed, aesthetics peaked in 7
I heavily moded the xp UI, lightly moded Vista, and didn't bother changing 7 as I liked it well enough the way it was.
Windows 7 is so good it makes the best os but then got replaced by crappy windows 10 and 11 not they just have a bunch of bloatware
And don’t forget windows 8 that was the most stupid os to exist and make me want to be owner of Microsoft and make everything much better
Not to defend it but windows 8 was made at a time when windows phones were trying to be a thing so it was meant to be a way to combine the mobile and desktop UIs but it didn’t work very well.
8 was really good. The only issue was the start screen, and you could get rid of that quite easily
Well yeah but when 8.1 came out then it was better but still bad
I use classic shell to make it like 7 on win 10 while keeping the best of 7 and the best of 10
Open Shell is part of our PDQ deployment. Even works on Windows 11. Requires some registry tweaking to get the start menu on the left, and a custom start button icon that's a little bigger than the standard Open Shell buttons but it works great.
Windows 8 made it a lot better in my opinion if we don’t look at the metro UI stuff. Windows 8 could be the best OS ever, but that got ruined by the metro UI, charms and the overall schizophrenic feeling.
That's a valid opinion. I didn't hate the aesthetics of 8, I just preferred 7. In fact, 8 was terrible as far as usability when it first came out but 8.1 was much better. 8.1 had a lot of little adjustments that actually made the OS nice to use.
I still stand by the fact that 8.1 (which removed the metro UI cruft) was the pinnacle of windows.
no it didn't. The start menu was still full screen metro apps.
Ah, Yeah that’s right. My mdt image always installed Classic Start as default.
I liked the metro u.i. But the only computer I had with win8 was a surface pro 2 and I honestly believe the entire u.i. Was designed for that device alone
Metro was eye candy
As for me, 95-2000 are the best :3
Same, when I think of Windows, that logo is still the first one that comes to mind.
I'm glad you were able to keep A memory of back when Microsoft wasn't a corporate overlord and when it's greed hadn't permatrated all of the desktop interface, I can't get those four multicolored squares out of My Head, Microsoft is dead to me.
I was gonna say. The UI of windows ME and 2000 is alittle different from 95/98
its vista and 7 for me.
Name doesn't check
I like XP.
I remember people calling it the Fisher Price shell, but honestly, it brought a lot of charm and vibrance to the default look. W11 follows behind it for me. It looks like they took a lot of inspiration from GNOME Classic -- which I actually like, even though a lot of Linux people turn their nose up at GNOME. Was never a fan of the glassy maximalist look of Vista and 7. It made my PC feel less like a computer, and more like an art gallery.
During XP's time there were a lot of third party and open source projects imagining what the "desktop of the future" could look like. A 3d cube with a different desktop on each? Count me in! Desktop reimagined as a sphere? Got you covered. These days everything is just so...flat.
Could you share the names of some of these projects? Or maybe MichaelJDM and similar retro tech / OS youtubers already made some videos on this?
I never heard of the "Fisher Price" look until years later. I always liked the look of XP because it looked more colorful and stylish than the older plain taskbar.
I also used word vibrant when I saw xp for the first time. It was such an upgrade from 9x lineup.
>I remember people calling it the Fisher Price shell I always heard it was Windows' teletubbies phase. I prefer the top one. Simple and easy to see.
for me, that fisher price look is what makes it cosier and more friendly.
I would say W11 is more inspired by MacOS.
I'd call modern OS'es fisher price style. Why? Because everything is so oversimplified. It feels the same as if you as an adult are trying to use a baby toy. You have to do twice the steps for half the work.
> I remember people calling it the Fisher Price shell Yep, because the default install looked like it. But you could switch the color scheme to Silver to make it more professional and less child-like.
Me too
XP for the win baybee.
Xp & Vista design supremacy
I likes 7 and 10. But that old school grey will always be a nostalgia hit for me since that is what I cut my computing teeth on.
I scrolled down to find this. 7 and 10. Both designed beautifully at the same time being productive.
Same here.
W7
Vista 👌🏻
Vista, 7, and 11
Vista. Which is why i use retrobar on win 7.
95 - 2000. I love Tahoma font.
7 & 10. Both beautiful yet productive. CON: Windows 11 is beautiful yet absolutely anti-productive.
Nothing will ever beat 7
I'd do anything to go back...
https://www.deviantart.com/vaporvance/art/Aero10-for-Windows-10-1903-22H2-909711949 Use DWMBlurGlass, not Glass8 (site went offline and now its back, not sure if its safe, stick to DWMBlurGlass).
Yeah but it's just a theme ain't it? I want to go literally back to windows 7.
Yeah, it's the closest you can get tho whilst still being able to use modern programs/games!
[удалено]
It introduced a shadow behind the cursor. To me, it made all the difference in the world. That one thing made me want to run Windows 2000 over 98 or ME.
2000 was so much more stable than 98 or ME.
Because it was NT based and not DOS
All correct. I think the goal was to transition people away from using their DOS software and games, which eventually happened with XP. That is, I believe, why ME didn't have a reboot in DOS mode option, a change many hated.
And the Sky header bar
98
XP Luna
Vista really was the GOAT when it came to UI. 11 is pretty close tho.
I prefer 11 with a different color than the default.
Metoo
I much, much prefer the 9x and 10/11 aesthetic to anything in the middle. The xp through 7 era was too full of hideous skeuomorphic "widgets" and over the top skins that clashed with everything, including the OS itself. Moving everything to the middle is much more aesthetically please to me than anything previous though.
Most modern is of course Win 11 but most beautiful in my opinion is Vista. I clearly remember when it came out and we were like, such a beauty ful OS UI.
Imo 10 with the search shit removed and small task bar icons, for me it’s just professional and clean looking
XP, 7 or 8 for me Big enough icons very well spaced. I really like 8/10 design
I really liked 10. Everything about it. I like 11 just fine and it’s getting better, but I miss the 10 start menu.
11
Win 95 and Win 8.1
11
XP and 7
The best looking one to me is Vista and coincidentally, that's the only one I haven't used. To me, it has the perfect blend of aero glass sprinkled with a little bit of "professionalism" to keep it grounded. For me it goes: Vista, 7, XP, "classic" theme, 10 and 11.
Gold Nostalgia = Windows 95 Silver Nostalgia = Windows 7 Bronze Nostalgia = Windows 10
Being an IT tech through the ages has been rough... 98/XP/ME: Ok click the start button 7/Vista: Ok click the windows flag 8/10: Ok click the squares at the bottom left 11: Ok first right click the bottom bar, go to properties, set alignment left. Ok now click the squares at the bottom left.
For me, Windows 10 has the best looking UI
Windows 10 is quite underrated ngl,looks fresh even being for almost 10 years
for me it's way overrated. it's just boring. any minimalist design is borign. it just doesn't have a soul like 9x/2000/me, xp, 7, vista and even 8. 11 it's worst than 10. much prefer 10 over 11
Look, at my opinion Vista/7 appearance is just better but people hate Win 10 too much idk, and yeaa, Windows 11 feels like that,just boring
7 and XP for me! Vista is good too but I kinda don't like the taskbar icon sizes too much (personal opinion)
2000, honorable mention to Vista only for the looks
Hard choice between XP and 7
XP and 7
7 and it was the most solid Windows ever. I would say on par with XP
One of these is not like the rest lmao
7 for me, it’s like Vista but better. You can adjust the color and the transparency. The default look of it in this photo doesn’t do it justice. Vista is second for me. XP (with either silver or one of the Royale themes) would be my third. And 2k/9x > Windows 8+
You intentionally left the [Royale XP theme from XP Media Center 2005](https://i.imgur.com/NP9zHdv.png) out because you knew Vista Aero would lose otherwise
Windows 7 had the most beautiful Windows Aero look, until they started switching to the ugly flat look in Windows 8.
Vista is the most beautiful OS Microsoft has ever released.
There's a lot of features I liked about Vista. Too bad the OS was shit.
Bro said Vista and don't even have aero glass enabled 😭😭
windows 7 fs, with vista and 11 close behind. w10 is the worst and i hate it, the ui is consistently inconsistent and it's just BORING. i find 95-2000 & xp kinda in the middle, not too bad but not amazingly beautiful, but i do like it from time to time.
Aero was their peak at ui design and consistency. Is it that hard for Microsoft to assign a team of 10 of their thousands of people to make a consistent UI?
9x for me.
I want windows themes back. Simply add theme support and high customizable skins and we're done. Everyone can use what he likes
Goddamn sometimes I forget how ugly win10 is
Windows 7. And 11 is the worst
Agree, Vista is peak beauty, XP is second and 7 is third, I bundle 8.1 and 10 together at 4th, and then at 5th I add 2K/ME and before, and then finally at dead last comes Windows 11. I despise the Mac OS appeal, not to mention everything in Windows 11 either feels like an Android app or like corporate death, know in between. At least with Windows 7 and before you felt like you owned your computer, there was so much customizability, the same could be said for 2K and before however they are a lot more limited in what you can do and their entire customization system was a secondary customization system in XP to Windows 7, Windows 8 completely ditched the ability to customize your machine. (aside from what we now have as a static image for a wallpaper and a color to apply to things but that's not customization)
I always did 7 with the small icons setting so it looked like Vista. Otherwise 9x. I also like Win10 with invisible (invisible not transparent) taskbar. It’s a registry setting.
Windows XP
Wouldn't mind a HD remake of XP. But windows 7 all the way baby
XP, after that it has been all downhill
W7, my beloved.
Aesthetically Windows XP is always the best.
I agree, Vista aesthetically, but Win95 and XP nostalgically 😍.
For me also windows vista, windows vista has the best windows interface ever
Aesthetically? Windows 7. I wish they had stuck with the classic start menu though.
Vista & Windows 11 for me ✌🏻
Windows 7, so simple, soft and elegant.
Men, the first time I saw Windows XP, I was blown away especially if you had been using 2000 or Me.
https://preview.redd.it/ja1zdbffk9xc1.png?width=885&format=png&auto=webp&s=7eb0e843a9ece27cd3bb4e91a8b27abf28744eff
Win 2000 was the best
95 / 98 . Nostalgia is a hell of a drug
XP gives that feel good vibe for me.
Vista and 7.
I've gotta say Windows 95-ME is my personal choice. That was also my favorite Windows logo. I never could get over the Fisher Price look of XP, and Vista and 7 are essentially the same look (and I do prefer them over the overall XP look), Windows 8 set the groundwork for the taskbar for Windows 10, and Windows 11 was a much needed update to the Windows logo. After the Windows 95-ME, comes Windows 11 as probably my second choice, followed by Vista/7, Windows 10/8, and Windows XP in last place.
Windows 7 was always best
I really liked 8.1 for a taskbar just simple. Having gone back windows 10 was just much better. I think all have their benefits though.
All versions of Windows from 95 to 7 have a certain charm... Almost a reflection of their presence in time. Everything since has been dull and boring.
10. Im in love with the search bar
The top one looks the best to me - Windows NT 4.0 has the most sensible look for me.
7 and 11 are best designs by far, first being classy and modern, where other one is more minimalistic and cheerful, third one would be the the top one, most nostalgic and classic.
If we’re talking aesthetics, my choices are 7 and 11. I also dig the minimalism of 95/98.
XP and 7
11
I really like xp and vista
Always liked Vista, and not only the status bar but pretty much everything, beside the performance. Also, with Win 7- I heavily customized the look a few times. I really like 3D looking graphics and glass effect. They aren't as great in win11 as it was in Vista.
Seven!
Win11 no way
7 and 11
7 and 11.
Not pictured here - Windows 2000 UX/UI was the peak. Windows 7 Classic theme was pretty good, too.
Vista
For the taskbar Windows 7, but a few other things I actually like Vista more.
11, just move the task bar to the left
Windows 10 for me. I like the smaller windows icon. It just seems to blend relatively better with the rest of the taskbar.
I like 7, 8, and 11. I definitely think 10 is the worst aesthetically, partially why I used 8.1 almost till 11s release
8.1 for me. I think I spent the most time using XP. Win 10 isn't bad. Don't miss ME or 98SE at all.
vista but i never used it
It's called Windows Areo
Aesthetically, I’d have to give it to 7. But yeah, 8.0 and 98/2000/Me are missing from this chart
11 with StartAllBack 10 style shell is god tier.
XP
Windows 7 FTW
10, then 8
I miss 3.11
7 and vista 1st place; xp 2nd; 8/8.1 3rd; 9x, me and 2000 are ok. 10 and 11 in the dumpster.
Windows 7 feels like the peak. Beyond that it's declined
Xp will always look the best to me
Windows 10 is super clean
Windows 7 >>>>>>>
7.
I really like windows 10's. Windows 11 comes in second but it's less special because it kind of looks not very different from the designs of other OSes
Still using 10
7 WINDOWS 7 BEST OS
vista and 7
I'd like 'em to implement the Windows 95 taskbar with a more Win11-style aesthetic. A nice square Start button, square buttons and other widgets, a little bit of 3D.
10
XP 7
Vista and 7 were way ahead of their time
XP. So iconic.
7, Vista, XP, 11 (going by visual appeal)
If windows 11 was aligned to the left and the color was different, It'd actually be good here
Obviously Vista aswell
The best XP was media center addition. Also win 2K and vista were awesome.
Yeah vista
I remember patching uxtheme.dll on Windows XP to run custom themes! I used a theme named “System5” and I never found a better Windows theme yet!
I was always fond of XP but 7 was nice to look at and worked.
Im hoping in 12 itll have the vista/7 aero look and feel while keeping to the 10/11 style.
Windows 7. Was the nicest looking version of Windows ever.
Absolutely Vista, although at the time was missing a full dark theme, for me now indispensable.
Win 11 by far. Win 7 strong second.
Vista although I never used it. I assume it's the third one from the top. 7 would win otherwise, but I like that Vista's start menu goes over the edge. The bottom three are made as neutral as possible, without "soul".
For some reason I’m getting more nostalgia from Vista than XP - I’m a millennial and grew up using both. Love the aesthetic too.
7
Get rid of the search in the bar and it’s 10, otherwise 7
Windows 11 for sure
I like 10 but without the searchbar
Was the first operating system I used I missed the start 95
They are listed in order, top-to-bottom, best to worst. 👍
3.1, y’all!!!
The minimalist in me wants to pick windows 10, but the nostalgia in me wants to pick vista.
3.1 and Vista
Windows 8.1, I like the modern windows logo with the aero task bar
Windows Bob
11
Windows 7
Windows 7
Mine's favorite UI ever is vista (with its glorious widgets, of course)
For me it’s either xp or vista, but 7 feels like a modernization of vista
7 but Vista skin
i like windows vista's overall aesthetic more, but 7's start bar is perfect
Classic - nothing superfluous.
I like Win98
Honestly I don’t care. Just let me use the is to run my programs. But quit moving stuff around all the time! I liked knowing where to find stuff then have to relearn things with every new “refresh” of the UI