Jafo

reply 30

Every computer I have has Winamp on it....good old 2.9x .... probably because it goes back to the dawn of [MS] skinning.....

...and I still have Litestep on a VM somewhere...

Golden Oldies. 

Time to move forward.

Too many people cling to the past like some sort of comfort blanket, even after it has become threadbare. Memories are a part of life - but keep them a small part. Too many and they prevent you from creating new ones.

I'll never Stop, I LOVE skinning!! .... Just wish I had a little more time.   

Yeah, and having familiar things in one's life can help make it more tolerable when the memories being made aren't that great because modern times aren't necessarily the best.  The world in many ways is going to hell in a hand-basket, and it seems various people are intent on seeing it that way.

Right now I have my desktop decked out with a Steampunk theme, and that distraction helps me not notice [as much] the chaos and strife going on in the world around us.

Nothing but a general statement. If that fits you, good for you.

Myself I was married to a wonderful Lady for 44 years. She is and always will be a big part of my memory. Hasn't stopped me from making new ones but she will always be my best memory and a large part of my life.

Well I had to go back to see when you start this, Nov 25, so I guess you've got me beat.  Any time I've toyed with the idea of leaving WB off a machine I'm pretty sure I've crumbled in a week or less.

Oddly the thing that bugs me the most about the default Win10 is the window caption image.  It's just so ... whatever it is.

Will never ever run Windows without WB and Object Dock and Icon Packager. Oh Start 10 is essential as well. Right now I'm all Jaluran. 

Many of us are like this, we have wonderful memories that remain with us for life... especially when those memories involve and are all about our loved ones.  Okay, maybe memories of past skins and themes aren't as poignant, but for some they're more than memories On the PC they're a way of life

Fact is, Microsoft wouldn't recognise a great UI if it jumped up and bit them, much less be able to create one.  THE Windows GUI has been abominable since day one, and it's only the skinners and skinning apps that make Windows bearable to look at for those with more discerning tastes. 

Windows 7 was about the closest thing to a half decent UI MS ever came up with, but after a while it became old hat and skinning it was the only option.  That still is the case with Windows 10, but even moreso.  Skinning it is the only option... because the default UI and icons look like a one-eyed early-schooler designed them using blunt crayons.

If you replace Washington with SD this country would be the envy of the world. Everything would be skinned to perfection and the Master skinners would rule.   

Games went from 2D to 3D. The desktop is still 2D. Here's an example of a login screen that is 3D. 3D isn't really useful on the desktop but cool.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f8nm4NpaVXE

We have even lost the pseudo-3D stuff and now everything is flat. That being said I actually think Windows 10 looks decent. MS has shaved windowborders so it looks cleaner than Windows 8.1.

Even the built-in Windows 10 startmenu is OK I think. What is missing from the standard Windows 10 UI are small tweaks. I would like background colour option for Modern apps. The Settings app is either white or black, both can be annoying to the eyes. Same goes for the all white Windows Explorer. I'm not really using Windows 7 anymore which means I lost the ability to use WB with start, taskbar, windowborder and Explorer textures on default MS theme. I used that for 7 years straight. I'm a little hesitant to real skins. I really appreciate the artistic talent and work that go into them, but compatibility can be an issue. I remember people complaining about Firefox. Firefox has no compatibility problems I thought, because the textures made me forget I was using the original MS theme.

I believe possibilities are endless, but after pseudo-3D (icons etc. which I liked), skeumorphic design (which I liked), things turned flat and we may have to wait for new tech and trends. I think real 3D is the future (like in games), but I have no idea if it makes sense on a desktop. I've been using Google Earth recently and it has a 3D view that is both cool and useful.

I spend most of my time in a browser anyway so if the future is going to be cool or not also depends on the kind of content that the web delivers. Latest version of Google Earth is a web-app for Google Chrome so pretty cool stuff can happen in a browser. Maybe 3D websites will be a new thing?

Fact is, 3D on any screen is 2D with a few ingenious acrobatics to create a 3D difference.   Not saying I don't like it, some of the effects are fantastic, but I'd like some true 3D, which I think will take a while as technology catches up with the possibilities.

Until then, some of the 2D acrobatics are pretty amazing.  

But from Wolfenstein onward, games that wanted to be "3D' always were. [emulated on a 2D screen].

'3D' desktops have been around for decades too....but are hopelessly inept/inefficient and so died a justified death...

Reality is that since a screen/workplace is 2D, and Z-order provides an essential third, there's no actual need for more...

Why not?   A true 3D screen would be the ultimate viewing experience.  However, that would take a marriage between hardware and software to complete a true transition.  That may not be a reality as yet, but who is to say it isn't on the horizon sometime in the very near future.  In any evvent, what we have my suffice for now, but at the end of the day there is better in store.... we just need to realise and develop it.

VR is what may or may not be considered true '3D', and it's not a 'screen', it's an environment.

A 'screen' by definition is 2D.  It's a plane.

Holographics is the go-to for S/F futuristic computer interfaces but again it's all bling and no substance [see what I did there?] ...

Do tell..

I googled that and came up empty handed..